A $9bn oil pipeline that became a symbol of the rising political clout of climate advocates and a flashpoint in US-Canada relations was officially cancelled last week - after a battle that's lasted over a decade.
Keystone XL, which was proposed in 2008 to bring oil from Canada’s western tar sands to US refiners, was halted by owner TC Energy after Joe Biden this year revoked a key permit needed for a US stretch of the 1,200-mile project.
“This is a landmark moment in the fight against the climate crisis,” said Jared Margolis, a senior attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity. “We’re hopeful that the Biden administration will continue to shift this country in the right direction by opposing fossil fuel projects.”
North American oil pipelines, including Dakota Access and Enbridge Line 3, have faced constant opposition from environmental groups, which are concerned about spills and want to slow any expansion of oil production.
The Keystone XL pipeline was expected to carry 830,000 barrels per day of Alberta oil sands crude to Nebraska, but the project was delayed for the past 12 years due to opposition from US landowners, Native American tribes and environmentalists - and now, to the delight of climate campaigners and conservationists, it's definitely not going to be built.