"The company behind the controversial Keystone XL pipeline has won a major victory in Nebraska, where environmental activists, two Native American tribes and some local landowners had sought to derail its construction. The state's Supreme Court on Friday ruled unanimously in favor of an alternate route proposed by TC Energy, formerly known as TransCanada.
The seven-judge panel decided that Nebraska's Public Service Commission — an elected body designated by the state legislature "as the agency responsible for determining which pipeline route is in the public interest," according to the court — acted correctly in granting a permit for the Mainline Alternative Route put forward by TC Energy.
The PSC, a group comprising four Republicans and one Democrat, narrowly certified the alternative route in 2017, but only after rejecting TC Energy's preferred route through Nebraska's Sandhills region. The Sierra Club, the Yankton Sioux Tribe of South Dakota and the Ponca Tribe of Nebraska, and local landowners, argued in their appeal that the PSC failed to adequately vet the new route or respect due process rights or tribal sovereignty."
Colin Dwyer reports for NPR August 23, 2019.
SEE ALSO:
"Keystone XL Pipeline Plan Is Approved by Nebraska Supreme Court" (New York Times)
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