A federal judge has blocked the controversial Keystone XL oil pipeline. Judge Brian Morris of the District Court in Montana ruled the Trump Administration's justification for approving it was incomplete.
The nearly 12-hundred mile pipeline is planned to move oil from Canada to Texas and would cross Nebraska, South Dakota, and Montana. He wrote that the government did not justify why it switched from opposing the pipeline in 2015 under President Obama to supporting it in 2017 under President Trump.
He wrote the administration tossed aside prior factual findings related to climate change to support its reversal. It said the government needs to redo its analysis to look at climate change, the impact of oil spills and endangered species, and include cultural resource examinations along the pipeline's route.
The Trump Administration or TransCanada could appeal the decision to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.