Why the U.S. isn't in Desperate Need of the Keystone XL Pipeline -

"U.S. President Joe Biden fulfilled a campaign promise by scuttling the 1,897-kilometre pipeline."

Why this is important: While the rescission of the Keystone pipeline will not have a significant effect on domestic oil production, it highlights the continued unpredictability that energy companies face with changing federal action. Utilities spent billions of dollars preparing for the implementation of the Clean Power Plan, which was stayed and rescinded. The CPP was then replaced with the ACE Rule, which was also never implemented and recently struck down by the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals. Similarly, natural gas producers have spent billions of dollars on pipeline projects after receiving federal permits, only to have those permits later rescinded. Just two days ago, a federal court scrapped a critical permit for the Dakota Pipeline, which comes after permit revocations for the Keystone XL Pipeline, the Mountain Valley Pipeline, and the Atlantic Coast Pipeline. Likewise, the United States joined the Paris Accord, left the Paris Accord, and then joined it once again. The United States needs a responsible and consistent energy policy that does not fluctuate between polar opposites and that provides energy companies with a minimum level of certainty that their federally approved projects will not be scrapped after billions of dollars have been spent.