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Keystone XL becomes US election issue following Biden pledge
NORTH AMERICA
PRESUMPTIVE US Democratic presiden- tial nominee Joe Biden has said that he would cancel the approval granted to the Keystone XL pipeline from Canada if he beats US President Donald Trump in November’s election. The announcement marks yet another setback for the long-delayed pipeline, which recently lost a permit necessary for crossing bodies of water in a US federal court.
Keystone XL, which is being developed by Canada’s TC Energy, has been strongly contested for years. Indeed, it should come as no surprise that Biden opposes the project, given his posi- tion in the administration of former President Barack Obama, who rejected the pipeline in 2015. Obama cited concerns over the environ- mental impact of greenhouse gas (GHG) emis- sions from Canada’s oil sands, where significant new pipeline capacity would allow production to grow.
All of the participants in the Democratic race for the presidential nomination had fairly far-reaching environmental policies, though Biden’s is not quite as ambitious as some of the policies of his rivals who have since dropped out. Nonetheless, a Democratic presidency would mark a significant turnaround from the Trump era, during which many environmental regula- tions were relaxed as the administration sought to cut red tape and boost energy production.
Oil sands producers, for their part, have tried to emphasise the strides they have made in reducing emissions in recent years. Indeed, Cenovus Energy has unveiled a goal of net zero emissions by 2050, illustrating a belief that such targets need not rule out oil sands development.
However, major infrastructure projects are at risk of becoming strongly politicised – which has happened to other pipelines too, not just Keystone XL. And TC Energy was always going to struggle to win over those opposed to Key- stone XL going ahead, so Biden’s position is not unexpected.
TC Energy continues to talk up the potential of the pipeline to create jobs, which could come to be seen as far more significant in the wake of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and the spike in unemployment that it has caused.
“The project will further stimulate millions of dollars in new provincial, state and local taxes
along the pipeline route and also ensures our energy demands are met with North Ameri- can production, improving the security of our domesticsupplychains,”aTCEnergystatement said this week.
Biden’s position has been criticised by Alberta Premier Jason Kenney, whose province agreed earlier this year to provide some of the funding for Keystone XL to TC Energy.
Kenney said Biden would have to answer to unionised workers, who support construction of the project, and that whoever wins the Novem- ber election would have to work with “facts on the ground”. He noted that Biden’s stance on Keystone XL was unclear at the time that Alberta decided to invest in the project.
“We made this strategic investment exactly because there was obvious political risk and the markets were not prepared to finance on a con- ventional basis a project with that kind of risk,” Kenney said.
If Biden is elected, he would have the power to cancel construction of the project at any time, according to a Southern Methodist University professor of energy law, James Coleman, who was cited by CBC News. He added that TC Energy would be able to take legal action in the event of such a cancellation, but that this process could last for years, with the odds not in favour of the company.™
Joe Biden has voiced his opposition to Keystone XL.
Oil sands producers, for their part, have tried to emphasise the strides they have made in reducing emissions in recent years.
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