The U.S. District Court for the District of Montana on Nov. 8 halted construction of TransCanada Corp.’s proposed Keystone XL oil pipeline, vacating the 2017 decision that issued a presidential permit for the project. The court said that that the U.S. State Department did not take a “hard look” at the environmental impacts of the project and disregarded prior climate change related findings. The ruling found that the analysis did not fully review the effect of oil prices on the viability of the project, potential for oil spills, and the cumulative effects of emissions. The decision bars the U.S. and TransCanada from engaging in any activity to advance the construction or operation of the pipeline and associated facilities until the department completes a supplemental review. The move is a victory for environmentalists who have spent over a decade fighting against the pipeline which would transport heavy crude to Steele City, Nebraska from oil sands in Canada. TransCanada submitted its first presidential permit application for the proposed cross-border pipeline project in September 2008, but the Obama administration denied the permit in 2012, citing environmental concerns posed by the pipeline route through Nebraska’s Sand Hills region. The case is Indigenous Environmental Network v. U.S. Department of State. (17-cv-00029)