MOSCOW, September 8 (RIA Novosti) – A ruling by the Supreme Court of Nebraska on the law that gave Governor Dave Heineman authority to approve the Keystone XL pipeline route through the state, may have impact going well beyond the state of Nebraska, local media report, as the state’s Attorney General Jon Bruning remains confident that the construction of the pipeline will be approved.
“I think the legislature clearly acted within the bounds of our constitution,” Bruning said as quoted by the Nebraska Radio Network on Monday.
The Nebraska Supreme Court heard oral arguments on the Keystone XL pipeline lawsuit earlier on Friday. The case was brought by four landowners, arguing that the Nebraska Governor Dave Heineman had no right to bless a route for the Keystone XL pipeline as this decision should have been left to an independent state agency.
If the landowners win the case, the state’s Public Services Commission will decide on the future of the pipeline and its decision is expected to come next summer. And if Heineman prevails, the US State Department will pass its final decision on whether the pipeline is in the national interest of the United States to the White House.
Keystone XL is a proposed $5.4 billion 1,179-mile (1,897 km) oil pipeline stretching from Canada to the United States. The project has been repeatedly opposed by the US environmentalists.
