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US President Joe Biden’s Day One plans included moving to revoke a presidential permit for the pipeline. On Wednesday, the Canadian company behind the Keystone XL oil pipeline said it has suspended work on the pipeline in an anticipation of incoming US President Joe Biden revoking its permit. Point to be noted that the 1,700-mile (2,735-kilometer) pipeline would carry roughly 800,000 barrels of oil per day from Alberta to the Texas Gulf Coast, passing through Montana, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, and Oklahoma. The company issued a statement and said, “As a result of the expected revocation of the Presidential Permit, advancement of the project will be suspended”. The pipeline first proposed in 2008 and has become emblematic of the tensions between economic development and curbing the fossil fuel emissions that are causing climate change.

It is noteworthy that the Obama administration rejected it, but the Donald Trump administration revived it and has been a strong supporter. However, the construction already started. The Canadian ambassador to the United States, Kirsten Hillman said Canada needs to move on now that Biden has made a decision. She said, “Of course we’re disappointed. We worked hard over the past number of months trying to make the case for Keystone XL. He had made a commitment during his campaign and he lived up to that commitment. I think we have to accept that and move forward”. The Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau raised Keystone XL as a top priority when he spoke with Biden in a phone call in November. The project was designed to expand critical oil exports for Canada.

Canada has the third-largest oil reserves in the world. The premier of the oil-rich province of Alberta, Jason Kenney said he urged Trudeau to tell Biden that rescinding the Keystone XL border crossing permit would damage the Canada-US bilateral relationship. It is important that Trudeau and Biden are politically aligned and there are expectations for a return to normal relations after 4-years of Trump. But, the pipeline is an early irritant as Biden has long said he would cancel it. Critics of Canada’s oil sands say the growing operations increase greenhouse gas emissions and threaten Alberta’s rivers and forests. The president of the US Chamber of Commerce’s Global Energy Institute, Marty Durbin said Biden’s decision is not grounded in science and will put thousands of Americans out of work.