CHARLESTON, W.Va. — West Virginia has joined 20 other states in a lawsuit against President Joe Biden and administration officials regarding the president’s executive action revoking the permit for the Keystone XL oil pipeline.
The coalition, led by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen, argues in a complaint submitted Wednesday to a Texas federal court the president does not have the authority to cancel the permit.
Biden signed an executive order on Jan. 20 — his first day in office — revoking a 2019 permit for building and operating facilities related to the pipeline, which would have resulted in thousands of barrels of oil traveling from Canada to Nebraska.
The Obama administration rejected the project in 2015. The Trump administration approved a permit for the pipeline in 2017 and a new cross-border authorization two years later.
Biden explained the project does not serve the national interest, noting the United States should instead focus on creating energy sector jobs while leading an international approach on climate change.
The complaint argues revoking the permit is a regulation of interstate and international commerce, and only Congress has such authority.
“Revocation of the Keystone XL permit will cost the Plaintiff States and their communities tens of millions of dollars in annual tax revenue from the regulators, residents, and businesses facilitating the refining, transportation, and exportation of crude oil that would be moved and delivered by Keystone XL,” the state officials additionally say.
“As long as Keystone XL remains inoperative, these States’ residents and businesses lose the opportunity to refine, transport, and export the Keystone XL oil. If the President’s unilateral decision is legally effective, those jobs and business opportunities will never materialize.”
Knudsen and 13 other state attorneys general — including Paxton and West Virginia’s Patrick Morrisey — sent Biden a letter last month warning possible legal action related the permit’s cancellation.
“America needs every tool in her possession to emerge from the COVID-19 crisis stronger and more secure,” they wrote. “You have expressed a commitment to unite the Nation. If that is to be more than empty rhetoric, you must fully consider and account for the alarming effects your actions have on states, local communities, families, and workers.”
Morrisey criticized Biden when the president revoked the permit, saying the move showed “a lack of commitment to American workers and our nation’s energy independence.”
“Shutting down pipeline construction does not bode well for West Virginia’s economy,” he added. “Burdensome regulations increase our nation’s reliance on foreign oil, decrease good-paying jobs that put bread on the table for hundreds of thousands and increase energy costs for everyday Americans.”
West Virginia’s federal lawmakers have also raised concerns about the pipeline decision; U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., sent Biden a letter in February asking the president to reconsider revoking the permit, in which the senator stressed the pipeline is part of protecting the country’s energy security and an economic force.
“Ongoing development of responsible energy infrastructure supports your ‘Build Back Better’ priorities by keeping Americans working while strengthening North American economic and energy security,” Manchin wrote. “It is of the utmost importance that the United States maintain that energy security through strategic relationships with our allies rather than increasing reliance on OPEC nations and Russia.”
Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., has argued the Biden administration’s energy policies — including the revocation and the choice to rejoin the Paris climate agreement — will result in fewer energy jobs with low-income and rural communities dealing with the most severe effects.