On a split 3-2 vote, the Scottsbluff City Council Monday evening approved sending a letter of support for the Keystone XL Pipeline to the U-S State Department and the Obama Administration.

The Heartland Expressway Association and the Ports to Plains Association have asked all communities in the Panhandle to pass similar resolutions or letters of support.

The two no votes on the Scottsbluff council came from Scott Shaver and Michael Diebert, who said they weren’t against the pipeline but didn’t feel it was an issue directly impacting the city since the route has been moved from the environmentally sensitive Sandhills to the eastern end of the state.

Mayor Randy Meininger disagreed…saying that because part of the Keystone XL route is in Nebraska, the project would provide jobs. He said it would also bring the country closer to energy independence.

The council received letter of opposition from business partners Santana Tamarack and James Sayre, citing environmental concerns about the pipeline and the oil it would be carrying from the tar sands of Canada to refineries on the Gulf coast.

The Gering council voted 7-1 in October to send a letter supporting the Keystone XL, but the Chadron City Council decided in December not to take a formal position on the controversial measure…with the members saying they didn’t feel they had enough information on the issue.

Congress passed a non-binding resolution backing the Keystone XL last month. The U-S State Department is still deciding whether to issue a permit…needed since the pipeline would cross an international border…but the agency’s final environmental review did not raise major objections.