Environmental groups sue administration over Keystone XL pipeline News
Environmental groups sue administration over Keystone XL pipeline

Several environmental groups filed lawsuits [complaint, PDF; second complaint] against the Trump administration Thursday over the Keystone XL pipeline [corporate website]. In their complaints, the groups argued that the State Department [official website] violated the National Environmental Policy Act [text, PDF] by approving the pipeline without the up-to-date assessment and public input. The groups filing the lawsuits are the Center for Biological Diversity, Sierra Club, Northern Plains Resource Council, Natural Resources Defense Council, Bold Alliance, and Friends of the Earth; and the Indigenous Environmental Network and North Coast Rivers Alliance [advocacy press releases]. The groups are seeking an injunction relief preventing any action that would harm the “physical environment in connection with the project pending a full hearing on the merits.”

In January Trump signed [JURIST report] an executive order to advance the construction of the Keystone XL and Dakota Access pipelines. In December the Army Corps of Engineers had announced [JURIST report] that they would find an alternative path for the Dakota Access Pipeline. In January 2016 TransCanada filed a lawsuit [JURIST report] challenging former president Barack Obama’s veto [JURIST report] of the Keystone XL pipeline.

THIS DAY @ LAW

Pope Urban II sparks First Crusade

Pope Urban II threw his support behind what would become the First Crusade on November 27, 1095 during the Council of Clairmont. The Pope urged the council's participants to render aid to the Byzantine Empire, which was being attacked by the Seljuks. Pope Urban called for a wide coalition of rich and poor to combat the threat, which eventually resulted in the conquest of much of the Muslim-controlled Levant by the Crusaders and the establishment of the Crusader States. Read Pope Urban's address.  

Catholic Code of Canon Law revised

On November 27, 1983, the revised Code of Canon Law of the Roman Catholic Church went into effect. Learn more about the history of Canon Law from Professor Kenneth Pennington of the Catholic University of America's Columbus School of Law.

Alfred Nobel creates Nobel Prize in his will

On November 27, 1895, Alfred Nobel signed his will, creating the Nobel Prize. Learn more about the history of the Nobel Prize and the Nobel Commission.