In A Setback For Trump, Judge Blocks Keystone XL Pipeline Construction

Enlarge this image toggle caption Michael S. Williamson/The Washington Post via Getty Images Michael S. Williamson/The Washington Post via Getty Images

A U.S. district judge has issued an order blocking construction of the controversial transnational Keystone XL Pipeline until the State Department conducts further study of its impact on the environment. The decision, issued by Judge Brian Morris of the U.S. District Court for the District of Montana, does not permanently block a permit but requires the administration to conduct a more complete review of potential adverse impacts related to climate change, cultural resources and endangered species. The Indigenous Environmental Network, North Coast Rivers Alliance, Northern Plains Resource Council and other groups sued TransCanada and the U.S. State Department in March to block the decision to issue a presidential permit allowing construction. It was this 2014 assessment that the State Department, under the direction of Trump's January 2017 presidential memorandum, used to make their decision to approve the pipeline, The Post reported. U.S. District Judge Brian Morris on Thursday ruled that the U.S. State Department didn’t look closely enough at factors such as the project’s viability in the face of lower oil prices, new modelling of possible oil spills and ways to mitigate them, or at the impacts of greenhouse gas emissions, The Great Falls Tribune reported.
A federal judge in Montana orders a suspension of construction on the Keystone XL pipeline, citing an inadequate review of the potential environmental impact of the pipeline.