President Joe Biden kept his promise to Pipeline Fighters in Nebraska, when he revoked the Keystone XL pipeline permit on day one in office.
President Biden is sticking to his "NoKXL Pledge" campaign commitment -- in his first conversation with a foreign leader, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Biden's revoking of the Keystone XL permit did come up:
The Lakota and other Indigenous traditions have prophesies about the threat posed by a "black snake," a manifestation of the sickness of society, which at times has been interpreted as the construction of highways or railways, but mention that the black snake "goes under ground" has more recently been seen in dirty fossil fuel pipelines that threaten land and water -- like Keystone XL, Dakota Access, and Line 3.
But the black snake that was the Keystone XL pipeline was finally slayed once and for all, when President Joe Biden revoked TransCanada's permit on his first day in office: 1.20.21.
Some work still remains to put the final nails in KXL's coffin:
TransCanada / TC Energy must relinquish the easements on landowners' property that it obtained for the pipeline -- in some cases via the abuse of eminent domain, and against the strong objections of the landowners.
Judges in three Nebraska counties had already stayed all condemnation proceedings by TransCanada against landowners, based on at-that-time President-elect Biden's campaign pledge to revoke the KXL permit.
FACT: Nebraska landowners in Antelope county are still fighting TransCanada in court to get the company to pay their attorney fees while fighting eminent domain over easements for the old proposed Keystone XL route that was rejected in 2013.
Stacks of pipe intended for Keystone XL have been weathering in the elements for 10-plus years, rendered unsafe from worn pipe coatings. The KXL rejection may end up yielding 48,000+ tons of scrap metal.
Other KXL infrastructure still litters the landscapes of Montana, South Dakota, and Nebraska, and these eyesores must also be removed immediately: Mancamps / mobile housing units, pump stations, etc.
Permits: Attorneys for Bold, environmental, and Indigenous groups continue to file briefs and argue our active lawsuits challenging Army Corps and Bureau of Land Management permits for KXL granted by the Trump administration.
There also still remains much unfinished business beyond KXL for all Pipeline Fighters -- and Bold is planning to launch a new resource hub in 2021 that will provide a network of support to Pipeline Fighters and landowners facing proposed pipeline projects and threats of eminent domain to take their land.
There are many more "black snakes" still to be slayed.
Thanks for standing with us, to kill the KXL black snake.
Jane Kleeb and the Bold team
P.S. Many thanks to artist Richard Vollaire of the Tongva Nation, who created the "Cowboy Indian Alliance" icon featured on the sticker design below, and local Nebraska artist Justin Kemerling who adapted the "black snake" and CIA sticker images.
Sent via ActionNetwork.org.
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