Biden to cancel Keystone XL pipeline permit
WASHINGTON: US Presidentelect Joe Biden is planning to cancel the permit for the $9 billion Keystone XL pipeline project as one of his first acts in office, and perhaps as soon as his first day, according to a source familiar with his thinking.
President Donald Trump, a Republican, had made building the pipeline a central promise of his presidential campaign. Biden, who will be inaugurated on Wednesday, was vice president in the Obama administration when it rejected the project as contrary to its efforts to combat climate change.
The words “Rescind Keystone XL pipeline permit” appear on a list of executive actions likely scheduled for the first day of Biden’s presidency.
Biden had earlier vowed to scrap the oil pipeline’s presidential permit if he became president. Advertisement Canada’s ambassador to the United States said she would continue to promote a project that she said fit with both countries’ environmental plans.
“There is no better partner for the United States on climate action than Canada as we work together for green transition,” Ambassador
Kirsten Hillman said.
The project had been slowed by legal issues in the United States. It also faced opposition from environmentalists seeking to check the expansion of Canada’s oil sands by opposing new pipelines to move its crude to refineries.
Alberta Premier Jason Kenney said on Twitter that cancellation would eliminate jobs, weaken Uscanada relations and undermine American national security by making the United States more dependent on Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries’ oil imports.