Several US States Sue Biden Admin over Keystone XL Pipeline

Texas and several other US states have sued the administration of President Joe Biden over his decision to revoke a key permit for the Keystone XL pipeline, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said in a statement late on the 17^th March.

The lawsuit states that Mr Biden does not have the unilateral authority to change energy policy which the US Congress has set, Mr Paxton said.

Mr Biden revoked a permit for the pipeline which would transport 830,000 barrels a day of carbon-intensive heavy crude from Canada’s Alberta to Nebraska. It was part of a flurry of executive orders aimed at curbing climate change.

The head of the US Senate energy committee, Joe Manchin, urged Mr Biden last month to reverse his opposition to the Keystone XL pipeline, saying the project provides union jobs and is safer than transporting the oil via trucks and trains.

Canada’s TC Energy Corporation is the owner of the oil pipeline project.

The complaint on the 17^th March was filed by Mr Paxton and Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen in Texas federal district court.

The suit is joined by attorneys general from Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Utah, and Wyoming.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment late on the 17^th March.

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“The Executive’s unilateral decision to revoke the Keystone XL permit is contrary to the constitutional structure to which the states agreed at the time of ratification,” the states said in the lawsuit.

“The Executive’s decision also encroaches upon the states’ abilities to steward and control the lands within their borders.”

Source: Pipeline and Gas Journal