From the Daily Caller News Foundation 

By David Blackmon

Of all the destructive actions President Joe Biden took related to energy policy during his four years in office, his stroke-of-a-pen decision on his first day in office to cancel the cross-border permit for the Keystone XL pipeline system as a political payoff to his environmentalist campaign funders was perhaps the worst.

It was bad enough that Biden took that action to cancel the $8 billion project absent any finding that operator Trans-Canada (now TC Energy) was in violation of any law or regulation of the United States. It was even worse that he took that action despite the fact that Trans-Canada had already spent over $3 billion building much of the project with hundreds of miles of pipe already in the ground by January 2021.

Worse still are the realities that, along with cancelling the project, Biden canceled as many as 10,000 high-paying American jobs during the construction of the project, left America more dependent on oil imports from hostile nations like Venezuela and Iran due to lost imports from Canada and even cost the province of Alberta an estimated $1.3 billion it stood to gain from the project’s completion.

But the most damaging impact of all emanating from Biden’s craven act of crony politics was the loss of trust in the consistent, fair application of American law and regulations it caused. The cancellation of Keystone XL made it vastly harder for big companies to secure financing for big projects that take years to permit and develop because funders could no longer assume U.S. laws would be applied based on merit rather than political fiat. That advantage over other parts of the world that the United States has always enjoyed was severely damaged.

Last week, we saw a flurry of stories by major media outlets that the Trump transition team is working on plans to reverse Biden’s ill-considered order and trying to revive the Keystone XL project. While that is certainly a laudable goal, developments that have taken place since 2021 will likely limit it to a purely symbolic act.

First, TC Energy no longer even owns the rights to the project or its remaining assets. Those assets, along with the rest of the previously existing Keystone Pipeline system, were spun off into a new entity named South Bow Energy in June of this year. A spokesperson for that company was reluctant to comment when asked about possible revival of Keystone XL, saying, “As a new company, our focus and priority at this point is to continue to deliver energy safely and efficiently. Part of South Bow’s long-term strategy is to grow our business.”

Second, a few months after Biden’s destructive action, TC Energy announced it had cancelled the project and would not be seeking to carry on the fight. As a result of the cancellation, TC Energy then removed the hundreds of miles of pipe that had already been installed into the ground so that it could be repurposed for use in other projects.

Third, the rights-of-way for the Keystone XL project are no longer in effect. Nor are the permits for the project. Thus, any effort to revive it by South Bow would necessitate a repetition of the painstaking, years-long process of reacquiring all those miles of rights-of-way and local, state and federal permits.

This brings us back to the most damaging aspect of Biden’s political payback: Any such effort would without doubt extend into the next presidential term to begin in 2029. Who is going to be willing to commit billions of now-inflated dollars (thanks largely to Biden and his team’s policies) to a pipeline project that might well end up being cancelled should voters decide to elect another Democrat to the presidency in 2028?

So, while the desire by the Trump team to restart Keystone XL is commendable, the facts on the ground almost certainly mean it would be a purely symbolic gesture.

This current presidency cannot end soon enough.

David Blackmon is an energy writer and consultant based in Texas. He spent 40 years in the oil and gas business, where he specialized in public policy and communications.

From the Daily Caller News Foundation 

By Mariane Angela

President-elect Donald Trump announced Wednesday that Mexico’s President Claudia Sheinbaum agreed to stop migration across the southern U.S. border.

The agreement aims to curb the flow of migrant caravans and drug trafficking into the United States. In a statement posted  on Truth Social, Trump praised his conversation with Sheinbaum as “wonderful.” He said that the two leaders discussed strategies not only to stop unauthorized migration through Mexico but also to tackle the significant issue of drug smuggling into the U.S.

“She has agreed to stop Migration through Mexico, and into the United States, effectively closing our Southern Border. We also talked about what can be done to stop the massive drug inflow into the United States, and also, U.S. consumption of these drugs. It was a very productive conversation!,” Trump wrote.

Trump did not specify the strategies for addressing the drug issue. Following his announcement, the president-elect  declared that the agreement would be implemented immediately.

“Mexico will stop people from going to our Southern Border, effective immediately. THIS WILL GO A LONG WAY TOWARD STOPPING THE ILLEGAL INVASION OF THE USA. Thank you!!!,” Trump said.

This agreement came after Trump threatened to impose tariffs on Mexican imports. Trump took to social media Monday to announce that he would impose a 25% tariff on all goods from Mexico and Canada starting from the first day of his administration.

He said that these tariffs would remain in place until the Mexican and Canadian governments take stronger measures to curb the flow of illegal drugs and migration into the U.S. Earlier Wednesday, Sheinbaum issued a warning of potential retaliation should Trump enact his proposed tariffs on Mexican imports.

In a letter to the president-elect, Sheinbaum said the United States needs to invest in development rather than warfare. She also said the U.S. is accountable for the proliferation of firearms within Mexican borders. Sheinbaum said her administration is responsible for the recent decline in migrant encounters along the U.S.-Mexico border.

“President Trump, migration and drug consumption in the United States cannot be addressed through threats or tariffs,” Sheinbaum wrote Tuesday to the upcoming president, according to a translation of her letter. “What is needed is cooperation and mutual understanding to tackle these significant challenges.”