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“The only question has always been whether the job can avoid the death sentence,” said an oil and gas lobbyist who requested anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the press. “And they never had any luck.”
A spokesperson for Biden’s transition declined to comment.
Canadian Ambassador to Washington Kirsten Hillman has not confirmed the reports. “The Government of Canada continues to support the Keystone XL project,” she said in a statement to POLITICO on Sunday evening. “Keystone XL is part of Canada’s climate plan. It will also contribute to US energy security and economic competitiveness.”
Terminating Keystone XL would undo one of the first actions of ruling President Donald Trump and kill a project that had become a political totem pole in the fight between climate activists and the oil industry. Although many analysts say the shale oil boom in the United States has made new sources of Canadian crude less important, TC Energy has fought for years legal challenges against obtaining state permits needed to build. the pipeline.
The reaction: TC Energy announced on Sunday that Keystone XL will achieve net zero emissions in all operations once it begins operating in 2023. A spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment on Biden’s executive control plans .
Environmentalists applauded the decision. “President-elect Biden shows courage and empathy towards the farmers, ranchers and tribal nations who face a continuing threat that has disrupted their lives for more than a decade,” said Jane Kleeb, founder of Bold Nebraska, a core group focused on scuttling. the project.
Canada-US Relations: TC Energy first proposed the $ 8 billion pipeline in 2008, saying the 1,200-mile project was essential to deliver crude from Western Canada to refineries in the Midwest. The Obama administration, however, in 2015 denied a cross-border permit for the pipeline, saying the oil it delivers would worsen climate change.
Keystone XL was one of the few issues that Trump and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau agreed on. The Liberal government planned to continue advocating for the pipeline.
In a congratulatory call with Biden on November 9, Trudeau told the new president he looks forward to joining forces to tackle climate change while also cooperating on energy projects like the Keystone XL.
Alberta Premier Jason Kenney bet Biden wouldn’t cancel a project already under construction when he announced in March that his government had taken a $ 1.1 billion stake in Keystone XL. Preliminary construction began last fall in Montana, Nebraska and South Dakota.
The provincial government has openly considered legal intervention last year in a court case that suspended construction of the pipeline and allegedly hired U.S. lobbyists to defend its case in Washington.
Stef Feldman, political director of Biden’s campaign, told POLITICO in May that the Democrat “would proudly run into the Roosevelt Hall as president and arrest him for good.”
And after: In a statement Sunday night, Kenney pledged to work with TC Energy “to use all available legal avenues to protect” Alberta’s interests in the pipeline.
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