Common ground can be found with President-elect Donald Trump on oil pipelines and energy infrastructure Canada’s energy minister said.
Jim Carr, Canada’s minister of natural resources, told reporters on Wednesday, “We’re very careful not to judge this administration on anything other than what they do. And what they do will become better known after January 20th.”
It appears that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s administration is taking a “wait and see” approach to the real estate tycoon-turned-president-elect. Carr also suggested the possibility the prime minister could find “areas of common cause” with the incoming Trump administration.
The Keystone XL pipeline, which was rejected by President Barack Obama last year, might get a new lease on life. Trump’s victory has boosted hopes. It’s up to the company behind Keystone and the U.S. government to decide whether to proceed said.
Trump, who campaigned on updating U.S. infrastructure and not impeding coal and oil projects has the pipeline’s fate. The president elect has hinted that his administration would move quickly to approve another controversial oil line, the Dakota Access Pipeline. Maybe more pipelines are possible in the future under the new administration.
Trudeau has argued that such projects play a crucial role in reducing Canada’s carbon emission levels and approved several pipelines.
The now controversial Kinder Morgan’s Trans Mountain pipeline along with Enbridge’s Line 3, had been approved by Carr and Environment Minister Catherine McKenna.
Environmentalists became annoyed at the prime minister’s reasoning behind the decision for the $6.8 billion project but was not considered controversial when Trudeau gave his seal of approval in early December, because it follows an already existing line.
Canadian activists filed a lawsuit on Dec. 20 claiming the pipeline could hasten the extinction of the Southern Resident killer whales. and the case is weeding its way through the country’s court system.
The young Trudeau’s lukewarm feelings on Trump’s energy plans signal a new era in US-Canada pipeline projects. Who knows, the two may become good friends as well as allies.
President-elect Trump has nominated two oil bosses to high level positions in his cabinet. Rex Tillerson, the Exxon Mobil CEO, due to become secretary of state, and Rick Perry, the former governor of oil-rich Texas, is tapped to head the U.S. Energy Department.
