Trump plans to bring back controversial Keystone XL pipeline ‘on first day’

[JACK AYLMER]

President-elect Donald Trump wants to bring back the Keystone XL oil pipeline. But with the company behind the pipeline having cancelled their plans more than three years ago, that could get complicated.

The pipeline has been the subject of a number of approvals and reversals since the Canadian energy company TC Energy first proposed it in 2010.

In 2015, President Barack Obama rejected a proposal to allow the pipeline to cross the U.S.-Canada border. In 2017, President Trump reversed that decision and approved it. And in 2021, President Joe Biden revoked Trump’s approval.

TC Energy canceled its plans for the pipeline and pulled the steel for it out of the ground. And since 2020, the remnants of the pipeline have been owned by the government of the Canadian province of Alberta.

Politico reported last week that Trump sees reviving the 1,200 mile pipeline between Canada and Nebraska as a way to deliver on his pro-oil campaign message and reverse a Biden policy.

Politico quoted a source who they said was familiar with the plan but who they allowed to speak anonymously who said, “It’s on the list of things they want to do first day.”

Actually *reviving* the pipeline, however, will face a lot of hurdles. In addition to finding a company to do the project, that company would then need to get new local approval permits to rebuild the removed portions. The previous permits for the original pipeline would no longer apply.

The oil market is also already strong in the U.S. and Canada, which could also make companies less interested in building another pipeline. Canada has a pipeline of its own taking Alberta’s oil to its coast, and the U.S. is at record levels of oil output.

For Straight Arrow News, I’m Jack Aylmer.

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