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The project, which was rejected by the Obama administration for violating climate change targets, was approved by Trump.
US President-elect Joe Biden plans to cancel the permit for the $ 9 billion Keystone XL pipeline project as one of his first acts in office, possibly on his first day, according to a source close to his thinking .
President Donald Trump, a Republican, had made the construction of the pipeline a central promise of his presidential campaign. Biden, who will be inaugurated on Wednesday, was Deputy Chairman of the Democratic Administration Barack Obama when he dismissed the project as contrary to his efforts to tackle climate change.
The words “Cancel Keystone XL pipeline license” are on a list of executive actions likely scheduled for the first day of Biden’s presidency, according to an earlier report by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC).
Biden had promised to remove the presidential permit from the pipeline if he became president.
The Ambassador of Canada to the United States said she would continue to promote a project that she said fits with the environmental plans of the two countries. “There is no better climate action partner for the United States than Canada as we work together for a green transition,” Ambassador Kirsten Hillman said in a statement.
A controversial project
The Keystone XL pipeline, which has been slowed down by legal issues in the United States, has been controversial since its proposal more than 10 years ago. The 1,897 km (1,179 mile) segment is designed to transport oil from the Canadian province of Alberta through the US states of Montana, South Dakota and Nebraska, and then connect to an existing grid supplying the oil gross to the Gulf Coast. The line would carry up to 830,000 barrels of oil per day.
Opponents argue this will boost development of Canada’s tar sands, thereby contributing to climate change. The Canadian oil industry says the project is needed to supply heavy crude to US refineries on the Gulf Coast, which need the oil to replace declining volumes in Latin America.
The project has also encountered opposition from environmentalists seeking to curb oil sands expansion by opposing new pipelines to get its crude to refineries.
Alberta Premier Jason Kenney said on Twitter that the cancellation would kill jobs, weaken U.S.-Canada relations and undermine U.S. national security by making it more dependent on oil imports from OPEC. TC Energy Corp., which operates the pipeline, said it will reach net zero emissions by 2023 when it goes live. The company also pledged to use only renewable energy sources by 2030 in a bid to gain Biden’s support.
Construction is well underway in Canada and the international border crossing is complete. In the United States, TC has begun construction of pumping stations in each of the states crossed by the line, but legal setbacks have cost it much of the 2020 construction season.
Former Democratic President Barack Obama ended the project in 2015, saying Canada would reap most of the economic benefits, while the project would increase greenhouse gas emissions.
Trump issued a presidential permit in 2017 that allowed the line to move forward, and several environmental groups have sued the US government.
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