A coalition of Republican attorneys general from twenty-one states sued President Joe Biden and members of his administration on Wednesday for revoking a key permit for the Keystone XL oil pipeline in efforts to overturn the president’s move to cancel the 1,200-mile-long pipeline.

The lawsuit, led by the attorneys general of Texas and Montana, argues that the president overstepped his authority on his first day of office when he rescinded the permits for the oil pipeline and contended that instead, the issue should be left up to Congress. The Keystone order was one of several executive actions Biden has taken since becoming president that addresses climate change.

“Cabinet Defendants’ actions . . . have the possibility of depriving States and local governments of millions of dollars in revenues. Yet, far from providing a reasoned explanation for why they are taking their actions, they have not provided any reason at all,” the suit states.

In a statement on the lawsuit, Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen (R) pleaded, “The power to regulate foreign and interstate commerce belongs to Congress—not the President. This is another example of Joe Biden overstepping his constitutional role to the detriment of Montanans.”

The pipeline would move approximately 830,000 barrels of crude oil daily, or thirty-five million gallons, from western Canada to Steele City, Nebraska, where it’s also connected to a larger system of pipelines and run through a number of states.

Republicans have long advocated against Biden’s move to revoke the permit for the U.S.-Canada pipeline, as the project, which was revived under former President Donald Trump’s administration after it hit a brick wall during former President Barack Obama’s term, would have created jobs and revenue across the country.

Some moderate Democrats like Sens. Joe Manchin (W.Va.) and Jon Tester (Mont.) have also urged Biden to consider reversing his decision.

Biden and supporters of the move, however, pushed that the pipeline’s existence would make climate change worse.

But experts in the field have differing opinions over whether the pipeline should be canceled.

“The pipeline is infrastructure that is needed for the coming decades of sustained oil demand in this country for refined products and petrochemicals. Even while the [twenty-first]-century energy transition is underway, the nation’s economy and society will continue to need sustained traditional energy deliveries for decades to come,” John Hofmeister, former president of Shell Oil Company and founder and chief executive officer at Citizens for Affordable Energy, said.

Hofmeister added, “The cancellation on day one of the Biden presidency is nothing short of a political finger in the eye, with more of the same to follow. Real people suffer; consumers will pay a price; the environment will be harmed so a politician can pay off a promise to his base supporters.”

Martin Pasqualetti, a professor in the School of Geographical Sciences and Urban Planning at Arizona State University, said, “Canceling the Keystone XL oil pipeline is the right thing to do.”

“Allowing it to continue creates a panoply of negative consequences,” Pasqualetti noted, adding that, “It perpetuates our fossil fuel economy, thereby moving us in the wrong direction.”

“We do not need the oil. We have an oil glut that we are unable to even store the surplus on land,” Pasqualetti said.

TC Energy Corporation, the Canadian company behind the design and construction of the Keystone XL pipeline, estimated that Biden’s order would lay off nearly one thousand employees as a result.

“The immediate layoffs are an insult to both organized and non-represented workers along the pipeline’s path. The decision is pure political retribution for the Trump approval of the pipeline, following the Obama administration’s decision not to grant a permit,” Hofmeister said.

But Pasqualetti argued, “There are more jobs in renewable energy development than in fossil fuel development.”

Despite Biden’s argument that the United States should prioritize “the development of a clean energy economy, which will, in turn, create good jobs,” hundreds of workers were left unemployed due to the president’s order.

“Pipeline is safer, environmentally more responsible, and more economical for consumers than freight trains or trucks, which will otherwise deliver the oil. Political revenge is costing the nation much-needed infrastructure and high-paying union jobs from a president who wants to become the ‘infrastructure and jobs’ president,” Hofmeister said.

Rachel Bucchino is a reporter at the National Interest. Her work has appeared in The Washington Post, U.S. News & World Report and The Hill. 

Image: Reuters