Canada – Biden wants to talk to Trudeau as first foreign politician after assuming office

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau Picture: AFP

The new US President Joe Biden wants to make the first call to a foreign leader after assuming office with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. One of these topics will be the Keystone XL pipeline, the construction of which has already blocked Biden.

The new US President Joe Biden wants to make the first call with a foreign leader after assuming office with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Planned talks about a “significant relationship” between the United States and the neighboring country should take place on Friday, said Biden spokesman Jane Saki at her first press talk at the White House on Wednesday.

According to him, the decision of the new president will be a main topic of phone calls to stop the construction of the controversial Keystone XL pipeline between the USA and Canada. Just hours after being sworn in, Biden signed the same ordinance on Wednesday. Canadian company TC Energy, which has been operating the project so far, reacted “disappointed” to Biden’s decision and has already halted construction.

The Canadian government has approved the pipeline, which must transport approximately 500,000 barrels a day from tar sand deposits in the province of Alberta, Canada, to refineries in the state of Texas, USA. Canadian regulators approved the construction of the Keystone XL in 2010.

However, former US President Barack Obama, whose deputy was Biden, then blocked the construction of the 1947-kilometer tube, mainly for reasons of climate protection. Donald Trump’s Obama successor in office, in 2017, gave the Keystone XL the green light. Biden overturned this decision on his first day in office in his predecessor.

Over the years, environmentalists have repeatedly warned of the catastrophic consequences of potential leaks in the pipeline. He also complained that the complex process of extracting oil from tar sands releases a lot of greenhouse gases which are harmful to the climate.

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