21 States Sue Biden for Revoking Keystone XL Pipeline Permit

According to a report from CBS News, attorneys general from twenty one states have filed a lawsuit against President Joe Biden for unilaterally deciding to cancel the Keystone XL Pipeline. The move left hundreds, if not thousands, of workers unemployed. 

The attorneys general from Montana to Texas argued in their complaint that President Biden exceeded his executive authority by revoking permits to the Keystone Pipeline with a stroke of a pen to make a political statement about his “ambitious” clean energy agenda. 

“Revocation of the Keystone XL pipeline permit is a regulation of interstate and international commerce, which can only be accomplished as any other statute can: through the process of bicameralism and presentment,” the complaint states. “The President lacks the power to enact his “ambitious plan” to reshape the economy in defiance of Congress’s unwillingness to do so.”

They also argued that the president’s reasoning for eliminating the pipeline was unjustifiable, particularly in light of the positive impact it has on America’s economy.

“The U.S. government has studied the safety, environmental impact, and economic benefits of Keystone XL for years. It repeatedly concluded that the pipeline would have a negligible impact on the climate but significant impact on the economy and American energy independence.”

Now, because of President Biden’s decision, many former pipeline workers are left wondering how they’re going to pay their bills or send their kids to school.

“I’ve been pipelining for 21 years. This is all I know to do,” a laid-off pipeline worker said. “The recent administration has taken my livelihood from me and expecting me to get a job somewhere else. I’ve got my whole life invested in this.”

Bottom line: President Biden’s energy agenda isn’t about helping Americans; it’s about appeasing the members of his radical base.