OVERNIGHT ENERGY: Senate vote on Keystone veto expected Thursday

KEYSTONE BILL TAKE TWO: The Senate is going to take another whack at legislation to approve the Keystone XL pipeline, but this time they are trying to override President Obama’s veto.

Don Stewart, spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said Monday the Senate will hold a cloture vote on Wednesday, setting up the final vote for Thursday on whether to override Obama’s veto. 

{mosads}Keystone proponents need four more Democrats to switch their position to reach the 67 needed to override the president’s veto. Right now, supporters appear to only have 63 senators that will vote to override the president.

In an interview with Reuters on Monday, Obama said through a smile that his final decision on the $8 billion oil sands pipeline could come in “weeks or months” but that it “will happen before the end of [his] administration, definitely.” 

So, basically, any moment, at the drop of a hat, over the next 22 months, Obama will reject or approve the controversial pipeline.

Read more here.

ON TAP TUESDAY I: The House Rules Committee will meet to take a procedural vote on a pair of bills aimed at reforming the scientific process that the Environmental Protection Agency uses for its regulations. The meeting will set up votes in the full House for the bills later this week. 

ON TAP TUESDAY II: The House Energy and Commerce Committee’s subcommittee on energy and power will hold a hearing on the impact of changes in world energy markets on the United States’ economy and energy security. The witnesses will include Energy Information Administration head Adam Sieminski, experts and representatives of labor and industry. 

Rest of Tuesday’s agenda…

The Brookings Institution will hold a discussion on the potential for liquefied natural gas to be used as a fuel for marine transportation. 

American University’s Washington College of Law will hold a forum on the state of the oil, natural gas and coal production industries on federal land. 

The Chamber of Commerce will host a forum on the United States’s oil and natural gas boom, featuring ConocoPhillips Co. chief Ryan Lance. Lance will discuss the mismatch between the light oil being produced and the heavy oil needed for domestic refineries, and will advocate for relaxing the crude oil export ban. 

The National Park Service, Embassy of Japan and local Washington, D.C., officials will announce details of the 2015 Cherry Blossom Festival, including the Park Service’s initial forecast of the peak blooming season for D.C.’s cherry blossom trees.

AROUND THE WEB:

Environmental groups are planning to sue the Port of Seattle to stop it from hosting a base for Royal Dutch Shell’s Arctic drilling operations, the Associated Press reports. 

A new study from Stanford University links California’s drought to climate change and says that it will persist into the future, according to the San Jose Mercury News. 

Southern Co.’s Georgia Power subsidiary says the 18-month delay in its Plant Vogtle nuclear plant expansion will cost more than $1.1 billion, the Charlotte Business Journal reports. 

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: 

Check out Monday’s stories… 

– Climate change tied to Syrian conflict, scientists say

– Warren Buffett slams Keystone delay

– AAA: Gas price increases likely through March

– EPA tackles emissions from refrigerators, air conditioners

– Climate skeptic blasts ‘shameless attempt to silence’ research

– India to double tax on coal

– Obama: ‘Keystone is for Canadian oil‘

– Boston near all-time snow record

– Senate Keystone veto override vote expected Thursday

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