Along with skipping on Wednesday night the successful congressional vote to repeal ObamaCare and defund Planned Parenthood, the “big three” networks of ABC, CBS, and NBC also declined to dedicate a second of airtime to the Canadien energy company TransCanada filing lawsuits against the Obama administration for having rejected the Keystone XL pipeline.
Advertisement
“Through the NAFTA claim, TransCanada will be seeking to recover more than US$15 billion in costs and damages that it has suffered as a result of the US Administration’s breach of its NAFTA obligations”, the release said on Wednesday.
When he rejected the pipeline, Obama said it would not serve the national interests of the US, although the country’s State Department concluded that the project would not have “significant impacts to the environment” and communities would benefit from tens of thousands of jobs and tax revenues.
The vast Alberta oil stands project, often compared to Mordor in “Lord of the Rings”, would have fed oil into the Keystone XL pipeline, which would have carried the crude to Gulf Coast ports in the U.S. President Obama vetoed the pipeline.
The White House referred requests for comment to the U.S. State Department.
Spokesman Mark Cooper said TransCanada’s Keystone XL team remains in place despite the denial two months ago.
The pipeline builder also gave notice of its intent to start a claim under the North American Free Trade Agreement.
Most pipelines wait roughly a year and a half for permits to cross the USA border, but Keystone’s review dragged on more than five times as long as average, according to an Associated Press analysis.
The project became a political lightning rod, with opponents saying it would exacerbate global warming by encouraging development of Canadian oil sands and endanger groundwater and sensitive landscapes like the Nebraska Sandhills.
Anthony Swift, director of the Canada Project at the Natural Resources Defense Council, said TransCanada was “wrong to try to force American taxpayers to pay for its mistakes”. The company seeks more than $15 billion in damages.
The federal lawsuit seeks to have Obama’s denial overturned and asks the judge to declare that no further presidential action is needed for construction of the Keystone XL to start. It said in a statement it is “prepared for a lengthy process that could take several years” with regard to the legal challenges.
“We’re aware of recent developments with this file and TransCanada”, he said.
“You have a president who made a decision not based on the pipeline itself or the merits of the project”, said Merrifield, now a senior adviser with the Canadian Strategy Group, an Alberta-based consulting firm.
Advertisement
South Dakota commissioners voted Tuesday to accept TransCanada’s guarantee that it can complete the project while meeting the conditions of the initial permit.
