By Chris Brown

Responding to Biden Campaign

Kenney disappointed by Biden’s position on Keystone XL

May 19, 2020 | 10:47 AM

Alberta Premier Jason Kenney says the Keystone XL pipeline will have major sway on the economic and national security of North America.

Over the weekend, the campaign of presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden said he will rip up President Donald Trump’s approvals for the Keystone XL pipeline if he takes over the White House next year.

“We hope to be able to work with his campaign and whoever the elected administration is to ensure North American energy independence, economic growth and job creation,” said Kenney on Tuesday.

Kenney added he hopes the public in Canada and the U.S. will be increasingly focused on jobs and the economy as both countries come out of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Alberta Energy Minister Sonya Savage released a statement on Monday, saying the project is tied to Alberta’s vital long-term economic interests. The province has committed $1.1 billion to the project.

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“It will lead to higher prices as well as increased volumes of oil sands crude production, generating at least $30 billion in increased royalties over 20 years for Alberta taxpayers,” said Savage. “The project will put 12,000 Canadians to work and will generate billions of dollars of employment income for Canadian and U.S. workers at a time when they need it most.”

Biden is no stranger to standing in the way of the Calgary-based TC Energy project, which he first opposed as a member of Barack Obama’s administration, which formally blocked construction in 2015.

Trump has since approved construction permits for the project, but a federal judge in Montana halted construction last month after environmental groups complained that the impact on endangered species in the state hadn’t been properly assessed.

The expansion — a 1,900-kilometre line between Alberta and Nebraska — has been beset by delays, protests and injunctions almost since its inception, and became a major flashpoint in 2011 when celebrity-studded protests outside the White House helped crystallize environmental opposition to the energy sector.

(With files from the Canadian Press)