Friday, January 9, 2015

Nebraska Supreme Court Strikes Down Lower Court Decision On Keystone Pipeline

We don't think much of the KXL, one way or the other. On the one hand the jobs argument from proponents is overblown, the majority of any job gains are transitory. On the other hand the oil is going to get to market one way or another and we figure some of it might as well go through U.S. refineries.

One big argument that coal-hugger Tom Steyer didn't really stress in his recent $75 million political campaign against the pipeline is that it will probably have the perverse effect of raising U.S. gasoline prices.

But maybe he saw that as a feature, not a bug.

From The Hill's E-2 blog:
The Nebraska Supreme Court in a 7-4 decision released Friday struck down a lower court's challenge to the controversial Keystone XL pipeline, handing a key victory to proponents of the project.

The decision overturns a lower court's decision that had sided with landowners challenging Keystone's path through Nebraska. The lower court has said a 2012 law that allowed Nebraska Gov. Dave Heineman (R) to greenlight the route was against the state's constitution.

 By striking down the decision, the Nebraska Supreme Court removes President Obama's core argument for threatening to veto legislation approving the project....MORE