Back in March, shortly after Russian President Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine, gasoline prices in the U.S. began to soar.
Make no mistake, though. Prices were already rising quickly. When President Joe Biden took office on Jan. 20, 2021, the average cost for a gallon of <a href="https://www.eia.gov/dnav/pet/hist/LeafHandler.ashx?n=PET&amp;s=EMM_EPMR_PTE_NUS_DPG&amp;f=W">regular gas</a> cost $2.38. By the time Putin invaded, it cost $3.53.
So Putin wasn&#8217;t to blame for that &#8212; even though Biden has long called skyrocketing costs at the pump &#8220;Putin&#8217;s price hike.&#8221;
By the end of March, a gallon cost $4.23. That&#8217;s when Biden decided to tap the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR), America&#8217;s massive reserve set aside for emergencies.
Congress created the SPR in 1975, not long after Americans suffered through gas shortages and long lines at the pump as a result of the 1973 embargo by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). The law was designed “to reduce the impact of severe energy supply interruptions,&#8221; either by embargos or natural disasters, Forbes <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/rrapier/2022/09/07/the-strategic-petroleum-reserve-is-at-its-lowest-level-since-1984/?sh=34630c4b77c7">reported</a>.
Biden authorized the release of 125 million barrels of oil (the reserves can hold more than 700 million barrels). But the United States <a href="https://www.worldometers.info/oil/us-oil/#:~:text=The%20United%20States%20has%20proven,levels%20and%20excluding%20unproven%20reserves).">consumes</a> about 20 million barrels per day &#8212; so Biden&#8217;s release wouldn&#8217;t last long.
Prices kept going up &#8212; $4.23 per gallon by the end of March &#8212; then leveled off a bit, running just above $4 for about five weeks. Then it started all over again: $4.62 by the end of May and an even $5.00 in mid-June.
Then prices, as prices do, began to fall again, dropping to $4.33 by the end of July. Biden took a victory lap, releasing a White House <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2022/07/26/fact-sheet-department-of-energy-releases-new-notice-of-sale-as-gasoline-prices-continue-to-fall/">statement</a> saying the Treasury Department &#8220;estimates that Strategic Petroleum Reserve releases by President Biden and international partners reduced the price of gasoline by up to 40 cents per gallon.&#8221;
<div id="attachment_432253" style="width: 1034px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-432253" decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="wp-image-432253 size-full" src="https://www.dailywire.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/2285F102-B378-4181-91B4-A9B4F0B0665D_1_201_a.jpeg" alt="Oil Heads For Longest Run Of Monthly Gains Since Early 2018 An oil pump jack at the Midway-Sunset Oil Field near Derby Acres, California, U.S., on Friday, April 29, 2022. Oil is poised to eke out a fifth monthly advance after another tumultuous period of trading that saw prices whipsawed by the fallout of Russia's war in Ukraine and the resurgence of Covid-19 in China. Photographer: Ian Tuttle/Bloomberg via Getty Images Bloomberg / Contributor" width="1024" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2022/09/2285F102-B378-4181-91B4-A9B4F0B0665D_1_201_a.jpeg 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2022/09/2285F102-B378-4181-91B4-A9B4F0B0665D_1_201_a-300x169.jpeg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2022/09/2285F102-B378-4181-91B4-A9B4F0B0665D_1_201_a-768x432.jpeg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" />Ian Tuttle/Bloomberg/Contributor via Getty Images</div>
“I’ve been working to make sure that when the price of oil comes down, the price at the pump comes down as well and comes down in real time,” Biden said then, noting that pump prices had “fallen every day this summer for 38 days in a row.”
Economists, though, said the SPR release wasn&#8217;t the reason for falling prices. Prices had gotten so high that consumers stopped consuming. &#8220;But the main reason for the fall is the decline in oil prices,&#8221; CNBC <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2022/08/11/gas-prices-are-falling-heres-why-its-happening-and-whether-it-can-continue.html">reported</a> in August. &#8220;Crude is the single largest factor influencing gas prices, accounting for more than 50% of what we pay at the pump.&#8221;
