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Biden Cancels Keystone XL Border Crossing Permit

Keystone XL pipeline sections sit on a train near Glendive, Mont.
Nate Hegyi
/
Yellowstone Public Radio
Keystone XL pipeline sections sit on a train near Glendive, Mont.

President Joe Biden followed through on a campaign promise on his first day in office and cancelled a permit required to build the Keystone XL crude oil pipeline.

One of Biden’s first executive orders included revoking the presidential permit Donald Trump granted Canadian developer TC Energy in 2019 to cross the international border into Montana.

County commissioners looking forward to incoming tax dollars expressed their disappointment at the decision, while environmental and tribal activists celebrated.

The pipeline has been fraught with legal challenges since TC Energy first started planning the project roughly a decade ago. The company started preconstruction last year.

TC Energy released a statement in anticipation of the cancellation to say it’s suspending its ”advancement of the project” and will deliberate next steps following the permit cancellation.

Montana politicians also greeted the news Wednesday with chagrin. Republican Governor Greg Gianforte and the Montana Legislature's Republican leadership urged the Biden Administration to reverse its decision.

Copyright 2021 Yellowstone Public Radio

Kayla Desroches reports for Yellowstone Public Radio in Billings. She was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, and stayed in the city for college, where she hosted a radio show that featured serialized dramas like the Shadow and Suspense. In her pathway to full employment, she interned at WNYC in New York City and KTOO in Juneau, Alaska. She then spent a few years on the island of Kodiak, Alaska, where she transitioned from reporter to news director before moving to Montana.
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