NTD News: The prospects for reviving Keystone XL

I did a [digital] TV hit with NTD News and host Fiona Ji Wednesday to discuss the prospects for reviving the Keystone XL Pipeline. The video and transcript are below.

Enjoy the show!

Transcript:

NTD Host Fiona Ji: Joining us now to discuss this is David Blackmon, energy policy analyst and a 40 -year veteran of the oil and gas industry. David, thank you for joining us. I want to ask you here, what is the benefit of this pipeline for the American people?

David Blackmon: Well, it would have tremendous benefit just in terms of safety and environmental benefits, bringing 830 ,000 barrels of oil every day down from Canada to the United States for refining and distribution to market centers. Pipelines are far and away the safest and most environmentally responsible way to move oil around the country. And at this point, this oil is still coming into the United States. It's just coming in on trains and trucks, which are far more high risk and far more polluting. And so that alone would be a tremendous benefit to the environment and to the economy of the United States and to Canada.

Fiona Ji: So, you mentioned it's a benefit to the environment, but are there any potential concerns for the environment?

David Blackmon: Oh, sure. You know, I mean, every kind of energy transportation or energy project comes with inherent risk. There's always a risk of a leak in the pipeline. This pipeline, sadly, which was already halfway built when Joe Biden canceled it in 2021, was going to be the safest and most high-tech pipeline ever built in the United States. And it's really a shame it was canceled because it would have provided such a great example for the rest of the industry on how these things can be done in a cost -effective way and still be profitable. So, you know, there are those risks, though, and everybody's aware of them. And companies like TC Energy and now South Bow Energy, which owns the project, are very conscious of safety and they work on sophisticated safety processes every day.

Fiona Ji: Well, given the difficulty that you just mentioned there of completing this project to date, will any company still be willing to step up to the plate this time?

David Blackmon: It's a good question. I mean, this was an eight-billion-dollar project in 2020, OK? In post -Joe Biden dollars, it's probably more like a 12-billion-dollar project. That's a big bit of capital that has to be raised. And, you know, you would still have very difficult time getting permits back in place for all the rights of way you need. Sadly, again, the permits that were in place for this pipeline in 2021, most of them are no longer effective. And so, you'd have years of trying to re -permit the project. I know President Trump promises to speed all of that up at the federal level, but you still have local and state permits that are required in all sorts of different jurisdictions over an 1,100-mile pipeline. So, it's a very big lift for any company, even the biggest companies. And I just don't know if President Trump will be able to find someone who's willing to take the risk.

Fiona Ji: Right, David. And building off of what you just said there, Trump promised fast approvals. But we also saw lawsuits last time holding up the project. Can Trump really guarantee here a smooth process for any company that decides to take on the project?

David Blackmon: Well, yeah, no president can guarantee there won't be lawsuits, obviously there would be. And as you mentioned, there were an array of lawsuits filed against the project last time. Even so, even with that, it was able to get all of its, sorry, permits in until Secretary of State John Kerry decided not to issue the cross -border permit during the Obama administration. President Trump reversed that when he came into office very quickly. And as I say, prior to 2021, half of this pipeline was already in the ground. And it's a shame that more than $3 billion had already been invested, and any president who would have just canceled that with the stroke of a pen, it's really kind of a shame, really an unprecedented act.

Fiona Ji: David, I think you already touched on this earlier, but tell us a little more. How does this Keystone XL fit into Trump's broader energy plans?

David Blackmon: Well, you know, I think for President Trump, it's all about energy security and enhancing the country's energy security, which he knows is inexorably tied to national security. You can't have one without the other. And so having that safe and steady supply of oil coming in from Canada would be a big boost to the country's refiners here in the United States and ease pressure on our domestic industry to produce more. So, you know, his plan overall is for growth and not just in the oil and gas industry, but in the solar industry as well, in hydrogen and all sorts, all forms of energy. When you listen to Energy Secretary Chris Wright talk about it, it's an all -of -the -above approach. And so, you know, this would just be emblematic of Trump's intention to restart the oil and gas industry on a stronger growth path than it's been on. And it would also, I think, be emblematic of his intention to make permitting of interstate and international pipeline projects easier to accomplish during his presidency as compared to the previous four years.

Fiona Ji: David, speaking of Canada, we're going to see those tariffs come into play next week. Now, Trump really wants this project completed. Do you see Canada using this as leverage in their tariff negotiations with the president?

David Blackmon: I'm sure the Trudeau government would like to be able to do that. I'm not really sure that this project, given the status of it and really no commitment on the part of South Bow to be willing to restart it, I'm not sure it's really going to be an effective tool of leverage for the Canadian government in those negotiations. But it'll be interesting to see and it would be really interesting to see how President Trump would respond.

Fiona Ji: Interesting to see indeed, David Blackmon. Thank you for joining us today.

David Blackmon: Thank you.

[End]

That is all.