Barack Obama Faces Lawsuit: Sued for $15 BILLION
Obama is being sued for $15 billion dollars and that seems like a lot.
Although Barry has become a very wealthy man, he’s not “white wealthy,” so billions matter.
Nevertheless, in the scheme of things, $15 billion would be a small price to pay considering the devastation Barry has heaped on the formerly muscular shoulders of Lady Liberty.
As Conservative Daily reports, at least one group wants a piece of Obama’s lightly-tanned hide.
In June of last year, TransCanada, the company behind the Keystone XL pipeline, sued the Obama administration for $15 billion, citing the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) as justification.
The lawsuit claimed that Obama used “arbitrary and contrived” reasoning to delay the pipeline’s construction for seven years. TransCanada also believed they had cause to expect the pipeline to be approved after Obama rejected the pipeline in November of 2015. The pipeline will be 1,179-miles long from Hardisty, Alberta, to Steele City, Nebraska, when it is finally built.
TransCanada filed their NAFTA claim with the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes, an international institution that helps settle disputes between international investors. TransCanada also filed a suit in Texas constitutional grounds, but without seeking monetary compensation in that case.
Obama cited environmental concerns for cancelling the pipeline. “America is now a global leader when it comes to taking serious action to fight climate change, and frankly, approving this project would have undercut that leadership,” Obama said.
But TransCanada alleged that the environmental concerns were not grounded in real science, and that Obama was merely signaling moral superiority on the world stage.
We certainly are learning the costs associated with that moral authority.
Along with the need for independence from foreign oil sources, there was the ancillary benefit of jobs.
The State Department concluded in January 2015 that the project would create about 42,000 jobs directly as well as indirectly. Of those 3,900 will be construction jobs if it is built in one year. The pipeline will create at least 50 permanent jobs.
Obama gave billions to his green energy cronies, and America has nothing to show for it. The same technological advances in green energy were coming with or without government interference. But many Obama donors made billions as American taxpayers got the shaft–the empty coal mine shaft at that.
Who knows the real costs associated with the green energy debacle, as the Obama government never gave Americans the real truth. Whether discussing non-functioning windmills or $33 a gallon algae fuel replacing $5 a gallon carrier fuel, the Obama administration cooked the books.
Back to the Jobs
President Trump is a realist. Certainly he understands the need to examine the future of green energy.
However, fossil fuels are undoubtedly needed. Further, you can’t force green energy ahead of its time, particularly when the energy grid requires fossil fuels.
Thus, as the article continues,
Four days after his inauguration, President Trump issued a presidential memo inviting TransCanada to reapply for Keystone permits. Three days later, TransCanada temporarily suspended its lawsuit until March 27. Trump proved to be far more accommodating than Obama had been. Dropping the lawsuit was dependent on the approval of a presidential permit necessary to go ahead with the project.
“Our NAFTA challenge remains suspended as we continue to work with the Administration on our Presidential Permit application,” said TransCanada spokesman Terry Cunha.
“The lawsuit was a response to President Obama’s rejection of the pipeline,” said Simon Lester of Cato Institute’s Center for Trade Policy Studies. “Once President Trump changed policy, and encouraged TransCanada to refile its application, the original basis for the lawsuit no longer existed. Until final approval is granted, however, TransCanada might not want to terminate the proceedings completely.”
In other words, President Trump saved Obama’s boney butt.
Leftists needn’t have worried, as Obama’s incompetence would have been paid by taxpayers.
Nevertheless, the crisis is over.
On Friday, March 24, President Trump finally gave official approval of the Keystone XL Pipeline. Trump made a public announcement before issuing TransCanada’s permit. “It’s a great day for jobs and energy independence,” Trump said. In his characteristic way of speaking, he called the pipeline “incredible” and “the greatest technology known to man or woman.”
TransCanada CEO Russel Girling said he was “very relieved” to finally receive approval for the pipeline.
As soon as Trump issued the permit, the lawsuit was finally and officially dropped, leaving only a harmonious relationship between the administration and TransCanada.
The lawsuit was really just a bargaining chip, a cudgel with which to beat the previous administration. The Trump administration would most likely have issued the permit with or without the lawsuit.
President Trump has been clear to the world that the global extortion of America on “green energy” has ended. America has a new direction in energy, a sane path.
No longer will the climate change Gestapo dictate our energy policy. So they can march in Washington all they want with their fake pied pipers of poppycock. But, their nonsense falls on deaf ears and closed wallets.