An appeals court has lifted a judge’s injunction that blocked construction of the Keystone XL oil pipeline from Canada.
But it’s not clear whether the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals’ ruling Thursday will have any immediate effect.
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TC Energy, the company that wants to build the line, previously said it is too late to begin work this year.
The three-judge appeals panel ordered the lawsuit by environmental and Native American groups dismissed because President Donald Trump had revoked a 2017 permit allowing the $8 billion pipeline to be built.
Trump issued a new permit to take its place, which Justice Department attorneys say makes the legal challenge over the pipeline’s environmental effects moot.
Attorneys for the plaintiffs accuse Trump of trying to skirt the law and they have filed another, ongoing lawsuit to block the new presidential permit.
