TransCanada Corp. — the developer behind the Keystone XL pipeline — is filing lawsuits against the White House over the Obama administration’s rejection of the project.
According to The Hill, TransCanada has filed two separate suits: one in Houston federal court claiming Obama overstepped his executive authority and an international petition under the North American Free Trade Agreement “seeking to recover the $15 billion in costs and damages it incurred” in relation to the pipeline.
TransCanada released a statement Wednesday on the the two suits:
TransCanada’s legal actions challenge the foundation of the U.S. administration’s decision to deny a presidential border crossing permit for the project. In its decision, the U.S. State Department acknowledged the denial was not based on the merits of the project. Rather, it was a symbolic gesture based on speculation about the perceptions of the international community regarding the administration’s leadership on climate change and the president’s assertion of unprecedented, independent powers.