Trump issues updated presidential permit for Keystone XL pipeline

WASHINGTON, DC Mar. 2903/29/2019 By Nick Snow

OGJ Washington Editor Source

President Donald J. Trump issued an updated presidential permit for the proposed Keystone XL crude oil pipeline on Mar. 29. The move was seen as an attempt to jump-start the project’s construction after a federal judge in Montana blocked it in November and ordered further environmental reviews (OGJ Online, Nov. 9, 2018). US District Judge Brian Morris modified, but did not rescind, his order a few months later (OGJ Online, Feb. 18, 2019).

“This permit acknowledges the project’s importance to the White House once again, and the steps TransCanada Corp., the project’s sponsor, has taken over the years,” a Washington energy observer said. “But there is an injunction still in place which halts construction. The steps from here regarding that injunction depend on what steps the US Department of Justice and TransCanada want to take.”

Business and labor organizations welcomed the president’s action. “The Keystone XL pipeline is one of the most studied pieces of infrastructure in American history. Over the course of a decade, it has been through five environmental reviews on the main route and an additional two on an alternative route,” said Christopher Guith, acting president of the US Chamber of Commerce’s Global Energy Institute.