Dive Brief:

• The Senate voted Thursday to approve legislation advancing plans to build the controversial north-south pipeline for Canadian oil.
• The 62-36 vote included all Republican senators and nine Democrats, and it could reach President Obama's desk as early as next week.
• Now that the Senate has approved the bill, it will be sent back to the House, where representatives will decide between passing the existing bill or merging the Senate's version with their own.

Dive Insight:

The fight over the construction of the Keystone pipeline has been a five-year battle between those raising environmental concerns and those seeking the pipeline's potential for job creation and energy security. Obama has said he won't make a decision until further reviews by the EPA and other departments are finished. These reports are expected Monday.

Proponents of the pipeline have touted the project as a significant job creator and an asset to the economy. The State Department, however, has released estimates saying that only about 35 permanent jobs would be created by the Keystone XL pipeline. During the two years it takes to build, about 42,000 temporary jobs would be created, with 3,900 in the construction sector.