Biden indicates plans to cancel Keystone XL pipeline permit on 1st day in office, documents show

Transition documents suggest president-elect Joe Biden plans to block the Keystone XL pipeline on his first day in the White House.

The documents, seen by The Canadian Press, include a to-do list dated Wednesday that includes rescinding the construction permit signed by predecessor Donald Trump.

Campaign officials promised in May that if elected, Biden would cancel the controversial cross-border project, but the timeline was never clear until now.

The pipeline expansion would ferry up to 830,000 additional barrels a day of diluted bitumen from Alberta's oilsands to refineries along the U.S. Gulf Coast.

Some 200 kilometres of pipe have already been installed, including over the Canada-U. S. border, and construction has begun on pump stations in Alberta and several U.S. states.

Biden was vice-president in 2015 when President Barack Obama initially rejected Keystone XL for fear it would worsen climate change.

Trump approved it again in 2019.

The premiers of Alberta and Saskatchewan are condemning Joe Biden's plan to scrap the Keystone XL pipeline expansion on his first day as U.S. president.

Biden's plan is outlined in transition documents seen by The Canadian Press. Jason Kenney and Scott Moe say halting construction on the controversial project will be disastrous for both the Canadian and U.S. economies.

Kenney says his government which announced a $1.5 billion investment into the expansion last year is prepared to ``use all legal avenues available to protect its interest in the project.''

Moe, meanwhile, is urging Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to meet with Biden and says his government will be in touch with its contacts in Washington.