U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA) and 43 other Republican members of Congress made a bicameral plea to President Donald Trump requesting that he restart and hasten construction of the $8 billion Keystone XL project, a proposed 1,180 mile-long crude oil pipeline running from Alberta, Canada to Steele City, Neb.
A U.S. federal judge in Montana on Nov. 8 blocked construction of TransCanada Corp.’s Keystone XL pipeline, issuing a ruling in a 2017 lawsuit filed by several environmental groups against the U.S. government after President Trump issued a presidential permit to allow construction of the project.
The federal judge ruled that the U.S. government’s environmental analysis “fell short” in determining the overall impact the project would have on the environment and on Native American land resources, among other items. The massive pipeline will run 875 miles across six states, including about 250 miles through six Montana counties.
Now, Sen. Cassidy and his colleagues in Congress want the president to get involved again.
“While we believe that it is important to conduct appropriate environmental reviews, we also believe that further review will not contribute to the existing body of science that already supports pipeline construction and instead will have a significant impact on our rural communities,” wrote Sen. Cassidy, who was joined by U.S. Sens. Steve Daines (R-MT), John Hoeven (R-ND), Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), Joni Ernst (R-IA), Roy Blunt (R-MO), Jerry Moran (R-KS), Mike Rounds (R-SD), and Orrin Hatch (R-UT), among other senators.
“We respectfully urge you to take every practicable step to get this project over the finish line and workers back on the construction sites,” wrote the Senate and House members, who also included U.S. Reps. Frank Lucas (R-OK), Ken Calvert (R-CA), and Dan Newhouse (R-WA).
The lawmakers pointed out in their letter that the finished pipeline will create almost 6,600 “high-paying jobs in the near-term” and produce roughly $4 billion in new capital investment during 2019.
“[O]ne of your first actions as President was to expedite the approval and construction of the Keystone XL pipeline across six western and rural states,” the members wrote. “While we sincerely appreciate your strong leadership on this issue, we write now to encourage that leadership and attention to continue so that this important infrastructure project can become a reality.”
The lawmakers noted that another “harmful federal court decision in Montana” was made earlier this month by the same U.S. federal judge, who on Dec. 7 barred TransCanada from pre-construction work, including hauling pipe and assembling construction camps for some 1,000 construction workers.
This ruling already has resulted in “real and immediate consequences,” wrote the members.
“The ruling also called for more lengthy environmental review,” the lawmakers added. “This comes despite extensive review by the previous administration saying the pipeline will have minimal environmental impact and generate significant economic benefits.
“As such, we urge you to take any appropriate action necessary to move construction forward,” according to the Republican members’ letter.