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Keystone XL Pipeline Blocked By Judge; Major Blow to Trump Admin
Another bit of good news, our second post to the database this week with a positive rebuke of Trump and Republicans.
A federal judge temporarily blocked construction of the controversial Keystone XL pipeline, ruling late Thursday [11/8/18] that the Trump administration had failed to justify its decision granting a permit for the 1,200-mile long project designed to connect Canada’s oil sands fields with Texas’s Gulf Coast refineries.
The judge, Brian Morris of the U.S. District Court in Montana, said the State Department ignored crucial issues of climate change to further the president’s goal of letting the pipeline be built. In doing so, the administration ran afoul of the Administrative Procedure Act, which requires “reasoned” explanations for government decisions, particularly when they represent reversals of well-studied actions.
As usual, Trump and Republicans ignore all considerations that run contrary to the interests of their corporate overlords. This delay is a big deal.
It was a major defeat for Trump, who attacked the Obama administration.... and signed an executive order two days into his presidency setting in motion a course reversal on the Keystone XL pipeline....
....decision was one of scores of court rebukes to the Trump administration for decisions on the environment, immigration and transgender service in the military, among other issues, all made hastily and, in the opinions of dozens of judges, without the “reasoned consideration” required by federal law.
Since Trump took office, federal courts have found repeatedly that his agencies have short-circuited the regulatory process in areas ranging from water protections to chemical plant safety operations. Robust environmental and administrative procedure laws, many dating back to the 1970s, have given the administration’s opponents plenty of legal ammunition.
Thank you Judge Morris.