January 20, 2021: After twelve long years of legal actions and community organizing, it appears that Keystone XL is finally dead, after President Biden fulfilled a campaign promise to rescind the cross-border permit.
If built, Keystone XL would have carried 830,000 gallons per day of the dirtiest oil on the planet from the Alberta tar sands through Montana, South Dakota, and Nebraska, threatening farmland, critical water resources, and wildlife habitat along the way. Since it was proposed in 2008, the pipeline has faced massive opposition from landowners and Indigenous communities along its proposed route and nationwide.
ELP was instrumental in preventing the pipeline from being built in the four years since Trump fast-tracked its approval. We filed at least five Keystone XL legal challenges, including two federal lawsuits challenging the flawed approvals by the U.S. Department of State and Army Corps of Engineers, both of which secured critical injunctions barring pipeline construction. ELP's work to stop Keystone XL has helped to protect waterways, slow the development of GHG-intensive tar sands oil, and defend the sovereignty of Tribes and indigenous allies.
Read more about Sierra Club’s advocacy in the official press release here, see statements from the coalition of Indigenous groups, affected landowners, and environmental groups here, and find more case updates on our website here.