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“For the federal government to identify and signal that this is a priority for them is key and appreciated,” McMillan said, adding Keystone XL’s fate will require a coordinated effort from Ottawa, Alberta and Saskatchewan.
Federal officials reiterated their intention to advocate for the Alberta-to-Nebraska oil pipeline project on Monday and signalled Ottawa would highlight the country’s climate-change legislation and goals in discussions with officials in Washington.
“Our government fully supports the Keystone XL pipeline. This project has already created 1,500 well-paying jobs for Canadians, and we will continue to advocate for its completion,” said Ian Cameron, spokesperson for Natural Resources Minister Seamus O’Regan.
“We are also fully committed to exceeding our Paris 2030 targets and achieving net-zero emissions by 2050. We are already investing in energy efficiency, zero-emission vehicles, clean technologies for traditional resource sectors, renewable energy smart grids and more.”
The Canadian government can say it’s top priority, but that didn’t prove effective with the Obama administration last time
Law professor James Coleman
However, some experts in the U.S. believe Keystone XL is a long shot given Biden’s previous pledge to cancel the project if elected. He was also vice-president when Barack Obama cancelled the project outright on Nov. 6, 2015.
“There have been lots of forlorn hopes that have eventually come to fruition. I would never tell someone to completely give up but, with that said, I don’t see any reason to believe that his position on Keystone XL has changed,” said James Coleman, a law professor with a focus on the oil and gas sector at Southern Methodist Universit’s Dedman School of Law in Dallas.
