The two main arguments made by the GOP and Petro lobby (not necessarily the same thing) are:
1. Jobs!
2. Energy independence!
So you'd think two Democratic amendments to the GOP's "Regulator Review by Legislative Fiat" Keystone bill that (a) create more American jobs and (b) pushes for energy independence would be shoo-ins.
But a Democratic amendment to (a) require US manufactured steel be used for the pipeline and (b) require the oil refined to be kept within the US rather than exported abroad, as is the plan, were both handily defeated.
Now, assuming it wasn't just political, I'm sure there were fine economic and market reasons (for the pipeline builder and tar sands producer) to want these bills defeated. But let's not pretend any longer that Keystone XL is about creating jobs or promoting US energy independence. It's not.
Republicans say no to American-made steel for Keystone XL
Republicans like to point to Keystone XL as one of their signature jobs bills and, when oil prices are high, like to …
While I agree with you the steel production in the U.S. is low enough that it would have killed the bill for want of supplys that the companies can't afford to make. So it was kind of a dick move to introduce something that said jobs, knowing they could not let it it pass if they want the bill to work. Having said that dick moves is all congress is good for since they are only promoting job bills so that Obama can veto them then they can say he doesn't care about the economy. It's like someone saying you didn't love someone because you laughed at their funeral. No dude you're just a dick.
C&Ping from another thread on the subject: _'From the American Steel Institute:
In the week ending January 24, 2015, domestic raw steel production was 1,825,000 net tons while the capability utilization rate was 75.9 percent.'_
So would steel demand for the pipeline exceed the 24% additional steel the US could produced. I don't have a good sense of that, I'm not willing to say no.