Keystone XL fight moves to Nebraska where lawsuits await
GEOFFREY MORGAN
CALGARY — The fight to build the Keystone XL oil pipeline will move from the White House to Nebraska after U.S. President Donald Trump issued his approval for the controversial and long-delayed project on Friday.
Trump, flanked by TransCanada Corp. president and CEO Russ Girling in the Oval Office, issued a presidential permit for the $8-billion Keystone XL pipeline Friday, almost nine years after the 830,000 barrels-per-day oil pipeline between Alberta and the U.S. Gulf Coast was first proposed.
“You’vebeenwaitingforalong,long time,” Trump said to TransCanada’s Russ Girling. “It’s a great day for Americanjobs,andahistoricmoment for North America, and energy independence.Thisannouncementispart of a new era of American energy policy that will lower costs for American families, ... reduce our dependence on foreign oil and create thousands of jobs.”
TransCanada’s next step is to spend the coming months lining up state and local permits, including in Nebraska where the project has previously faced entrenched opposition, before construction starts.
“Thousands of people are ready and itching to get to work,” Girling said.
Despite Trump’s offer to “call Nebraska” to get things moving, Washington D.C.-based regulatory law expert Fred Jauss, a partner with Dorsey and Whitney LLP, said state and local regulatory processes could be drawn out depending on the level of opposition to a project and Trump would not be able to force those agencies to act swiftly.
“The state permitting agencies are all independent of the federal government,” Jauss said.
Environmental activists are also gearing up for a fight with Bold Nebraska, 350.org, the Sierra Club and the National Resources Defense Council warning that they would file legal challenges in an attempt to block the project.
“The fight will be very real and very intense,” 350.org founder Bill McKibben said during a conference call.
On the same call, Ponca Tribe of Nebraska chairman Larry Wright said he was “vehemently opposed to this pipeline” and said there would be protests and encampments against Keystone XL in the same way that activists attempted to block the Dakota Access Pipeline.
TransCanada spokesperson Terry Cunha said the construction of the project would start after the remaining permits are issued and Keystone XL would be in-service two to three years later.
Canadian Energy Pipelines Association president and CEO Chris Bloomer said he expected the permitting and consultation process in Nebraska could be “wrapped up by the fall” and that his organization was “very happy” with the decision.