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BY JANITA KAN March 18, 2021 Updated: March 18, 2021 <\/p>\n
A coalition of states has filed a lawsuit against President Joe Biden and his administration over the president\u2019s decision to revoke a permit for the Keystone XL pipeline. <\/p>\n
Led by Texas and Montana, 21 states have jointly filed a lawsuit against Biden arguing that the president did not have the authority to unilaterally change an energy policy that Congress had set when he revoked the permit on his first day in office. <\/p>\n
The lawsuit argues that only Congress possesses the power to regulate interstate and international commerce, including granting or rejecting permits for oil pipelines that cross an international border. <\/p>\n
\u201cSince 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,\u201d Paxton said in a statement on Wednesday. <\/p>\n
\u201cThis 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,\u201d he added. <\/p>\n
The Keystone KL, which would be constructed as an extension to an existing pipeline system, was designed by TC Energy Corporation to transport approximately 830,000 barrels of oil from Canada and Montana to junctions in the middle of America and to refineries in Houston. <\/p>\n
The permit to construct the 1.2 mile stretch of the pipeline that was revoked was approved by President Donald Trump in 2019. <\/p>\n
The pipeline\u2019s construction and operation were modeled to create and sustain thousands of jobs and advance the United States to achieving energy independence. It was also designed to improve commercial relations with Canada and provide tax revenues to high-poverty areas. <\/p>\n
In his executive order signed in January, Biden said the revocation was necessary because the pipeline \u201cdisserves the U.S. national interest.\u201d <\/p>\n
\u201cThe United States and the world face a climate crisis,\u201d the order stated. \u201cAt home, we will combat the crisis with an ambitious plan to build back better, designed to both reduce harmful emissions and create good clean-energy jobs. Our domestic efforts must go hand in hand with U.S. diplomatic engagement. Because most greenhouse gas emissions originate beyond our borders, such engagement is more necessary and urgent than ever. <\/p>\n
\u201cLeaving the Keystone XL pipeline permit in place would not be consistent with my administration\u2019s economic and climate imperatives,\u201d Biden added. <\/p>\n
Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen argued that there is no \u201cperceived environmental benefit to his actions.\u201d <\/p>\n
\u201cHis attempt to cancel the Keystone XL Pipeline is an empty virtue signal to his wealthy coastal elite donors. It shows Biden\u2019s contempt for rural communities in Montana and other states along the pipeline\u2019s path that would benefit from and support the project,\u201d Knudsen said in a statement. <\/p>\n
Other critics have said that the ban wouldn\u2019t stop oil being produced, and that it would be transported by rail or truck instead of through the pipeline. <\/p>\n
Texas states argue that Biden had not consulted with them before making his decision, \u201cnor did he consider the far-reaching consequences his decision would impose on Plaintiffs.\u201d <\/p>\n
\u201cThe pipeline States, as well as their counties, local communities, and school districts stood to gain tens of millions of dollars in tax revenue from the construction and operation of the Keystone XL. The total estimated property tax from the Keystone XL project in the first full year of operations would be approximately $55.6 million spread across 27 counties in just three States\u2014Montana, South Dakota, and Nebraska,\u201d the lawsuit states (pdf). <\/p>\n
\u201cThese revenues would particularly benefit poorer rural areas, providing a much-needed influx of resources to fund important public and community services.\u201d <\/p>\n
Revocation of the permit, the states continued, will cost them and their communities \u201ctens of millions of dollars in annual tax revenue\u201d and business and job opportunities for residents. <\/p>\n
The states are asking the federal court in Texas to declare that the Biden administration had acted unlawfully and unconstitutionally when he revoked the permit and seek to block the Biden administration from enforcing its order to revoke the Keystone XL permit. <\/p>\n
The White House and Justice Department did not immediately respond to The Epoch Times\u2019 request for comment. <\/p>\n
The other states who have joined in the lawsuit include Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Georgia, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Utah, West Virginia, and Wyoming<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
BY JANITA KAN March 18, 2021 Updated: March 18, 2021 A coalition of states has filed a lawsuit against President Joe Biden and his administration over the president\u2019s decision to revoke a permit for the Keystone XL pipeline. Led by Texas and Montana, 21 states have jointly filed a lawsuit against Biden arguing that […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,4,5,17,19,20,29,30],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-438","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-biden-lies","category-bidens-actions","category-bidens-follies","category-crazy-democrats","category-democrat-corruprion","category-democrat-fraud","category-looney-left","category-national-security"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kendreger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/438","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kendreger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kendreger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kendreger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kendreger.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=438"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kendreger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/438\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kendreger.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=438"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kendreger.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=438"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kendreger.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=438"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}