TC Energy, the company that owns the Keystone XL pipeline, filed a $15 billion claim against President Joe Biden on Friday because of the “U.S. Government’s breach of its NAFTA obligations,” according to a press release.
The Canadian company said that the current United States–Mexico–Canada trade pact brokered during the Trump administration contains protections for legacy NAFTA claims, but it did not give specifics.
Upon taking office, Biden unilaterally shut down the 1,200-mile pipeline, thus robbing TC Energy of its investment, causing 1,000 workers to lose their jobs and depriving the nation of 800,000 barrels of oil per day, the Washington Examiner reported.
TC Energy said Biden’s cancellation, which has contributed to rising gas prices, prevented 48,000 jobs from being created in sectors that would have benefited from the pipeline.
“We are a vital part of everyday life—delivering the energy millions of people rely on to power their lives in a sustainable way,” the company said in the press release.
“Guided by our core values of safety, responsibility, collaboration and integrity, our 7,500 people make a positive difference in the communities where we operate across Canada, the U.S. and Mexico,” it added.
Richard Prior, Keystone XL president, said Biden’s decision to revoke the Presidential Permit for the pipeline will not benefit his “sustainable energy” goals.
Instead, new developers will fear that the executive branch can crush their projects without respect for due process or private property rights.
Thus, any ambitious, long-term green-energy projects undertaken by Biden might readily reversed by the next president applying the same rationale.
“I believe this will send a concerning signal to infrastructure developers that resonates far beyond our project and will stifle innovation for a practical transition toward sustainable energy,” Prior said after Biden quashed the pipeline.
Twenty-one Republican-governed states sued the Biden administration for cancelling the pipeline.
Taking the lead in the case, Texas and Montana argued that Congress, not the president, has the authority to grant and revoke pipeline permits, Forbes reported.
“Since his first day in office, President Biden has made it his mission to undo all the progress of the previous administration, with complete disregard for the Constitutional limits on his power,” said Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton when he announced the lawsuit.
Former president Donald Trump said Biden decided to put “America last” when he cancelled the Keystone XL Pipeline, the Daily Mail reported.
