There's a nice little argument about free trade agreements to be made now that TransCanada, the duplicitous Canadian company behind our old friend, the Keystone XL pipeline, has gone to court to try and revive the continent-spanning death funnel.

TransCanada Corp. says it will initiate a claim under the North American Free Trade Agreement and seek more than $15-billion (U.S.) in damages in response to the U.S. government's decision to deny a permit for the controversial Keystone XL pipeline. TransCanada said Wednesday it has also has filed a lawsuit in the U.S. Federal Court in Houston asserting that U.S. President Barack Obama's decision to deny construction of the $8-billion project exceeded his power under the U.S. Constitution… On Wednesday, TransCanada said the $15-billion claim it will make through its NAFTA action represents the initial estimated loss of value of TransCanada's investments. "TransCanada has invested billions of dollars in assets that have now been rendered useless for the intended purpose, specifically the transportation of Canadian and American oil—as outlined in our contracts. The preliminary damages figure for the NAFTA claim takes into account the lost value of these investments, as well as the lost economic return."

Not to mention the sunk cost of all those eminent domain claims through which TransCanada tried to lift the land of ranchers in Nebraska and elsewhere. But TransCanada is attacking on two fronts. The court in Houston is one of America's most business-friendly. And, not for nothing, and in what I am sure is a coincidence, South Dakota renewed TransCanada's state permit on Monday.

Chris Nelson, the chair of the commission, concluded TransCanada could still meet all the conditions of its expired permit. The fact TransCanada was denied a needed presidential permit to cross international borders was not a reason to deny certification because the next president could grant it, the PUC chair said. He stated that the lawyers representing the Intervenors—indigenous tribes, the grassroots group Dakota Rural Action, and individual landowners—did not make a case proving TransCanada was unable to meet any of the conditions required to build the pipeline, despite a nine-day hearing last summer at which Intervenors presented reams of evidence and allegations to the contrary. "I can't change that we have different world views," Nelson said to his "Native American friends" before the vote was taken. He thanked the "natives" for explaining to him why they vehemently opposed the pipeline. His decision must be based on the law, not emotions, he told them.

Ni shagu nazad, Stalin said when the Germans invaded. Not one step backwards. There is enough money in our politics to make any victory fragile and temporary.

Charles P. Pierce Charles P Pierce is the author of four books, most recently Idiot America, and has been a working journalist since 1976.

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