ELR Citation: 52 ELR 20007
No(s). 3:21-cv-65 (S.D. Tex. Jan 6, 2022) (Brown, J.)

A district court dismissed as moot a lawsuit seeking to reinstate a permit for the Keystone XL oil pipeline to cross the U.S.-Canada border. Twenty-three states challenged the president's authority to revoke the permit, arguing the permitting decision concerned only international and interstate commerce and thus was committed exclusively to Congress under the Commerce Clause. The court found that because the pipeline developer had announced that the project was terminated, any ruling it made on whether the president had the authority to revoke the permit would be advisory. It therefore dismissed the suit as moot.