Obama Blocking Keystone was Arbitrary, Unjustified and Violated NAFTA
Pipeline stretch in Cushing, Oklahoma, left, and President Obama, right, who has threatened to veto the popular and approved Keystone XL pipeline.
TransCanada, the Alberta-based company that applied for permits to build the Keystone XL pipeline, filed a federal lawsuit in Houston against the president. The Canadian company claimed the White House arbitrarily, illegally and unconstitutionally rejected the project last year after multiple reviews gave the green light.
“TransCanada’s legal actions challenge the foundation of the U.S. administration’s decision to deny a presidential border crossing permit for the project,” the company said in a statement. “In its decision, the U.S. State Department acknowledged the denial was not based on the merits of the project. Rather, it was a symbolic gesture based on speculation about the perceptions of the international community regarding the administration’s leadership on climate change and the president’s assertion of unprecedented, independent powers.”
In its lawsuit brief, TransCanada Corporation (NYSE:TRP) asserted that President Obama—who blocked Keystone just one month before his oft-touted climate change summit in Paris—exceeded his constitutional authority. The company also filed a separate action claiming the president’s decision was “arbitrary and unjustified” and violated the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).
In total, the company is seeking $15 billion in costs and damages it says it incurred as a result of the administration’s delay and ultimate rejection.
According to multiple State Department review, both from reports conducted during Hillary Clinton’s tenure and now-Secretary John Kerry, the Keystone pipeline would’ve actually benefited the environment by reducing the amount of emissions from transporting oil via rail and other methods currently in place. The president’s decision absolutely enraged already unexcited labor unions, who support the project and have grown increasing frustrated with the Obama administration.
