Keystone Case Against US Delayed as Court Considers Move to Dismiss

An initial hearing in the TransCanada lawsuit against the Obama administration over the rejection of the Keystone XL pipeline has been postponed while the court considers a US motion to dismiss the case, TransCanada spokesman Mark Cooper told Sputnik.

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — A scheduling conference set for April 18 was canceled and a new date has yet to be chosen, Cooper said on Wednesday.

"The [US] government has filed a motion to dismiss that constitutional challenge and TransCanada is now working on a response," Cooper explained. "That’s where it stands right now."

TransCanada’s lawsuit claims the US Constitution gives the Congress, and not the president, the power to regulate interstate and international commerce.

Congress approved a bill allowing the construction of the Keystone XL pipeline, but President Barack Obama vetoed the legislation in February.

The lawsuit was filed in the US District Court in the state of Texas. TransCanada is seeking a court determination that Obama’s decision is without legal merit and that no further action is required before construction of the pipeline can proceed.

Obama claims the Keystone XL project would increase emissions of greenhouse gases that are believed responsible for global warming. In doing so, the president rejected conclusions by the US Department of State that the Keystone XL project would lower emissions when compared with alternate methods of transportation.

The proposed 1,179-mile Keystone XL pipeline would link the oil sands region in the Canadian province of Alberta to the US state of Nebraska, and all the way to the oil refineries on the Gulf of Mexico coast.