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Reports have now confirmed that President-elect Joe Biden has indicated plans to cancel the Keystone XL pipeline permit via executive action on his first day in office.
The pipeline is part of a multi-phase construction project aimed at creating a direct oil pipeline to the U.S from the oil sands of Alberta.
A purported briefing note from the Biden transition team mentioning the plan was widely circulated over the weekend after being shared by the incoming president’s team with U.S stakeholders.
Obama had previously rejected the project because of the environmental threat the pipeline would create to native species and lands. Trump, on the other hand, fought during his term to get the project in gear but had little success in countering US court rulings on it.
The premiers of Alberta and Saskatchewan are condemning Biden’s plan to scrap the pipeline expansion, saying that halting construction on the controversial project will be disastrous for both the Canadian and U.S economies.
The proposed Keystone XL pipeline has been in development for more than ten years and was approved by the Canadian National Energy Board in 2010. As planned, it would be a 1,179-mile pipeline running from Alberta, Canada, to Nebraska, carrying more than 800,000 barrels of oil a day.
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