![\"\"](\"http:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Screen-Shot-2021-03-26-at-7.45.51-PM.png\")
U.S. President Joe Biden signs the American Rescue Plan into law in March. The president cancelled the Keystone pipeline project shortly after taking office. (Twitter Photo: @POTUS)<\/p><\/div>\n
By iPolitics<\/p>\n
The Lead<\/strong><\/p>\n Texas, Alabama, and 19 other Republican-led states are suing U.S. President Joe Biden in federal court over his decision to cancel the Keystone XL pipeline<\/a>. The lawsuit states that Biden exceeded his authority when he revoked the pipeline\u2019s permit on his first day in office.<\/p>\n Ken Paxton, Texas\u2019s attorney general, argued that because the Keystone pipeline would cross multiple states, Congress should have the final say in whether it\u2019s built.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Executive\u2019s unilateral decision to revoke the Keystone XL permit is contrary to the constitutional structure to which the states agreed at the time of ratification,\u201d reads the lawsuit<\/a> filed in Texas\u2019s federal district court on Wednesday. \u201cThe Executive\u2019s decision also encroaches upon the states\u2019 abilities to steward and control the lands within their borders.\u201d<\/p>\n Georgia, South Carolina, and other states participating in the suit would not be in the proposed path of Keystone XL, which would carry oil from the oilsands in Alberta to refineries along the Texas Gulf Coast. However, these states argue that allowing Biden to kill the pipeline would \u201chave a ripple effect that adversely impacts the economy and environment in non-pipeline states.\u201d<\/p>\n Biden cancelled the Keystone XL permit, citing concerns that burning oilsands crude would worsen climate change.<\/p>\n The White House has yet to comment on the lawsuit. NBC News<\/a> has more.<\/p>\n Internationally<\/strong><\/p>\n An Italian court acquitted energy giants Eni and Shell<\/a> in a long-running corruption case involving the $1.3-billion purchase of an offshore oil block in 2011. Prosecutors had argued that most of the money was used to bribe Nigerian politicians. Shortly after the companies and their respective managers were cleared of any wrongdoing, many government officials expressed their disappointment in the ruling.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is a huge blow for natural-resource governance and transparency in Nigeria,\u201d Matthew Page, an associate fellow at the Chatham House Africa program, told Reuters<\/a>. \u201cThis judgment will continue to sting.\u201d<\/p>\n In other news, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said Wednesday that global oil demand will not return to pre-pandemic levels until 2023<\/a>, nor is the oil market likely to catch up to its pre-pandemic trajectory, as many national governments begin to shift away from fossil fuels.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, a report released by the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) found that 10.3 million people have been displaced by climate-change-induced disasters in the last six months<\/a>. About 60 per cent of the people displaced by climate disasters were in Asia, as climate change has made flooding and droughts across the continent more severe.<\/p>\n \u201cThings are getting worse, as climate change aggravates existing factors like poverty, conflict, and political instability,\u201d said Helen Brunt, the IFRC\u2019s Asia-Pacific migration and displacement coordinator. \u201cThe compounded impact makes recovery longer and more difficult: People barely have time to recover and they\u2019re slammed with another disaster.\u201d<\/p>\n On Thursday morning at 10:13 a.m., West Texas Intermediate was trading at US$63.17 and Brent Crude was going for US$66.48.<\/a><\/p>\n In Canada<\/strong><\/p>\n The Na-Cho Ny\u00e4k Dun First Nation is suing the Yukon government for failing to consult them before approving a mineral-exploration project in the Beaver River watershed, which is situated in the First Nation\u2019s traditional territory. The territorial government gave the Vancouver-based Metallic Minerals Corp. permission to scour part of the region for lead, silver, and zinc deposits for the next 10 years.<\/p>\n \u201cWe see this as an appalling failure of consultation,\u201d said Nuri Frame, the lawyer representing the Na-Cho Ny\u00e4k Dun. \u201cYou can\u2019t have consultation if your mind is made up before having the conversation.\u201d CBC News<\/a> has the full story.<\/p>\n Alberta Environment Minister Jason Nixon has reassured rural municipalities that their water supply won\u2019t be affected by industrial development like coal mining<\/a>. Many communities were worried after the United Conservative government revealed its plan to expand coal mining along the eastern slopes of the Rocky mountains, which is the main source of drinking water for many municipalities.<\/p>\n \u201cAlberta continues to have some of the most rigorous water-licence (and) environmental rules (to protect) water,\u201d Nixon told attendees of a Rural Municipalities of Alberta convention.<\/p>\n Finally, Karina Gould, Canada\u2019s minister of International Development, and Mary Ng, the minister of Small Business, Export Promotion and International Trade, announced the establishment of the Canada-African Development Bank Climate Fund<\/a> on Wednesday. The ministers were attending the first Canada-Africa Clean Growth Symposium earlier this week.<\/p>\n Gould also announced $132.9 million to help create the climate fund, which seeks to increase women\u2019s participation in climate action and mobilize private capital for climate investment in Africa.<\/p>\n