Bold Nebraska founder Jane Kleeb gives testimony during the State Dept.’s public hearing on the proposed Keystone XL pipeline in Grand Island, NE, April 2013. (Photo: Mary Anne Andrei)

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: April 8, 2026

Bold Nebraska’s Jane Kleeb Statement Re: South Bow / Bridger Proposal to Revive Defunct Keystone XL Pipeline Project

Landowners who fought 13 years against eminent domain seizure of their property for foreign oil pipeline remain opposed, along with Tribal Nations & environmental advocates

Hastings, NE – Jane Kleeb, founder and executive director of Bold Alliance, the Nebraska-based group that was formed in 2010 to organize an unlikely alliance of rural landowners, Tribal Nations and environmental advocates opposed to the “Keystone XL” tarsands oil pipeline, released this statement in response to news reports that a new developer is now seeking to revive the project with an as-yet unspecified route possibly through Nebraska with South Bow – the recent spinoff company from TC Energy (formerly TransCanada Corp.), the project’s original developer:

“You can rename it, rebrand it, repackage it — Keystone XL will never be built. For 13 years, a foreign oil corporation used the power of eminent domain to bully American landowners to take their land, all for Big Oil’s private gain. We refused to back down. We took them to court and fought to return those easements to farmers and ranchers. Keystone XL has no route, no easements, and no support in Nebraska,” said Jane Kleeb, Bold Alliance Founder and Executive Director.

An op-ed published today, co-authored by Bold Alliance attorney and energy policy advisor Paul Blackburn, and longtime pipeline fighter and advocate Kenny Bruno, further lays out the reasons why this project will never be built: “Keystone XL By Any Other Name Will Be Just As Crudely Sour.”

Bold Nebraska also launched an online drive to collect comments and submit them to the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and Montana Dept. of Environmental Quality to oppose the Bridger Pipeline Expansion Project.

About Bold’s Easement Action Teams:
The Easement Action Teams are a project of the Bold Education Fund. The EATs work with local communities to provide immediate legal representation to landowners facing pipelines and other fossil fuel infrastructure. Our first priority is to protect landowners’ property rights and water. We believe landowners should have the ultimate right of what does and does not happen on their land. We stand against the use of eminent domain for private gain. (https://easementteams.org) The first landowners legal co-op formed was the Nebraska Easement Action Team, which successfully organized landowners to fight the proposed Keystone XL pipeline, and currently works with landowners fighting carbon pipelines in the state. (https://neeasement.org)

About Bold Pipeline Fighters Hub:
The Bold Pipeline Fighters Hub, a project of the Bold Education Fund, provides technical, legal, story telling and organizing assistance to any community fighting pipelines and other fossil fuel infrastructure, with the goal of protecting the land and water. (https://pipelinefighters.org)

About Bold:
The Bold Alliance and Bold Education Fund are coordinating state-based groups with our Pipeline Fighters Hub and landowner legal groups called the Easement Action Teams to stop pipelines from using eminent domain for private gain. (https://boldalliance.org)

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