President Donald Trump turned heads with his call for restarting the Keystone XL Pipeline. While the energy industry welcomes the new business-friendly administration, the Biden administration’s damage is not easily undone.
Keystone was a privately funded project constructing 1,200 miles of pipeline that would have brought 850,000 barrels of crude oil per day from Alberta, Canada, to the U.S. Gulf Coast for refining.
Because it would cross international borders, the U.S. State Department has permitting jurisdiction. In 2015, the Obama State Department approved the project, but President Obama, urged by Secretary of State John Kerry, denied the permits in the name of climate change.
A tanker truck trailer in a field along the Keystone XL pipeline route near Oyen, Alberta, Canada, on Jan. 27, 2021, alongside a picture of former President Joe Biden, who revoked the permit for the pipeline. (Getty Images)
Trump’s reversal resumed construction, but the project was still ongoing when Joe Biden was inaugurated, and on his first day he revoked the permission, putting more than a thousand people out of work.
As a builder, Donald Trump understands the importance of infrastructure projects. The Alaska LNG pipeline will need more than a decade. Proposed LNG pipelines from Pennsylvania to New England will require at least five years.
Businesses are thinking twice before putting billions of dollars on the line. Workers are taking a second look before taking a flyer on a project that a politician could cancel. These are not only the lessons of Keystone, but also the sad legacy of Joe Biden and the lasting damage he did to our country.
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Daniel Turner is the founder and executive director of Power The Future, a national nonprofit organization that advocates for American energy jobs. Contact him at daniel@powerthefuture.com and follow him on Twitter @DanielTurnerPTF
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