Biden to Cancel the Keystone XL Pipeline

January 20, 2021

Today, President Biden and Vice President Harris were officially sworn into office. There has been much speculation regarding the immediate actions the new administration will take, as a slate of executive orders are expected. So far, it appears as though the Biden Administration will be as radical on climate issues as many feared.

The New York Times reports:

In addition to rejoining the Paris Agreement on Wednesday, the new president intends to cancel the Keystone XL pipeline permit in his first hours in office, multiple people close to the new administration have said. In the following days, people with knowledge of the team’s plans said, Mr. Biden will issue a series of executive orders that start the process of rolling back some of the Trump administration’s most debated environmental decisions…and lay the groundwork for ambitious new policies.

In this case, it is safe to assume that “ambitious” is synonymous with “radical.” Biden has long claimed to be an ally of unions, but expected action on his first day in office is proving otherwise. The Keystone XL project would sustain about 11,000 jobs in 2021 alone, including 8,000 union jobs. The project would also generate $1.6 billion in gross wages. These are jobs and wages that Americans need more than ever, and Biden has yet to provide a plan to address these losses.

Alberta Premier Jason Kenney made a statement expressing his deep concern that the Biden Administration will cancel permits for the project’s construction. Fox Business reports: 

“Doing so would kill jobs on both sides of the border, weaken the critically important Canada-U.S. relationship, and undermine U.S. national security by making the United States more dependent on OPEC oil imports in the future,” Kenney said.