‘It will never see the light of day’ – Activists respond to Trump’s comments on reviving Keystone XL – EnviroNews

– Advertisement –

U.S. President Donald Trump recently highlighted the potential revival of the Keystone XL pipeline project as a point of discussion during trade negotiations with Canada.

In a social media post this week, Trump suggested that the Keystone XL pipeline project could be “awoken from the grave,” without providing further details or clarifying whether the remark was connected to an ongoing tariffs negotiation with Canada.

The Keystone XL pipeline project – designed to transport heavy crude oil from Alberta, Canada, to U.S. refineries along the Gulf Coast – has faced a turbulent history spanning nearly two decades. After being blocked and revived across multiple presidential administrations, the project was ultimately halted when former U.S. President Joe Biden revoked its cross-border permit.

Talks of resurrecting elements of the project resurfaced during cross-border discussions. Canadian officials, including Prime Minister Mark Carney and Alberta Premier Danielle Smith, have engaged with the U.S. administration regarding energy co-operation and trade flexibilities.

This is not the first time Trump has tried to revive this project that was first cancelled by president Barack Obama in 2015 following relentless people-powered pressure. In 2017, Trump signed an executive order in support of  KXL. However, the project collapsed again after Biden revoked Trump’s permit in 2021 on his first day in the White House. TC Energy terminated the project for good later that year.

Environment campaign group, 350.org, says it has spent more than a decade fighting the project alongside Indigenous nations, landowners, and communities along its route in Canada and the US. Leaders within the global climate justice organisation made it clear that if Trump is serious about reviving Keystone XL, the movement that fought the project successfully before will make sure it never sees the light of day:

Atiya Jaffar, 350 Canada Lead, says: “Trump’s attempted revival of Keystone XL doesn’t land in a vacuum: Prime Minister Carney is already pushing new tar sands pipelines and rolling back the climate progress our movement fought hard to win. But Keystone XL has died more than once – and each time, it’s been Indigenous land defenders, local communities, and climate advocates who stopped this project in its tracks.

“As climate-driven wildfires and heatwaves continue to sweep Canada and the US, the cost of fossil fuel dependence has never been clearer. Building Keystone XL would mean pouring fuel on the flames of the climate emergency. I’ve spent over a decade in this fight. People power killed Keystone XL before. We’ll do it again.”

Candice Fortin, 350 US Campaigns Manager, says: “Keystone XL is not a zombie that keeps coming back on its own – it’s a pipeline that Trump keeps trying to dig back up, and that the people of this continent keep burying. Threatening to revive it now, tied to a trade deal with no further details, tells you everything about how this administration treats energy policy: as a bargaining chip, not as a national infrastructure that has to answer to the well-being of the people.”