Federal Judge Blocks Keystone Pipeline XL in Major Blow to Trump Administration

Image by Elvert Barnes

A federal judge temporarily blocked construction of the controversial Keystone XL pipeline, ruling late Thursday that the Trump administration had failed to justify its decision granting a permit for the 1,200-mile long project designed to connect Canada’s oil sands fields with Texas’s Gulf Coast refineries.

The Washington Post characterized the order as a  major defeat for President Trump, who attacked the Obama administration for stopping the project in the face of protests and an environmental impact study.

Post reporters explain that the order “requires the administration to conduct a more complete review of potential adverse impacts related to climate change, cultural resources and endangered species. The court basically ordered a do-over.”

Read the Washington Post article.