Canadian firm cuts 1,000 jobs after Biden revokes Keystone XL permit

TC Energy, the Canadian company behind the Keystone XL pipeline, says it will lay off 1,000 workers following President Biden’s decision to revoke a key permit for the pipeline. 

Terry Cunha, a TC Energy spokesperson, confirmed to The Hill on Thursday that the 1,000 jobs will be lost “immediately.” Cunha declined to specify how many, if any, of those jobs were American. 

Reuters obtained an email from the company to its employees announcing the job losses and stating that construction of the pipeline will be shut down in the upcoming weeks. 

“I believe this will send a concerning signal to infrastructure developers that resonates far beyond our project and will stifle innovation for a practical transition towards sustainable energy,” Keystone XL President Richard Prior said in the email. 

The company had said in a statement on Wednesday that “advancement of the project will be suspended.”

Biden, in an executive order signed hours after he took office, argued that the pipeline is contrary to U.S. national interests. 

“The United States and the world face a climate crisis. That crisis must be met with action on a scale and at a speed commensurate with the need to avoid setting the world on a dangerous, potentially catastrophic, climate trajectory,” Biden said in the order.

“Leaving the Keystone XL pipeline permit in place would not be consistent with my Administration’s economic and climate imperatives,” he added. 

Opponents of the pipeline have noted that it was slated to ship oil from tar sands, which is carbon-intensive to produce, and that it crosses into tribal lands. 

Proponents have said that it will create jobs and promote energy security in North America.