COLOMBIA – SC Republican Attorney General Alan Wilson joined a third complaint in 10 days accusing Democratic President Joe Biden of executive exaggeration, this time due to the cancellation of the Keystone XL pipeline.
Wilson joined 20 state attorney generals from the Republican Party to prosecute Biden on March 18 for interrupting the 1,200 pipeline from Nebraska to Alberta, Canada, due to environmental damage caused by oil production.
The power over the gas pipeline project is in the hands of Congress, state legal leaders argue in their federal lawsuit filed in Texas.
Attorneys general say Biden’s decision, taken shortly after taking office in January, will cost about 42,000 jobs and $ 2 billion in revenue. The pipeline would transport 800,000 barrels of crude oil per day.
“The pipeline is a key component of the national economy and national security, but regardless of how you feel about the pipeline, the fact is that the president has no authority to cancel it because it was authorized by Congress,” said Wilson . in a statement. “I will always strive to defend the constitutional separation of powers, no matter who is in office and President Biden’s order is clearly unconstitutional.”
Republican President Donald Trump began pipeline work through an executive order in 2017, reversing a decision by Democratic President Barack Obama.
This is the third complaint about a Biden policy that Wilson, who is expected to seek a fourth term in 2022 and may aspire to a higher position in the future, has joined in a short space of time with other Republican state attorney generals.
On March 17, Wilson announced that he was part of another Republican-led complaint against the Biden government, arguing that the $ 1.9 trillion COVID-19 stimulus package could prevent states from cutting taxes.
The White House and Congressional leaders did not want the $ 350 billion sent to states to be used to cover pandemic-related costs for tax cuts, rebates or credits.
But Wilson and the other attorney generals sent a letter saying that the provision could block any state tax reduction measures, even those that did not use stimulus money. The letter accused the White House of exceeding state authority and threatened legal action if nothing changed.
On March 9, Wilson joined 11 other Republican state attorney generals to sue the Biden government over an executive order that imposes a “social cost” on greenhouse gas emissions in determining federal regulations.
As with the gas pipeline, the state’s legal chiefs said the president had crossed territory that belongs to Congress. Wilson said Southern Carolinians “could be left in the dust” under new regulatory standards.
SC Democratic Party chairman Trav Robertson said Wilson should focus on helping South Carolina expand Medicaid coverage, which will provide a major economic benefit, rather than getting into fights outside the state.
“Alan Wilson wants to be governor so badly that he’s going to waste South Carolina tax dollars on frivolous lawsuits that have nothing to do with South Carolina,” said Robertson. “He is more concerned with what is happening in other states than with what is happening in South Carolina.”