Joe Biden says if elected he will cancel permit for Keystone XL pipeline

The Keystone XL pipeline will be cancelled by Joe Biden if he is elected as the next United States president, according to his campaign.

A spokesperson said that the permit issued by President Donald Trump would be withdrawn, reports CBC News.

The statement from Biden’s campaign comes after he had not previously pledged to revoke it along with other Democratic candidates.

On Monday, the policy director of the campaign, Stef Feldman said that the decision to cancel the Keystone XL in 2015 was the right idea when former President Barack Obama cancelled the pipeline permit.

"It's still the right decision now. In fact, it's even more important today," said Feldman when speaking about Biden’s decision.

"Biden strongly opposed the Keystone pipeline in the last administration, stood alongside President Obama and Secretary [of State John] Kerry to reject it in 2015, and will proudly stand in the Roosevelt Room again as president and stop it for good by rescinding the Keystone XL pipeline permit."

The oil industry in Canada has been looking forward to the pipeline in order to alleviate bottlenecks in Alberta. The Keystone pipeline would have the ability to move almost one-fifth of the oil that Canada transports to the U.S. every day.

The project has run into many hiccups along the way and been halted for several reasons over the years. Obama was pushed to reject the project by Environmental groups so they could slow oilsands emissions in Canada.

Court challenges have also slowed construction of the project which is estimated to take about two-years and will not be finished until the U.S. election is over.

The news from Biden’s campaign means that if he is able to win the White House, the pipeline project could be halted indefinitely.