WASHINGTON — Conservation groups are balking at several amendments offered to Senate legislation that would approve construction of the Keystone XL pipeline, amendments they say don’t bode well for the rest of this congressional term.
Two amendments offered Wednesday drew concern from advocates for land preservation. The first, from Sen. Steve Daines (R-Mont.), would have put the Senate on record opposing the president’s authority to designate new national monuments. Another, from Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), would have withdrawn land designated as wilderness study areas from consideration if Congress does not move to declare them as wilderness within one year.
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Heinrich accused Republicans of “using Keystone as a Trojan horse for a lot of things that have not been debated or discussed in the public in a meaningful way.” He believes the public would respond negatively to these provisions. “I have an enormous amount of faith in the public. Once they are aware that it’s part of the Keystone agenda, my faith is in the public to make their voices heard with their individual senators,” he said.