After 99 days of falling prices, they started going up again. So on Tuesday, reporters asked White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre about it all.
&#8220;You’ve said the president was responsible for gas prices coming down. Is the president responsible for gas prices going up?&#8221; a reporter asked.
&#8220;So, it’s a lot more nuanced than that,&#8221; Jean-Pierre said. &#8220;You know this. There have been global challenges that we have all have dealt with. When I say &#8216;all,&#8217; meaning other countries as well have dealt with since the pandemic. There’s been pandemic and there&#8217;s been Putin&#8217;s war. And Putin&#8217;s war has increased gas prices at the pump. We have seen that over the la- — past several months,&#8221; she said.
And there you have it. Biden will take the credit, but not the blame.
Prices are expected to continue rising &#8212; the nationwide average price of gasoline increased Tuesday for the 14th consecutive day, hitting $3.81 per gallon.
One reason: &#8220;Major petroleum refinery snags and policies disincentivizing more fossil fuel production or nationwide refinery capacity have contributed to the price uptick,&#8221; analysts told <a href="https://www.foxbusiness.com/politics/americans-should-prepare-gas-prices-keep-rising-analysts-warn">Fox News</a>.
Fox reported that &#8220;U.S. refiners are churning out about 90% of their total operable capacity, according to the most recent data from the Energy Information Administration. That figure is down from the roughly 95% utilization rate recorded in June.&#8221;
Over the last couple of weeks, as prices began to rise again &#8212; one region has seen a 60-cent jump &#8212; Biden began to blame oil companies, even though he had taken credit for falling prices.
&#8220;Oil and gas companies are still making record profits, billions of dollars in profits,&#8221; Biden said at a meeting with the White House Competition Council in September.
<div id="attachment_446229" style="width: 4606px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-446229" decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="wp-image-446229 size-full" src="https://www.dailywire.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/Screen-Shot-2022-10-05-at-2.59.45-AM.png" alt="US President Joe Biden participates in a CNN Town Hall hosted by Don Lemon at Mount St. Joseph University in Cincinnati, Ohio, July 21, 2021." width="4596" height="2376" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2022/10/Screen-Shot-2022-10-05-at-2.59.45-AM.png 4596w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2022/10/Screen-Shot-2022-10-05-at-2.59.45-AM-300x155.png 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2022/10/Screen-Shot-2022-10-05-at-2.59.45-AM-1024x529.png 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2022/10/Screen-Shot-2022-10-05-at-2.59.45-AM-768x397.png 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2022/10/Screen-Shot-2022-10-05-at-2.59.45-AM-1536x794.png 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2022/10/Screen-Shot-2022-10-05-at-2.59.45-AM-2048x1059.png 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 4596px) 100vw, 4596px" />SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images</div>
&#8220;My message is simple. To the companies running gas stations and setting those prices at the pump: Bring down prices you’re charging at the pump to reflect the price you’re paying for the product. Do it now.&#8221;
The Biden administration has gone so far as to tell U.S. refiners they should limit fuel exports, according to a letter Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm sent to seven big refiners <a href="https://oilprice.com/Energy/Energy-General/Biden-Administration-Urges-Refiners-To-Curb-Fuel-Exports.html">obtained</a> by The Wall Street Journal.
&#8220;Given the historic level of U.S. refined product exports, I again urge you to focus in the near term on building inventories in the United States, rather than selling down current stocks and further increasing exports,&#8221; Granholm wrote in a letter to seven American refiners in August.
But refiners fired back. &#8220;Banning or limiting the export of refined products would likely decrease inventory levels, reduce domestic refining capacity, put upward pressure on consumer fuel prices, and alienate U.S. allies during a time of war,&#8221; the industry leaders wrote in response to Granholm.
Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy, ripped Biden for demanding oil companies increase refining capacity while also saying it wants to end fossil fuel and go to electric vehicles (EVs).
