Multiple states and a Canadian province fight to keep Keystone XL Pipeline alive following Colonial hack
Thomas McDonald
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More than twenty states attorneys general are suing the Biden administration over its decision to kill the Keystone XL Pipeline and the thousands of estimated jobs it would have created.
“Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody and Alaska Attorney General Treg Taylor joined an amended complaint filed today in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas. The total number of states represented in the suit against Biden and his administration now stands at 23,” Montana attorney general Austin Knudsen said in a statement.
“The Constitution is clear that presidents do not have the power to regulate foreign and interstate commerce or to unilaterally undo an act of Congress,” Knudsen said. “We will continue to fight this federal overreach — along with the 22 other states — so that Montanans can benefit from the jobs, tax revenue, and enhanced energy independence the Keystone XL will bring to our communities.”
The fight to keep the pipeline alive is being supported by the government of the Canadian province of Saskatchewan, which announced it would file an amicus brief in support of the lawsuit. The lawsuit argues the president unconstitutionally changed energy policy set by Congress, which is granted sole authority to regulate foreign and interstate commerce.
“The fallout from the Colonial pipeline cyberattack made it very clear that we need more energy infrastructure, not less. The Keystone XL would get more oil — including Montana oil — to American refineries to be sold to American consumers,” Knudsen said.
Texas attorney general Ken Paxton blasted Biden’s decision to kill the pipeline and was the first state to announce they were joining Montana’s suit against it. “Since his first day in office, President Biden has made it his mission to undo all the progress of the previous administration, with complete disregard for the Constitutional limits on his power. His decision to revoke the pipeline permit is not only unlawful but will also devastate the livelihoods of thousands of workers, their families, and their communities,” Paxton said in March.
“This administration continues to tout imaginary green-energy jobs, without any recognition that their actions in the real world will make it impossible for hard-working Americans to put food on the table,” he added.
If built, the Keystone XL pipeline would transport 830,000 barrels of crude oil a day from Canada through the United States’ midwest into the Gulf of Mexico. The pipeline’s building project was set to create nearly 10,000 jobs before Biden terminated it.
The Biden administration maintains that anyone who loses a job in the oil and gas industry as a result of his progressive climate change agenda would be able to find a replacement job in renewable energy. In January, Biden’s climate czar John Kerry said that oil and gas workers need to make “better choices” in regards to their career paths.
In May, Kerry admitted that pipelines are more efficient at transporting oil and gas as opposed to other methods but did not say whether or not Biden’s decision to kill the Keystone XL would be reversed.
“Isn’t it true the pipelines are more carbon-delivery-efficient than trains, or trucks or other forms of delivery? If you could answer just that limited question,” California Republican Darrel Issa asked Kerry.
“Yeah, that is true,” Kerry responded. “I think that is true, but it doesn’t mean you necessarily want to be adding another line when there are other alternatives. But is it better than train, and better than that? Yes, it is.”