U.S. President Barack Obama has vetoed the controversial Keystone XL pipeline project.

The White House sent notice of the veto to the Senate Tuesday. It’s the third veto of Obama’s presidency.

This veto puts a freeze on a top Republican priority, at least temporarily. Earlier this year, the Republican-led Congress approved the bill forcing construction of the pipeline.

“Through this bill, the United States Congress attempts to circumvent longstanding and proven processes for determining whether or not building and operating a cross-border pipeline serves the national interest,” Obama wrote in his veto message.

Republicans, who support the project because of its job-creation potential, made passing a bill a top priority after gaining control of the U.S. Senate and strengthening their majority in the House of Representatives in November elections.

The House voted 270-152 to pass the bill on February 11 after the Senate approved it January 29.

Neither the House nor the Senate passed the proposal by a wide enough margin to override the expected presidential veto.

First proposed in 2008, the Keystone XL pipeline oil runs from Canada to the U.S. Gulf.

Republicans and the oil industry have argued that the $8 billion infrastructure project is about jobs and boosting energy security, by importing oil from a friendly neighbor and shipping it to domestic refineries subject to stringent environmental regulations.

Democrats and their environmental allies have characterized it as a gift to the oil industry that would worsen global warming and subject parts of the U.S. to the risks of an oil spill.

Portions of this report are from Reuters.
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