Why the Keystone XL Pipeline Was Disputed

Keystone XL was designed as a 1,179-mile (1,897 km) pipeline that would carry 830,000 barrels of oil per day from the oil sands of Alberta, Canada, to Nebraska — where it would join an existing pipeline network.

The project would have been privately financed by Canada's TransCanada (now TC Energy) and other oil shippers. On January 24, 2017, his fourth full day in office, President Donald Trump signed executive orders reviving the project, arguing it would create construction jobs and bring steelworkers back to work.

President Barack Obama had rejected the pipeline in November 2015, citing environmental concerns raised by the Environmental Protection Agency. Critics argued the pipeline would worsen climate change: the EPA estimated that greenhouse gas emissions from developing and burning oil-sands crude are about 17% greater than from average crude oil. Oil spills were another major concern — the existing Keystone pipeline had already seen spills in the years before.

Environmental activists had turned Keystone XL into a symbol of the climate fight, organizing years of protests at the White House. For them, killing the pipeline was the signature victory of the grassroots climate movement.

Update: in January 2021, President Joe Biden revoked Keystone XL's permit on his first day in office, and TC Energy cancelled the project in June 2021. The pipeline was never completed.