Nebraska court clears path of Keystone XL

OMAHA, Jan. 9 (UPI) -- In a mixed decision, the Nebraska Supreme Court ruled Friday the legal premise used to sanction the route for Keystone XL was permissible.

In a long awaited case on the route of the Keystone XL pipeline, the Nebraska Supreme Court cleared one of the remaining hurdles in a battle that began when TransCanada first applied to build the project more than six years ago.

Lancaster County District Court Judge Stephanie Stacy in February ruled a state law granting power of eminent domain to former Gov. Dave Heineman was unconstitutional. State law LB 1161, passed in 2012, gave the governor authority over the Keystone XL route from Canada through the state instead of the Nebraska Public Service Commission.

Environmental campaigners pressured pipeline planner TransCanada to revise the Keystone XL route through the state to avoid a sensitive aquifer. Heineman in 2013 said he was satisfied a revised route for the tar oil sands pipeline avoided the sensitive Sand Hills aquifer of the state.

The state Supreme Court, in Thompson v. Heineman, said the majority opinion was on the side of the landowners in the case.

"But because there are not five judges of this court voting on the constitutionality of LB 1161, the legislation must stand by default," the court's ruling stated. "Accordingly, we vacate the district court's judgment." Four members of the seven-judge panel voted.

The Republican-controlled 114th Congress put the measure at the top of its agenda when it took its seat in early January. Two measures in the U.S. House and Senate are aimed at pressuring the White House to sign off on the pipeline.

White House spokesman Josh Earnest affirmed signals from the president's desk that legislation meant to get around normal vetting procedures for the pipeline would be vetoed. The review process as it stands was awaiting the Nebraska courts, he said.

"Once that is resolved, that should speed the completion of the evaluation of that project," he said in a press briefing Tuesday.

President Obama has hinted he was not in favor of the project, saying he doubted many of the jobs claims surrounding it. Ultimately, he added, the pipeline would send Canadian oil through, not to, the United States for exports.

Jack Gerard, president of the American Petroleum Institute, said the court's ruling is an opportunity for the president to seize the moment of U.S. energy security

"President Obama has no more excuses left to delay or deny the Keystone XL pipeline," he said in a statement. "More stable domestic and Canadian oil will enhance our nation's national and economic security."

Randy Thompson, the Nebraska plaintiff, said the outcome was not what he had hoped for. The ruling, he said, represents a "gross injustice" to Nebraska landowners.

"When you take a punch, you stand up and keep on fighting," Jane Kleeb, director of pipeline opponent Bold Nebraska, said in a statement "We continue to stand with President Obama in his skepticism of the export pipeline and encourage him to reject Keystone XL now."