Premier Jason Kenney expressed concerns following the cancellation of the Keystone XL pipeline by the Biden Administration on Jan. 20.
“As friends and allies of the United States we are deeply disturbed that one of President Biden’s first actions in office has been to rescind the presidential permit for the Keystone XL pipeline border crossing,” Kenney said.
“This is a gut punch for the Canadian and Alberta economies. Sadly, it’s an insult directed at the United States most important ally and trading partner on day one of a new administration,” he said.
Adding, “The United States is our most important ally and trading partner, and among all of the Canadian provinces, Alberta has the deepest economic ties to the united states and strong social connections that go back well over a century.”
With the cancellation of the Keystone XL pipeline, over two thousand people lost their jobs.
“My thoughts go to every one of them as they cope with the distressing consequences of today’s decision,” Kenney said.
Moving forward, the government of Alberta is continuing to fight for the people who lost their jobs, and the nearly 60,000 jobs the project would create.
“The leader of our closest ally retroactively vetoed approval for a pipeline that already exists and is co-owned by a Canadian government directly attacking by far the largest part of the Canada and U.S. trade relationship, which is our energy industry and exports,” Kenney said.
The portion of the Keystone XL pipeline that crosses the border was installed following environment analysis and approval.
“This decision was made without giving Canada the opportunity, respectfully, to make the case for how Keystone XL would strengthen U.S. national and energy security, how it would bolster both economies, and how our two countries could find a path together on climate and environmental policy,” Kenney said.
“We’re being told this decision was made over concerns about climate policy. I absolutely respect the new president, despite this insulting action we remain friends of the United States,” he said.
Adding, “The U.S. State Department’s own exhaustive analysis conducted under President Obama’s administration concluded that Keystone XL would actually reduce emissions, as the alternative will be to move this energy by higher emitting and less secure rail transport. The government of Canada has more ambitious emissions goals than the new U.S. administration, and our provincial government is investing billions of dollars in the development of emissions reductions technology.”
The government of Alberta is now calling for the federal government to enter into discussions with the Biden administration on their cancellation of the Keystone XL pipeline in the context of a broader agreement on energy supply and climate action.
“We call on the government of Canada to respond with consequences for this attack on Canada’s largest industry. We are not asking for special treatment, simply the same response that Canada’s government had when other areas of our national economy were under threat from the U.S. government,” Kenney said.
Adding, “We must find a way forward, and I would hope we could do so respectfully.
