Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt has been joined by attorneys general from five other states in supporting the lawsuit filed by TransCanada challenging President Obama’s blocking of construction of the Keystone XL pipeline.
Montana, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas and Texas joined Oklahoma in filing the Amicus Brief. It argues the President does not have the constitutional authority to block the controversial pipeline and it rests with Congress.
“Congress has the sole authority to approve the project, and they have already done so,” stated Pruitt in announcing the filing of the friend of court brief. “It is unconscionable that the president and his administration would continue to interfere with the completion of the pipeline despite the fact that he has no authority to unilaterally prohibit any and all foreign commerce he does not like.”
Pruitt said the State Department concluded that the pipeline will do little to directly harm the environment or increase greenhouse gas emissions.
“So his actions to prohibit the pipeline are solely an attempt to place his ‘legacy’ and political ambition above our country’s ability to move closer to energy independence,” said Pruitt.
In the brief, Pruitt argued that because the Constitution vests the power to regulate interstate and international commerce such as the pipeline, exclusively in the Congress, “the Executive has acted unlawfully in its interference with interstate and international commerce by prohibiting the Pipeline.”
Click here for a copy of the brief.