Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Sunday that he won’t be fighting to restart the Keystone XL pipeline because the Biden administration “has made its decision on that.”
Trudeau was asked by NBC’s “Meet the Press” host Chuck Todd, “Are are you going to stop advocating for it here? Do you feel as though the Keystone pipeline is now dead?”
“I think it’s fairly clear that the U.S. administration has made its decision on that,” Trudeau responded. “We’re much more interested in ensuring that we’re moving forward in ways that are good for both of our countries. I think there’s so much we can do together that I don’t spend too much time worrying about the tension points.” (RELATED: Tucker Carlson Rips Justin Trudeau For Using COVID-19 Pandemic To Push Social Controls)
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On his first day in office, President Joe Biden signed an executive order cancelling a federal permit that was crucial to the Keystone XL pipeline’s completion. The pipeline was designed to transport crude oil from Alberta to U.S. refineries. Scrapping the pipeline immediately eliminated thousands of high-paying jobs on both sides of the border.
Trudeau said last month that critics of the project’s cancelation would be heard and “considered by the incoming administration at the highest levels.”
He acknowledged in the Sunday interview that “the decision around Keystone XL was a disappointment,” but suggested there’s “so much we’re going to continue to do together,” citing “clean energy” projects like hydro-electric power and electric cars.
The prime minister suggested disagreements “will always come up in our relationship, but we’ll work through them” as he noted “the alignment on so many things that we’re able to bring with this new administration.”
FILE PHOTO: Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau speaks during a news conference at Rideau Cottage, as efforts continue to help slow the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada Jan. 5, 2021. REUTERS/Blair Gable/File Photo
Trudeau was challenged to explain how he could defend the pipeline and if he could “really make a good environmental case for the keystone pipeline for Americans here? Because Americans who are against this don’t see it.” (RELATED: With Canada Day Celebrations Cancelled, Thousands Blanket Ottawa Streets To Protest Trudeau Government ‘Corruption’)
He suggested that Americans “haven’t perhaps noticed” the work that Canada has done on “fighting climate change” since he became prime minister while noting that “the world still relies on fossil fuels right now. We do have to continuously transform our mix to decarbonize as much as possible.”