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Documents show Biden plans Day 1 order nixing Keystone XL

Last Updated Jan 18, 2021 at 6:18 am MDT

Pipes intended for construction of the Keystone XL pipeline are shown in Gascoyne, N.D. on Wednesday April 22, 2015. TC Energy Corp. reported a first-quarter profit of $1.15 billion, up from $1.0 billion a year ago. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Alex Panetta

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Transition documents suggest president-elect Joe Biden plans to block the Keystone XL pipeline on his first day in the White House.

The documents, seen by The Canadian Press, include a to-do list dated Wednesday that includes rescinding the construction permit signed by predecessor Donald Trump.

Campaign officials promised in May that if elected, Biden would cancel the controversial cross-border project, but the timeline was never clear until now.

The pipeline expansion would ferry up to 830,000 additional barrels a day of diluted bitumen from Alberta’s oilsands to refineries along the U.S. Gulf Coast.

Some 200 kilometres of pipe have already been installed, including over the Canada-U. S. border, and construction has begun on pump stations in Alberta and several U.S. states.

Alberta Premier Jason Kenney took to Facebook to post a response.

I am deeply concerned by reports that the incoming administration of President-elect Joe Biden may repeal the…

Posted by Jason Kenney onĀ Sunday, January 17, 2021

Biden was vice-president in 2015 when President Barack Obama initially rejected Keystone XL for fear it would worsen climate change. Trump approved it again in 2019.