TransCanada to file 2 legal challenges to Keystone rejection

The lawsuit does not seek any monetary damages but asks for a ruling that the denial of the pipeline permit was without legal merit and that the federal government officials named in the lawsuit not be allowed to enforce Obama’s decision to not proceed with the pipeline.

“TransCanada asserts the USA administration’s decision to deny a presidential permit for the Keystone XL pipeline was arbitrary and unjustified”, the company said in a release.

“TransCanada has been unjustly deprived of the value of its multi-billion dollar investment by the USA administration’s actions”, said the NAFTA complaint by the Calgary-based company, adding: “TransCanada has invested billions of dollars in assets that have now been rendered useless for its intended goal, specifically the transport of Canadian and American oil”.

TransCanada “can huff and puff and complain, but the USA made the right decision” in rejecting Keystone XL, May said.

Obama rejected Keystone in November, saying it would not make a meaningful long-term contribution to the US economy.

“This particular Nafta investor-state attack basically destroys all of the administration’s arguments in defense of the TPP expanding the regime to thousands more corporations who could attack the U.S.”, Wallach said.

In its court filing, TransCanada argues Obama violated the Constitution by stepping on Congress’ power to regulate interstate and worldwide commerce.

When he announced his decision, Obama said Keystone XL was not in the US national interest and took on an over-inflated role in the political discourse between the USA and Canada.

The company behind the Keystone XL pipeline has taken legal action against the US government for the Obama administration’s shootdown of the cross-border project.

The project ran into opposition from environmental groups, and blocking it became a litmus test of the green movement’s ability to hinder fossil fuel extraction in Canada’s oil sands. A State Department spokesperson said it would not comment on pending litigation.

In two months, new Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will visit the White House for a state dinner.

“So if Congress is serious about wanting to create jobs, this was not the way to do it”, he continued.

The company that was building the pipeline additionally sued the U.

The pipeline, which TransCanada first proposed in 2008, would have helped deliver up to 900,000 barrels of crude oil daily from the tar sands of the Canadian province of Alberta through the U.S. Great Plains and to the Gulf Coast.