House backs sweeping energy bill to boost oil, natural gas
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WASHINGTON - The House has approved a sweeping bill to boost U.S. energy production, lift a four-decade ban on crude oil exports and modernize the aging electric grid.
The vote was 249-174.
The bill also would speed natural gas exports and hasten approval of natural gas pipelines across public lands. It also would advance cross-border projects such as the Keystone XL oil pipeline, which lingered for more than seven years before being rejected last month by President Barack Obama.
The White House has threatened a veto.
Passage of the legislation comes just days after Obama traveled to Paris for an international conference on climate change. Administration officials are pressing for a far-reaching agreement designed to put the world on a path toward reducing the carbon pollution blamed for global warming.