Posted on 02/18/2015 10:13:09 AM PST by Theoria
Last month, a Nebraska Supreme Court decision approved a route for the proposed Keystone XL pipeline through the state. That decision effectively allowed TransCanada, the pipeline company, to begin issuing eminent domain papers to landowners in the way. But a fresh lawsuit brought by nearly 70 landowners has spurred a Nebraska judge to halt TransCanada’s eminent domain proceedings, the Huffington Post reported Thursday.
“TransCanada sees the writing on the wall,” Jane Kleeb, director of Bold Nebraska, a group fighting the pipeline, said in a statement following the judge’s decision to issue an injunction. “Nebraska landowners are not going to cave to their threats and we will now see them in our Supreme Court to finally get clarity on the legality of a foreign corporation using eminent domain for private gain.”
The injunction temporarily bars TransCanada from forcing any holdout landowner to sell rights to their land, even if they were not one of the 70 landowners included in the lawsuit.
The Nebraska route approved for Keystone XL last month remains highly controversial. It still crosses the Ogallala Aquifer, a major source of drinking water, as well as the extremely sensitive ecosystem of the Sandhills of north-central Nebraska. At a press conference last month, environmental activists said that it leaves TransCanada in the vulnerable position of having to defend an environmentally precarious route, giving President Obama more of a reason to veto pro-Keystone XL legislation.
Congress on Wednesday passed legislation to approve Keystone XL, but the White House has made it clear that Obama will veto any bill forcing approval of the pipeline until the State Department has finished its environmental review.
(Excerpt) Read more at newsweek.com ...
Is this one of the DEM-Pocket Judges?
Well, I suppose Hell might very well freeze over this week.
Besides, by now they need to build a 3XL pipeline.....
Reminds me of India.
Their so-called democracy is just political power-plays at all levels, resulting in chaos.
Its probably where we are headed.
Good grief.
How long have they been "reviewing" this?
Not a fan of eminent domain in most cases. I don’t blame the landowners.
Doesn’t warren buffett call nebraska home? Buying land in the proposed route and then putting up a court battle wouldn’ t be beneath him.
Agreed. One (of many) problems with eminent domain is that the owners get paid a "just compensation" value for their property, and nothing more. Nothing more for the aggravation of having to move, etc.
So I say this. If someone needs your land that badly, let 'em pay 150% of the fair market value for it.
Yeah, without the details of what the landowners are being offered it’s hard to really judge this.
I definitely do not approve of eminent domain
why not just go around them?
And not the easement value either.
Eminent domain is arguably OK for certain public projects, but not for a foreign for-profit corporation.
I was all over that area last summer on the back roads.
Except for along the Missouri River on the eastern edge it is almost all range land, not farm land.
It’s way east of the Sand Hills, was out there in ‘12.
Lots of crossroads towns, some a little bigger, but no big towns. Probably no town 10k in size.
Environmental impact? I think very little.
Damn shame foreign company can’t come in and force me to sell my land. Damn shame.
My family’s from Nebraska and I’ve been all over the state. As far as environmental impact goes, I don’t think that’s the sum of the issue. Why should people be forced to sell and then run off their land so a foreign corporation can make a profit and politicians can pretend they’re getting something done? With the price of oil where it is, it wouldn’t surprise me to see these guys get a hold of the land and then decide not to build until they could make more money. Bullshit.
NIMBYs: the core of the bipartisan, socialist, political/regulator class. They stand against the real private property rights of all others.
In my area, the socialist NIMBYs are against pipelines, exploratory drilling for uranium and natural gas, etc. But they gossip and push for ever more regulations and fees against vacant lot owners building their own homes on their own properties. Most of them receive large incomes from federal, state or local government.
Nimby’s around here don’t like how many cars people can have on their lawn. They are concerned about ‘home’ prices....like that has anything to do with my right to put flamingos on my lawn or keep Christmas lights up year round.
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