Keystone XL pipeline: Texas and Montana lead coalition of states suing Biden administration over pipeline

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Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen argued in the lawsuit that Congress, not Biden, has the power to change policy.

Biden’s order “does not cite any statutory or other authority allowing the president to change energy policy as defined by Congress in this way,” Paxton and Knudsen wrote in the complaint, arguing that “the president has failed the power to implement its’ ambitious plan ‘to reshape the economy in defiance of Congress’ reluctance to do so. ”

Bringing the lawsuit on behalf of “many states through which Keystone XL”, they are joined by the attorneys general of Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Georgia, Kansas, Kentucky, Indiana, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Utah, West Virginia and Wyoming for challenge Biden’s decision.

Biden revoked the permit for the gas pipeline on its first day on duty through executive action as part of a series of measures to tackle climate change, which also included the return of the ‘Paris Agreement on climate change and the establishment of a temporary moratorium on leasing of oil and gas in the Arctic.

Keystone XL, a planned pipeline that would transport oil from Canada’s tar sands to the United States, has been political football between climate activists and the oil industry.

The oil industry and Republicans were quick to condemn Biden’s decision in January to cancel the permit for the controversial pipeline. The move resulted in the layoff of “thousands of unionized workers,” according to TC Energy, the Canadian company behind the Keystone pipeline.
Climate and energy experts, meanwhile, told CNN at the time that the project was incompatible with both the Biden administration’s climate goals and with U.S. energy needs in light of the existing oil supply. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm, former governor of Michigan, said the Energy Department has created an employment office that will work “hand in hand” with the department’s fossil fuel officials to s ‘ensure that “we do not leave any workers behind”.

The Biden administration’s stance and actions to date on the climate mark a significant departure from that of former President Donald Trump, who licensed the controversial pipeline and was a staunch supporter of the gas industry. fossil fuels. Among other things, Trump gutted environmental regulations, tried to bail out coal miners, installed a former coal lobbyist to head the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and helped negotiate a deal with the Organization of Exporting Countries of oil to save oil producers from shale.

CNN’s Matt Egan contributed to this report.

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