CEO DATELINE - Groups express dismay over Keystone XL pipeline cancellation
CEO DATELINE - Groups express dismay over Keystone XL pipeline cancellation
- June 10, 2021 |
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Walt Williams
At least three business groups are expressing disappointment that the company behind the proposed Keystone XL pipeline nixed the project after the Biden administration revoked a key permit.
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TC Energy announced Wednesday that it would no longer pursue construction of the pipeline, which would have carried oil extracted from tar sands in Canada to the U.S. Gulf Coast. It would have created 11,000 jobs, most of them temporary, according to reports. The decision comes a few months after President Joe Biden revoked a permit needed for construction of the pipeline, which was granted by former President Donald Trump, CNN reported.
Construction of the Keystone XL pipeline has been one of the most high-profile fights over environmental policy in recent years, with many business groups lobbying in favor of making the project a reality.
"It's unfortunate that political obstructionism led to the termination of #KeystoneXL," the American Petroleum Institute tweeted. "This is a blow to U.S. energy security and a blow to the thousands of good-paying union jobs this project would have supported."
Marty Durbin, president of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's Global Energy Institute, said in a statement that TC Energy's decision was understandable "but necessary only because of the policy errors of the administration."
"In the final analysis, the American people will lose the most by not having access to affordable and reliable energy that would have been safely and efficiently transported by the pipeline," Durbin said.
In a tweet, National Association of Manufacturers CEO Jay Timmons noted that millions of Americans have recently faced gas shortages and are still coping with the lingering economic impacts of COVID-19, "so we need to focus on building, not blocking, critical infrastructure.
"Killing energy jobs—union jobs—jeopardizes North American energy independence," Timmons said.
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