Second act looms for KXL

All signs in U.S. point to speedy revival

Western Business Columnist Much like the rejection of Keystone XL by President Barack Obama was about climate change symbolism, president-elect Donald Trump is going out of his way to make the revival of the Alberta-to-Texas pipeline project symbolic of his back-to-business and energy security priorities.

He spoke about the proposed oilsands pipeline during his election campaign, right after his election and again while putting together his transition team, which could include none-other than KXL supporter Rex Tillerson, the former CEO of

as his Secretary of State.

In his latest plug for KXL, in an interview Sunday with Fox News, Trump suggested — unprompted — he’d move quickly on Keystone XL after taking office, after being pressed on whether his fossil-fuel-friendly administration would remain in the Paris climate agreement.

“The Keystone pipeline, you’re going to have a decision fairly quickly,” Trump said. “And you’ll see that.”

Dennis McConaghy, the former senior executive who just completed a book, Dysfuction, about the KXL saga under Obama, said it’s no surprise Trump is enthusiastic about the 800,000 barrels-aday pipeline linking Alberta’s oilsands to refineries in the U.S. Gulf.

“This is going to be $10 billion of infrastructure investment that the federal government doesn’t have to pay for,” said McConaghy.