President Biden rescinds Keystone XL ‘presidential permit’

On his first day of presidency, President Biden take action against the Keystone XL tar sand pipeline. He rescinded the “presidential permit” for the proposed pipeline, which was first introduced in 2008, that would have carried 830,000 gallons of crude oil from Alberta, Canada through Montana, South Dakota and Nebraska.

Critics of the pipeline, including landowners and indigenous communities, said it was a threat to the climate as well as threatened farmland, water resources and wildlife habitats along the proposed route.

“Today’s rejection of Keystone XL will be a huge and hard-fought victory for our communities, clean water, and climate,” Catherine Collentine, associate director of Sierra Club Dirty Fuels Campaign, said.

Former President Trump reversed former President Obama’s 2015 rejection of the pipeline, but construction of the pipeline continued to stall because of legal challenges.

“When this pipeline was proposed, it was a foregone conclusion that it would easily be approved and constructed,” Collentine said. “The fact that it still hasn’t been built over 12 years later, and that later today it will be rejected for good, is a testament to the dedication and tenacity of a nationwide movement of frontline communities, Indigenous leaders, and environmentalists working together to insist that our future is not worth sacrificing for a dirty tar sands pipeline. We applaud President Biden for listening to these voices and rejecting this terrible project once and for all.”

Many critics believe that President Biden’s immediate action against Keystone XL will kill the controversial pipeline once and for all.