Biden to discuss disputed pipeline with Trudeau

U.S. President Joe Biden plans to discuss the long disputed Keystone XL oil pipeline with Canada's prime minister after he revoked its permit on his first day in office, and construction halted Wednesday.Biden is expected to speak with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau over the contentious pipeline later Friday. It will be the first call with a foreign leader after Biden took the oath of office. The 1,700-mile (2,735-kilometer) pipeline was planned to carry roughly 800,000 barrels of oil a day from Alberta to the Texas Gulf Coast, passing through Montana, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas and Oklahoma.

Biden has said leaving the Keystone XL pipeline permit in place would not be consistent with his administration's economic and climate imperatives. Trudeau raised Keystone XL as a top priority when he spoke with Biden in a phone call in November. The project is meant to expand critical oil exports for Canada, which has the third-largest oil reserves in the world and is America’s number one source of foreign oil.

Trudeau and Biden are politically aligned and there are expectations for a return to normal relations after four years of Trump, but the pipeline is an early irritant as Biden has long said he would cancel it. First proposed in 2008, the pipeline has become emblematic of the tensions between economic development and curbing the fossil fuel emissions that are causing climate change. The Obama administration rejected it, but President Donald Trump revived it and has been a strong supporter.

The premier of the oil-rich Canadian province of Alberta called Biden's decision an “insult” and said the federal Canadian government should impose trade sanctions if it is not reversed. Trudeau took a conciliatory tone. Trudeau said in a statement that he was disappointed but acknowledged the president’s decision to fulfill his election campaign promise.

(Image Credit: AP)