The House voted Wednesday to pass a final version of a bill that authorizes construction of the Keystone XL oil pipeline in spite of President Barack Obama's promise to veto the controversial bill.

The House approved a finalized version of the bill in a 270-152 vote, according to The New York Times. Twenty-nine Democrats supported the bill while only one Republican voted against it. However, lawmakers could did not muster up enough support to override the president's veto power.

Now, President Obama has 10 days to issue a veto, which would mark the first time that he uses his veto power since the GOP won control of Congress in the Midterm election.

"Instead of listening to the people, the president is standing with a bunch of left-fringe extremists and anarchists," said Republican House Speaker John Boehner on Wednesday. "The president needs to listen to the American people and say 'yes, let's build the Keystone pipeline.' "

Congressional Republicans argue that a majority of Americans support the Keystone project and it will create thousands of new jobs.

"This project has been awaiting approval for more than 2,300 days. The Nebraska Supreme Court struck down the challenge against it, 58 ppercent of Americans said they support it, and a bipartisan majority in both chambers of Congress approved it," said Tennessee Rep. Diane Black on the House floor on Wednesday, reports CNN.

Although Republicans claim that the pipeline will create new jobs and reduce gas prices, environmentalists argue that the pipeline would bring heavy tar sands oil from Canada across the middle of the United Sates to a port on the Gulf of Mexico. In turn, this will contribute to climate change and pollute the environment, reports MSNBC.

Opponents also point out that the construction of the pipeline would only increase the growth of temporary jobs for American workers, while creating just 35-50 permanent jobs.

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