Biden says he would revoke Keystone XL permit, campaign says

Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden’s campaign said on Monday that he would rescind the Keystone XL Pipeline permit if elected, undercutting what has been a top priority of President Trump.

“Biden strongly opposed the Keystone pipeline in the last administration, stood alongside President Obama and Secretary Kerry to reject it in 2015, and will proudly stand in the Roosevelt Room again as President and stop it for good by rescinding the Keystone XL pipeline permit,” Stef Feldman, the Biden campaign’s policy director, said in a statement.

“Stopping Keystone was the right decision then and it’s still the right decision now,” Feldman added.

Biden’s stance was first reported by Politico. 

Trump issued a permit for the pipeline’s construction just weeks into his presidency and has on multiple occasions sought to jumpstart it. 

The pipeline, which would deliver oil from Canada to the U.S., has been blocked in court and is facing an appeal from the Trump administration.

It has been opposed by environmental groups as well as landowners and tribes whose property falls in its path. 

TC Energy, the company behind the 1,210-mile pipeline, said in late March that it planned to continue construction on the controversial pipeline, projecting it would begin operating in 2023.

“No other pipeline project in the history of the industry has been studied more than Keystone XL,” Terry Cunha with TC Energy said in a statement to The Hill, a reference to a court decision to block the project on environmental grounds.

“Keystone XL remains an important North American energy infrastructure project that will spur billions in new private sector investment and create thousands of high-quality jobs in a time of unprecedented economic uncertainty and unemployment.”

–This report was updated at 6:12 p.m.