I'm a bit confused by all the anti Canadian pipeline sentiment in the US. Is this a Biden thing or something broader. I get the focus on using less oil, environment, etc. But Canada is a key US ally and oil is still a strategic resource. It seems crazy for the US to not want Canadian oil. What am I missing?
https://www.eia.gov/outlooks/steo/images/Fig19.png is a decent illustration of one of the issues here: the US has been reducing its demand for oil imports over the past decade. In addition, the kind of oil that comes out of the tar sands in Alberta is pretty much the lowest, worst grade of oil possible (not to mention some of the most expensive to produce!), so if you've got more oil than you know what to do with, it's the first one you'd want to stop buying.
Besides the environmental issue of "we don't want to spend any extra money subsidizing oil production," there's also a strong amount of concern about the impact along the construction pipeline--particularly among the indigenous lands it would travel against the wishes of the indigenous people who live there.
It not only hurts an ally, it also indirectly puts money in the pockets of not so friendly/progressive countries. This Keystone XL stuff is peak virtue signaling by Biden et al. It makes no sense.
