Oklahoma joined several other states this week in suing the Biden administration over his decision to revoke a key permit for the Keystone XL pipeline, a move that in effect killed the line and left thousands out of work.
Attorney General Mike Hunter joined the lawsuit that was filed in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas. It said President Biden does not have the unilateral authority to change energy policy set by Congress.
Biden revoked a permit for the pipeline which would transport 830,000 barrels a day of carbon-intensive heavy crude from Canada’s Alberta to Nebraska. It was part of a series of executive orders aimed at curbing climate change.
Hunter said the suit aims to prevent Biden from circumventing limits put on the presidency by the Constitution, the Administrative Procedure Act and congressionally enacted national policy. He explained the President’s executive action stopping the pipeline is unlawful and does nothing but harm Americans.
“The president doesn’t have the constitutional authority to unilaterally block this project,” Attorney General Hunter said. “It is up to Congress to approve the project, which they have done already.”
Hunter called the President’s argument that transporting crude oil via pipeline is worse for the environmental than by rail or shipment is “preposterous.”
“The Keystone Pipeline also will move the United States closer to energy independence. This will help Oklahomans and Americans by keeping costs for products and fuel down,” added Hunter who said he will do everything he can to ensure the energy sector is protected from federal overreach.
The State Department conducted numerous, expansive environmental reviews of the proposed Keystone Pipeline, under former Presidents Bush, Obama and Trump, concluding every time that the project would not materially affect greenhouse gas emissions or alter the amount of extracted and combusted crude oil on the world market, contrary to President Biden’s reasoning for canceling the pipeline.
The lawsuit argues the president lacks the power to enact his “ambitious plan” to reshape the economy in defiance of Congress’s unwillingness to do so.
“To the extent that Congress had delegated such authority, it would violate the non-delegation doctrine,” the lawsuit reads. “But Congress has not delegated such authority: It set specific rules regarding what actions the president can take about Keystone XL and when. The President, together with various senior executive officials, violated those rules. The action should be set aside as inconsistent with the Constitution and the Administrative Procedure Act.”
Oklahoma joined 20 other state attorneys general in filing the lawsuit.
Read the lawsuit, here: https://bit.ly/3vDIIN6.