President-elect Joe Biden is expected to halt the permit for the $9billion Keystone XL pipeline project on his first day in office.
The project was initially blocked by Barack Obama‘s administration because of environmental concerns but in 2017, Donald Trump issued a presidential permit that allowed the controversial plan to move forward.
The Keystone XL pipeline extension was proposed by the energy infrastructure company TransCanada in 2008.
The extension project was designed to transport the planet’s dirtiest fossil fuel to market faster.
The expansion would coexist with the company’s existing project, Keystone Pipeline System, which has been operating since 2008.
The extension would dramatically increase capacity to process the 168 billion barrels of crude oil locked up in Canada‘s boreal forest.
The project would transport 830,000 barrels of Alberta tar oil per day to refineries on the Gulf Coast of Texas.
According to CDC, the words “rescind Keystone XL pipeline permit” appears on a list of executive actions that will likely take place on Biden‘s first day in office.
Biden had vowed to scrap the oil pipeline’s presidential permit if he became president.
The president-elect’s decision will put in a collision course with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who supports the controversial Canada-US oil pipeline.
Trudeau has long argued the project would help reduce reliance on foreign oil imports and create new jobs.
In May, Biden’s policy director Stef Feldman told Politico that the former vice president supported Obama’s decision to delay the project in 2015 and will “proudly stand in the Roosevelt Room again as president and stop it for good by rescinding the Keystone XL pipeline permit.”
Canadian Ambassador to the US Kirsten Hillman said in a statement to Reuters that Trudeau’s government believes Keystone XL is compatible with both countries’ climate action goals.
“There is no better partner for the U.S. on climate action than Canada as we work together for green transition,” Hillman said.
In 2017, Trump signed five executive orders including one to revive the Keystone XL pipeline, which would span nearly 1,200 miles across US states.
“This is on the Keystone pipeline, something that has been in dispute and it is subject to a renegotiation of terms by us,” Trump said at the time.
“We are going to renegotiate some of the terms. And then if they like, we’ll see if we can get that pipeline built. A lot of jobs, 28,000 jobs. Great construction jobs.”
