Trump Victory Renews Keystone XL Pipeline Fight

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TransCanada said it is formulating plans to persuade the incoming Trump administration to approve construction of the controversial Keystone XL pipeline, which President Obama rejected last November.

Trump has in the past said he believed that the pipeline had no environmental impact. “I would absolutely approve it, 100 percent, but I would want a better deal. I want it built, but I want a piece of the profits. That’s how we’re going to make our country rich again,” he said in May.

On Wednesday, the Canadian Press reported, “TransCanada Corp. says it’s evaluating ways to engage the newly elected Donald Trump administration on the potential benefits of the Keystone XL pipeline. Company spokesman Mark Cooper said Wednesday that TransCanada remains fully committed to building the controversial project that U.S. President Barack Obama rejected last year.”

“I want it built, but I want a piece of the profits,” Trump said in May.

According to The Council of Canadians, “Filling the Keystone XL pipeline with tar sands crude would facilitate a 36 percent increase in current tar sands production and increase greenhouse gas emissions by an estimated 22 million tonnes a year. The 1,897 kilometre pipeline from Hardisty, Alberta, to Houston, Texas, would also—just like the Dakota Access Pipeline—cross numerous waterways and put drinking water at risk.”

For a deeper dive:

Washington Post, The Hill, The Week, Financial Times

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