Indigenous Groups, Landowners & Environmental Allies Respond to President Biden Executive Action on Keystone XL Pipeline

Hastings, NE – Following President Joe Biden’s executive action on the proposed TC Energy Keystone XL pipeline announced on Wednesday, the unlikely coalition of Indigenous groups, affected landowners, and environmental groups that have been fighting the proposed project for more than ten years released the following statements: 

“This is a vindication of 10 years defending our waters and treaty rights from this tar sands carbon bomb. I applaud President Biden for recognizing how dangerous KXL is for our communities and climate and I look forward to similar executive action to stop DAPL and Line 3 based on those very same dangers.”—Dallas Goldtooth, (Mdewakanton Dakota and Dine), Indigenious Environmental Network

"This great win comes after a decade of organizing--and since the scientific and human rights principles are exactly the same for DAPL and Line 3, we assume we'll hear similar good news on them soon! Right out of the gate Joe Biden is showing that he listens to people, not special interests."—Bill McKibben, 350.org co-founder

“A decade of fighting in the cornfields, dirt roads and halls of Congress led us to this moment where an unlikely alliance of faces and voices were heard by President Biden. We are filled with hope that the rejection of the KXL pipeline is the first of many projects that will be cancelled and be replaced with a clean energy plan that lifts us all up and builds America back better.” —Jane Kleeb, Bold Nebraska founder

“The victory ending the KXL Pipeline is an act of courage and restorative justice by the Biden Administration. It gives tribes and Mother Earth a serious message of hope for future generations as we face the threat of climate change. It aligns Indigenous environmental knowledge with presidential priorities that benefit everyone. It will create a powerful moral compass for the preservation of thousands of our sacred sites and our sacred water. This decision honors the life-changing alliances that have formed between tribes, farmers and landowners for over a decade. There is much more restoration that awaits us and we are ready!”—Faith Spotted Eagle (Ihanktonwan Dakota), Brave Heart Society founder

“President Biden’s decision to reject the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline on its first day turns the page on a twelve-year fight over the energy future of our country and sets the stage for a more prosperous future powered by clean energy.”—Anthony Swift, Natural Resources Defense Council, Canada Program Director

“We are so excited for President Biden to move forward on climate action and environmental justice starting on Day One. Putting a stop to the dirty and dangerous Keystone XL tar sands pipeline immediately and once and for all would be an important first step and testament to the leadership of the diverse movement that has long pushed to stop it and other harmful pipelines.” —Tiernan Sittenfeld, League of Conservation Voters Senior Vice President for Government Affairs

“For over a decade we the people, Indigenous people and communities along with our allies have prayed, cried, demonstrated in the streets and on the prairies we so love to stop this evil zombie pipeline. We look forward to hearing that DAPL and line 3 will be stopped soon as nothing less than stopping all these attacks on Indigenous sovereignty and guaranteeing free prior informed consent and passing a climate test for any future projects will be a complete win. However, today is a good day. And I thank all that helped us get here.” —Joye Braun, Cheyenne River Lakota, Community Organizer with Indigenious Environmental Network

"Nebraska landowners have fought over 144 lawsuits and 225 appeals throughout the course of 11 years. Enough has been enough for a very long time, but we held together and never stopped despite all odds against us at every level – and now, victory.” —Brian Jorde of Domina Law, attorney for Nebraska landowners fighting eminent domain

“This would be one answered prayer that we are emerging from the long nightmare that has been the Trump presidency. This rejection is a victory for the protection of private land ownership which is a bedrock right in our nation’s history.  It is a victory for science and the clear call it has made in opposition to KXL.  It is a victory for truth, for only through its mass misinformation campaign was KXL and its complicit politicians and business leaders able to dupe many in the public.  But the public is duped no more and we finally have a leader who promises to lead for the betterment of the nation and restore our standing in the world.  Thank you President Biden and all the thousands of voices who have stood strong these many years.” —Jeanne Crumly, Nebraska rancher whose land is in the Sandhills and directly impacted 

“As landowners along the KXL route, we applaud President Biden for rejecting the KXL permit.  President Biden understands the climate impact, the corporate abuse of eminent domain, the lack of respect for treaty rights, the protection of numerous endangered species, and the preservation of the Ogallala Aquifer as well as multiple rivers and streams.  This administration is harvesting the hope of building a better America.” —Art Tanderup, farmer on the route who also returned land to the Ponca Tribe of Nebraska where KXL was threatening to cross the Ponca Trail of Tears

“The strong alliances between farmers, ranchers and Tribal allies were able to form because of having a common enemy--the Keystone XL pipeline--and we made sure to keep the campaign focused at the local level, not only in the halls of Congress.” —Tom and Cathie Genung, landowners and chair of the NEAT(Nebraska Easement Action Team) landowners’ collective

“This is great news and I certainly want to thank the Biden-Harris administration for rejecting the permit for the KXL pipeline. I must admit however that my excitement is somewhat tempered due to the fact that we have been down this road once before only to have our hopes and expectations crushed with the election of a Republican president. Sadly, as long as this project remains a political football I will never feel secure in our victory.”—Randy Thompson, cattleman and face of the KXL campaign in the early years

“We stand in reverence to the decades of organizing by First Nations, farmers, and the climate justice movement that secured this major victory. The fight to stop Keystone XL was never just about one pipeline. Stopping this zombie pipeline means stopping Line 3, Dakota Access, and all fossil fuel projects. The stakes are higher than ever, and that’s why we’re escalating the urgent demand that Biden move America off fossil fuels and ensure fossil fuel corporations pay for the damage they’ve caused. Let this victory show: when we organize, we win.” —Kendall Mackey, 350.org Keep It In the Ground Campaign Manager.

“Today as we celebrate this long delayed victory of people power over the fossil fuel industry, it is important to be clear that truly moving the climate needle forward will require following through on the logic of climate science and Indigenous land rights that makes KXL unacceptable. This means cancelling Enbridge’s equally destructive Line 3 tar sands pipeline, as well as the DAPL pipeline and other and oil and gas export projects that would commit our economy to years of future dependence on fossil fuels.” — Ginger Cassady, Rainforest Action Network Executive Director 

"The KXL cancellation is a step in the right direction, but governments of both the United States and Canada must do more. Climate change will not wait. The impacts of this crisis are already being felt by Indigenous communities and further exacerbated by the global pandemic. It is not the time for half measures and false promises, but for climate justice."—Eriel Tchekwie Deranger (Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation), Executive Director, Indigenous Climate Action

“Today’s rejection of Keystone XL will be a huge and hard-fought victory for our communities, clean water, and climate. When this pipeline was proposed, it was a foregone conclusion that it would easily be approved and constructed. The fact that it still hasn’t been built over 12 years later, and that later today it will be rejected for good, is a testament to the dedication and tenacity of a nationwide movement of frontline communities, Indigenous leaders, and environmentalists working together to insist that our future is not worth sacrificing for a dirty tar sands pipeline. We applaud President Biden for listening to these voices and rejecting this terrible project once and for all.” —Catherine Collentine, Associate Director, Sierra Club Dirty Fuels Campaign 

“This is a great start for the Biden administration!  It reawakens hope among public transit workers and riders that a real effort might still be made to confront the climate emergency.  The president’s commitment to creating millions of good union jobs in the fight against climate change should unite all of Labor in the struggle to protect and restore a decent standard of living for all working people."—Bruce Hamilton, Vice President, Amalgamated Transit Union