A developing story coming out of Washington concerns the Keystone XL Pipeline.

According to Politico, President-elect Joe Biden plans to rescind the permit for the pipeline on his first day in office.

Politico says it confirmed the information with three sources, however, the decision was not included in a memo from the incoming chief of staff outlining Biden’s planned executive actions during the first days of his presidency.

This would negate one of President Donald Trump’s first actions in office to advance the project.

TC Energy first proposed the $8 billion pipeline in 2008, saying the 1,200-mile project was crucial to deliver crude oil from Western Canada to refineries in the Midwest.

Preliminary construction started last fall in South Dakota, Montana and Nebraska.

Alberta’s Premier says he will seek legal damages if reports are true that Biden plans to scrap the pipeline upon taking office.

Environmentalists and the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe are strongly opposed to the pipeline because of worries over oil spills and that burning the fuel would make climate change worse.

We reached out to the governor’s office for comment, but no one could be reached.

Lakota People’s Law Project issued a statement about Biden’s plan.

The Lakota People’s Law Project is grateful to the incoming Biden administration for recognizing the calls of Indigenous communities in South Dakota over the past decade to shut down the Keystone XL pipeline. 

According to Lakota People’s Law Project Lead Counsel, Chase Iron Eyes, “This is a pivot point in history: either we start recognizing the health of our Earth as the basis of civilization and progress, or we will find ourselves rich now at the expense of grinding poverty soon. We in Lakota Country relate to the shutting down of KXL as a first step: next should come the Dakota Access pipeline, a tortured and dangerous piece of infrastructure that the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe continues to fight in court. I faced the potential of 6 years in prison in 2017 due to my peaceful resistance of DAPL, and others are still in custody because of their non-violent actions. Our struggle continues now. In December of 2016, Obama’s Army Corps of Engineers determined that construction of DAPL should cease while a full environmental impact statement was conducted. Trump — probably illegally — used his executive authority to override that science-based decision his second day in office. The National Environmental Policy Act must be respected, now that President-elect Biden is arriving in Washington. We will keep the pressure on.”