The House by a wide margin last night passed a bill to vastly expand oil and gas development off the nation's coasts, in an Alaskan reserve and on experimental shale tracts in the Intermountain West.

The 187-137 vote also for the third time advanced a GOP plan to force approval of the controversial Keystone XL pipeline, which President Obama tentatively rejected earlier this year.

The package was opposed by 21 Republicans, but it also drew 21 "aye" votes from Democrats.

But questions remain over how the proposal will fare in the Democrat-controlled Senate, which has already balked at earlier Keystone and offshore drilling proposals from the House.

Also uncertain is whether House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) will cobble together the votes necessary to pass a $260 billion plan to fund highways for the next five years. The energy and highway bills are slated to be bundled together, along with a federal pensions bill, before being sent to the Senate for conference.

Within minutes of the vote, members of both parties acknowledged the heavy climb the package would face in the Senate.

"It's not the sort of bipartisan proposal that's going to get a signature," said Rep. Jim Costa (D-Calif.), who voted in favor of the measure. "But we've opened up a lot of tools in our energy toolbox."

Costa said he favors the bipartisan two-year highway extension under consideration in the Senate and that he has concerns over the House's proposal to change funding for transit and high-speed rail. He, like many Democrats, also criticized claims that energy revenues would have a meaningful impact on highway funding. "These pay-fors aren't for real. Let's be clear about that," he said.

Rep. Don Young (R-Alaska) in a statement last night suggested he, too, has doubts about the package's future.

"This is my 12th time passing [the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge] out of the House, and although this is a momentous day, there is still work to be done," he said in a statement. "The Senate should not drag its feet on this bill."

Republicans said the proposal would spur new American energy production while generating more jobs and lowering gasoline prices. Natural Resources Chairman Doc Hastings (R-Wash.) said it would also raise $4.3 billion in new federal revenues and strengthen national security. The broader highway package will require tens of billions of dollars in additional revenue.

"Americans are demanding action," Hastings said after the vote. "The only question is, will the Democrat-controlled Senate and President Obama stand in the way or become part of the solution?"

Democrats painted Republicans as beholden to the fossil fuel industry and criticized them for opportunistically saddling the highway bill with unrelated energy measures.

"The House Republican transportation bill may be on the skids, but today's vote makes it clear that nothing can stop the Republican oil company gravy train from chugging along," said Rep. Ed Markey (D-Mass.), the ranking member of the Natural Resources Committee. "These bills provide phantom revenue from phantom drilling that will never occur, all to fund a sham of a transportation bill."

Democratic amendments rejected

Republicans rejected several Democratic amendments over the course of the two-day debate. They included proposals to require oil from Keystone XL stay in the country and for most of the steel used on the pipeline to be made in North America.

One amendment of Markey's to ensure natural gas from the Arctic refuge stays in the United States was defeated 168-254.

"Republicans and the oil companies want to increase offshore drilling, then offshore the jobs we could create from lower natural gas prices by exposing our economy to an expensive international natural gas market," he said in a statement. "We should be creating American energy that powers American jobs."

In a last-ditch effort, Democrats offered a motion to protect the Great Lakes and the Florida Everglades from oil and natural gas drilling, a procedural maneuver that died 176-241, drawing just two Republican votes. It was perhaps an attempt to paint Republicans as out of touch with the environment.

The package was panned by several environmental groups.

"Boehner should explain to the American people what the connection is between drilling in our iconic Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and fixing our nation's troubled roads," said Cindy Shogan, executive director of the Alaska Wilderness League. "Leadership should be held accountable for the backdoor method they are using to create policy and the potential destruction that they are inflicting on our public lands."