A federal judge blocked the construction of the Keystone XL pipeline Thursday, ruling that the Trump administration hadn’t justified changing President Obama’s earlier rulings.

Judge Brian Morris of the U.S. District Court for Montana, who was appointed by Mr. Obama, handed environmentalists a huge victory by saying Mr. Trump’s decision to sign the permit for the Canada-to-Texas pipeline shortly upon taking office did not have a sufficient basis.

According to a report in The Hill, Judge Morris said the State Department didn’t properly take into account the effects of global warming, the risk of oil spills and worldwide oil prices.

“The major spills that occurred between 2014 and 2017 qualify as significant. The department would have evaluated the spills in the 2014 [environmental review] had the information been available,” Judge Morris wrote.

https://amp.washingtontimes.com/news/2018/nov/8/judge-brian-morris-...