Biden planning to cancel Keystone XL pipeline permit as soon as his first day in office

Joe Biden plans to cancel the permit for Keystone XL pipeline project which Republican President Donald Trump had promised to continue during his presidential campaign.

Biden, who will be inaugurated on Wednesday, wants to cancel the $9 billion 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.

Biden served as vice president in the Obama administration when it rejected the project as part of its efforts to combat climate change.

Keystone XL is part of the Keystone oil pipeline system in Canada and the United States that was commissioned in 2010.

The project would move oil from the province of Alberta to Nebraska, but it had been slowed due to legal issues in the US.

Also, various environmental groups, citizens, and politicians raised concerns about the potential negative impacts of the oil pipeline, mainly the risk of oil spills along the pipeline’s route.

In 2015, former Democratic President Barack Obama stopped the project, arguing Canada would gain most of the economic benefits, while the project would contribute to greenhouse gas emissions.

Trump, however, issued a presidential permit in 2017 allowing the line to move forward, but his decision prompted several environmental groups to sue the US government.

Biden had previously pledged to scrap the oil pipeline’s presidential permit if he became president.

Now, according to an earlier report by the Canadian Broadcasting Corp (CBC), the words "Rescind Keystone XL pipeline permit" were on a list of executive actions Biden is likely to take on the first day of his presidency.

Meanwhile, Canada’s ambassador to the United States said she would keep promoting a project that she believed are environmentally responsible for both countries.

“There is no better partner for the US on climate action than Canada as we work together for green transition,” Ambassador Kirsten Hillman said in a statement.

Alberta Premier Jason Kenney on Twitter said that cancellation would cut jobs, undermine US-Canada relations as well as American national security by making the US more dependent on OPEC oil imports.

TC Energy Corp., which operates the pipeline, said it plans to achieve net zero emissions by 2023 when it enters service, promising to use only renewable energy sources by 2030 so that Biden would support the project.

Currently, the project’s construction is well under way in Canada and the international border crossing has been completed. In the United States, TC began constructing pump stations in each of the states the line will pass through, although legal setbacks held back much of the 2020 construction season.

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