Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen argued in the complaint that Congress, and not Biden, has the authority to change the policy.
Biden’s order “does not cite any statutory or other authorization that would allow the president to change the energy policy established by Congress in this way,” wrote Paxton and Knudsen in the complaint, arguing that “the president does not have the power to enact his ‘ambitious plan’ to reshape the economy, challenging Congress’ reluctance to do so. ”
Filing the lawsuit on “behalf of many of the states for which Keystone XL is run”, they joined the attorney generals 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 in challenging Biden’s move.
Biden revoked the pipeline license on his first day in office through executive action, as part of a series of measures aimed at combating climate change, which also included re-joining the Paris Agreement on climate change and placing a temporary moratorium on leasing 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 a political football game between climate activists and the oil industry.
The Biden administration’s stance and actions so far on the climate mark a significant departure from former President Donald Trump, who granted the license for the controversial pipeline and was a staunch supporter of the fossil fuel industry. Among other measures, Trump destroyed environmental regulations, tried to help coal miners, installed a former coal lobbyist to lead the United States Environmental Protection Agency and helped negotiate a deal with the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries to rescue shale oil producers.