The company behind the Keystone XL oil pipeline says it is taking legal action against the Obama administration’s rejection of the project.
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TranCanada’s lawsuit in a federal court in Houston, Texas, called rejection of its permit to build the pipeline unconstitutional.
The company’s USA lawsuit does not seek monetary damages but wants the permit denial invalidated and seeks a ruling that no future president can block construction. Furthermore, in the federal court filing, TransCanada asserts the Administration’s action was contrary to Congress’ power under the U.S. Constitution to regulate interstate and worldwide commerce.
President Barack Obama trampled TransCanada’s pipeline dreams, and now the Canadian company is fighting back.
The $3.1 billion Keystone XL pipeline would have connected Canada’s oil sands to American refineries on the Gulf Coast, offering the promise of improving prices.
“Frankly, approving this project would’ve undercut that global leadership”. A State Department spokesperson said it would not comment on pending litigation.
John Hoeven, the Republican senator from North Dakota who brought a bill to wrest the decision over Keystone out of Obama’s hands, said the president had ignored public opinion, and that Americans would be left footing the bill. Still, the 1,900-kilometre pipeline, which has been in limbo for more than seven years, has at times been an irritant in relations between both countries, with former prime minister Stephen Harper at one point calling the project’s approval a “no-brainer”.
“Keystone XL is dead and nothing about this legal maneuvering changes that”, said Sierra Club Executive Director Michael Brune in a statement.
The denial was a “symbolic gesture” to make the administration’s position on climate change conform to worldwide perceptions, rather than on the merits of the pipeline, according to the press release.
However, the supporters of the Keystone pipeline are praising the company’s decision for an appeal.
“The TPP would empower many more fossil fuel companies to follow TransCanada’s lead to ask unaccountable tribunals of private lawyers to order the US government to hand over our tax dollars for laws protecting our communities and the environment”.
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Republicans, Canadian politicians and the energy industry argued the pipeline would create thousands of jobs and inject billions into the economy.
