How Did Florida Senators Vote in Narrow Defeat of Keystone XL Pipeline?

The Keystone XL pipeline, a line drawn in the sand between environmentalists and the energy sector, was denied approval for construction in 2014 by the margin of a single Senate vote, narrowly defeating the largely Republican-supported Senate bill 2280.

Approval of the bill would have allowed TransCanada Keystone Pipeline to construct and operate a pipeline from Canada through the Midwest to the Gulf where refineries expect crude oil to be pumped down from Canadian tar sands.

VOTE NOW: Are You Concerned About Global Warming?

According to a complete Senate roll call, 59 members said "Yea" on the measure, and 41 said "Nay." Forty-five Republicans and 14 by Democrats voted for it; 39 Democrats and two independents voted against it.

The Florida delegation split its vote along party lines. Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson voted down approval of the Keystone XL pipeline, and Republican Sen. Marco Rubio voted in favor of the permit.

Despite voting for a nonbinding approval of the pipeline's contruction permit a year before, according to The Huffington Post, Sen. Nelson swung his support, considered key to the bill's passage, to the opposition.

S.2280 was introduced May 1, 2014, by North Dakota Republican Sen. John Hoeven, and 55 senators co-signed it. The bill failed on Nov. 18, 2014. The measure failed because it did not garner 60 votes. However, S. 2280 would have needed 67 votes in favor of it, a two-thirds majority, to circumvent a likely presidential veto.

URGENT: Do You Think Global Warming Is a Hoax? Vote Here Now!

Related Stories:

• Global Warming: 5 Arguments For Building the Keystone XL Pipeline
• Global Warming: 8 Quotes From the Oil Industry on the Heated Debate of the Keystone XL Pipeline