Washington – A coalition of attorney generals from 21 states sued President Biden and members of his administration for terminating the license for the Keystone XL pipeline, seeking to undo the president’s attempt to effectively prevent the 1,200-mile-long pipeline.
Led by attorneys general in Texas and Montana, the states argued in their complaint that the president exceeded his authority when he issued his executive order on January 20, revoking licenses for the pipeline. The order aimed at Keystone was one of several executive actions that Biden has taken since he took office as president with a focus on the environment and combating climate change.
“The revocation of the license for the Keystone XL pipeline is a regulation of interstate and international trade, which can only be carried out like any other statute: through the process of bicameralism and presentation,” argued the states in their complaint. “The president has no power to carry out his ‘ambitious plan’ to reshape the economy, challenging the reluctance of Congress to do so.”
Attorneys General argued that Congress has laid down rules for the actions the president can take in relation to Keystone, and Biden and senior members of his administration have disregarded those rules.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton accused Biden of acting “with total disregard for the constitutional limits of his power”.
Designed by TC Energy Corporation to move approximately 830,000 barrels of oil from Canada and Montana to the Texas Gulf coast, the Keystone XL pipeline is part of a larger system of lines and would pass through several states. Although the Obama administration has denied licenses for the pipeline, former President Donald Trump approved construction of the line in 2019, and construction began last year.
In his order to effectively close the pipeline, Biden said he would not serve national interests and argued that the United States should prioritize “the development of a clean energy economy, which in turn will create good jobs”.
But his request left hundreds of workers unemployed, and TC Energy estimated that nearly 1,000 employees were laid off as a result of the action.