Friday 31 March 2017

US green groups sue over Keystone XL pipeline

Environmental groups in the US have sued Donald Trump's administration over the Keystone XL pipeline.

The legal challenge comes roughly two months after the President approved the controversial $8 billion (£6.4bn) project, which would carry 830,000 barrels of tar sands oil 1,180 miles from Canada to Texan refineries each day.

The coalition of green organisations says more environmental scrutiny is required - they include the Sierra Club, Natural Resources Defense Council, Northern Plains Resource Council, Bold Alliance, Friends of the Earth and the Center for Biological Diversity.

They are concerned about potential contamination of ground and surface water and said: "The Trump administration knows that a new, proper and truthful review will make it even clearer that the Keystone XL is bad for our air and water, bad for our climate and bad for the American people — and should never be built."

The coalition added government officials have "ignored significant new information that bears on the project’s threats to the people, environment and national interests of the US".

Supporters of the project say such fears are exaggerated.

President Trump, who overturned Barack Obama's rejection of the project, said the pipeline will create jobs and improve US energy independence.

Earlier this week Donald Trump signed an Executive Order rolling back policies aimed at tackling climate change.