Ex-Keystone XL pipeline worker 'on cloud nine' as Trump reportedly plans to revive the project
President-elect Donald Trump has vowed to restore the American energy industry when he transitions back to the White House in January 2025. As part of that vision, Trump will reportedly revive the Keystone XL pipeline, leaving supporters feeling "on cloud nine."
"It's a breath of fresh air. We're running on cloud nine," former Keystone Pipeline worker Bugsy Allen said on "Fox & Friends Weekend," Sunday.
"It will make a big difference as far as your energy cost, your food cost, your gas that you put in your cars. It is actually going to be the primary start of bringing everything… down for the American people that we have suffered so much in the last administration."
I HAD A JOB ON THE KEYSTONE XL PIPELINE UNTIL BIDEN FIRED ME TO SATISFY CLIMATE EXTREMISTS
Trump initially approved the 1,200-mile Canada-to-Nebraska project in 2017, reversing then-President Obama's decision to reject the project in 2015. Shortly after taking office in January 2021, President Biden revoked Trump's decision and canceled the pipeline's permits, effectively shutting the project down.
TC Energy, the pipeline network operator, ultimately gave up on the project in June 2021 as a result of Biden's decision.
"In the last three, four years...it's been bad," Allen, who was fired after Biden's action in 2021, said. "In the four years that the administration has been in here, they canceled this, and not only the Keystone. They have canceled so many other ones."
"It's hamstringed the American blue collar workers."
A Department of Energy report from December 2022 highlighted the positive economic benefits the Keystone XL Pipeline would have had if President Biden didn't revoke its federal permits.
According to the report, the Keystone XL project would have created between 16,149 and 59,000 jobs and would have had a positive economic impact of between $3.4-9.6 billion, citing various studies. A previous report from the federal government published in 2014 determined 3,900 direct jobs and 21,050 total jobs would be created during construction which was expected to take two years.
Biden's decision to cancel the pipeline has received widespread criticism from Republican lawmakers and energy industry representatives, who have argued it would have helped keep gas prices down and ensure energy security.
Trump has been a vocal critic of Biden's decision to shut down the pipeline and campaigned on undoing the current administration's green-focused energy agenda. The president-elect has nominated North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum to spearhead those efforts as the Interior Secretary.
"The American people [are] going to see the difference between - day and night - what energy will do for a country and what no energy will do," Allen shared.
"I hope and pray that the people will have their eyes enlightened and see that electric is not just all that great. It's good, but oil and gas is the main driver of any country. And Trump is fixing to show this in the next four years."
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Fox News' Thomas Catenacci and FOX Business' Eric Revell contributed to this report.