President Joe Biden and his administration have been sued by a group of states over the president’s decision to withdraw a permit for the Keystone XL pipeline.
Twenty-one states, led by Texas and Montana, have sued Biden, claiming that the president lacked the power to unilaterally amend an energy policy set by Congress when he revoked the permit on his first day in office.
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According to the complaint, only Congress has the authority to control interstate and international trade, which includes issuing or denying permits for oil pipelines that cross international borders.
“Since taking office, President Biden has made it his task to reverse all of the previous administration’s successes, with utter disregard for the Constitutional limitations on his authority. “His decision to revoke the pipeline permit is not only illegal, but it will also have a devastating impact on the livelihoods of thousands of workers, their families, and communities,” Paxton said in a statement on March 17.
“This administration seeks to promote fictitious green-energy jobs, oblivious to the fact that their real-world policies would make it harder for hardworking Americans to put food on the table.”
TC Energy Corp. planned the 1,200-mile Keystone XL pipeline as an extension of an existing pipeline system to carry approximately 830,000 barrels of oil from Canada and Montana to pipeline junctions in the center of America and refineries on the US Gulf Coast.
President Donald Trump had approved a permit to build a 1.2-mile section of the pipeline that was revoked in 2019.
The creation and operation of the oil sands pipeline is designed to generate and maintain thousands of jobs while also advancing the United States’ energy independence. It was also intended to strengthen trade ties with Canada while also providing tax revenue to low-income areas.
Biden said the revocation was appropriate because the pipeline “disseves the United States national interest” in his executive order signed in January.
The order said, “The United States and the rest of the world are facing a climate crisis.” “At home, we’ll battle the crisis with a bold strategy to rebuild better, aimed at reducing toxic pollution while also creating good clean-energy jobs. Domestic activities must be coordinated with US diplomatic efforts. Since the majority of greenhouse gas emissions occur outside of our borders, such participation is now more important than ever.
“Leaving the Keystone XL pipeline permit in place would be incompatible with my administration’s economic and environment policies,” he said.
Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen argued that Biden’s activities had no “perceived environmental value.”
“His effort to halt construction of the Keystone XL Pipeline is nothing more than a hollow virtue signal to his rich coastal elite donors. In a quote, Knudsen said, “It demonstrates Biden’s disdain for rural communities in Montana and other states along the pipeline’s route that would profit from and support the project.”
Other opponents argue that the ban would not prevent oil from being extracted and that it will be transported by rail or truck rather than pipeline.
Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen argued that Biden’s activities had no “perceived environmental value.”
“His effort to halt construction of the Keystone XL Pipeline is nothing more than a hollow virtue signal to his rich coastal elite donors. In a quote, Knudsen said, “It demonstrates Biden’s disdain for rural communities in Montana and other states along the pipeline’s route that would profit from and support the project.”
Other opponents argue that the ban would not prevent oil from being extracted and that it will be transported by rail or truck rather than pipeline.
“These taxes will help poorer rural areas in particular, offering a much-needed injection of cash to finance vital public and community services.”
The states went on to say that revoking the permit would cost them and their cities “tens of millions of dollars in annual tax revenue” as well as a loss of industry and employment opportunities for people.
The states are asking a federal court in Texas to declare that the Biden administration behaved illegally and unconstitutionally when it revoked the permit, and to bar the administration from carrying out its order to revoke the permit.
The White House and the Department of Justice did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Epoch Times.
Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Georgia, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Utah, West Virginia, and Wyoming are among the states that have entered the case.