&#8220;The White House is basically picking a winner,&#8221; De Haan told Fox. &#8220;It&#8217;s picking EVs and it&#8217;s picking a loser: fossil fuels. What oil company is going to invest billions of dollars in building a new refinery? In this climate, it would be foolish.&#8221;
&#8220;Talk about doublespeak. &#8216;We need to build more and we&#8217;re going to shut you down in 10 years.&#8217; That confusion is not going to build confidence in oil companies to say, &#8216;Hey, you know what, we&#8217;ll expand our refinery by 100-.&#8217; No, nobody&#8217;s going to do that,&#8221; he said.
But wait, there&#8217;s more. The SPR has now been drained from 640 million barrels to 450 million barrels &#8212; the <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/rrapier/2022/09/07/the-strategic-petroleum-reserve-is-at-its-lowest-level-since-1984/?sh=34630c4b77c7">lowest</a> since 1984.
Biden also stopped a lot of the progress of oil production that was being made in the U.S.
&#8220;Consider that in 2005, the U.S. imported 10.1 million barrels per day (BPD) of crude oil, of which 4.8 million BPD (~48%) came from OPEC. The SPR contained 685 million barrels. With the U.S. importing 10.1 million BPD of crude oil at that time, that was enough oil to cover 68 days of supply,&#8221; Forbes wrote.
&#8220;In 2021, the U.S. imported 6.1 million BPD, of which only 800,000 BPD came from OPEC. More importantly, a lot of that imported oil was refined and re-exported as finished products. Net imports of U.S. crude oil and finished products were actually -62,000 BPD (i.e., the U.S. was a net exporter).&#8221;
But U.S. imports are on the rise. &#8220;U.S. Gulf Coast crude imports rose last week to the highest since September 2021, U.S. Energy Information Administration data showed,&#8221; one <a href="https://www.hellenicshippingnews.com/us-gulf-coast-crude-imports-rise-to-highest-since-sept-2021-eia/">report</a> said in September.
<div id="attachment_138045" style="width: 2570px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-138045" decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="wp-image-138045 size-full" src="https://www.dailywire.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/Iran-1-scaled.jpg" alt="An oil tanker is seen off the port of Bandar Abbas, southern Iran, on July 2, 2012. Iran has come up with several methods to foil the European insurance embargo on ships loaded with its crude, a sanction which may harm its vital exports as much as the EU oil embargo itself." width="2560" height="1440" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2020/08/Iran-1-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2020/08/Iran-1-300x169.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2020/08/Iran-1-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2020/08/Iran-1-768x432.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2020/08/Iran-1-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2020/08/Iran-1-2048x1152.jpg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px" />ATTA KENARE / AFP / Getty Images</div>
And in one of his first official acts in office, Biden killed the Keystone XL Pipeline, which was estimated after completion to transport 830,000 barrels of Alberta tar sands oil per day from Canada to refineries on the Gulf Coast of Texas.
“Killing 10,000 jobs and taking $2.2 billion in payroll out of workers’ pockets is not what Americans need or want right now,” Andy Black, president and CEO of the Association of Oil Pipelines, said on Jan. 20, 2021.
In the end, Biden deserves none of the credit &#8212; but all of the blame &#8212; for soaring prices at the pumps.
The views expressed in this piece are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.
Joseph Curl has covered politics for 35 years, including 12 years as White House correspondent for a national newspaper. He was also the a.m. editor of the Drudge Report for four years. Send tips to josephcurl@dailywire.com and follow him on Twitter @josephcurl.

Anti Joe Biden Protest Sticker

All The Ways Biden Has Botched The U.S. Response To High Gas Prices

All The Ways President Joe Biden Has Botched The U.S. Response To High Gas Prices

Biden

Gas Prices

Keystone XL

South Dakota Republican Governor Kristi Noem found a way to torch both President Joe Biden and a CNN+ producer in one tweet after the network&#8217;s premium service was shut down.
CNN producer Ellie Smith took to <a href="https://twitter.com/elliekaysmith_/status/1517187599030538240?s=20&amp;t=WekdIg4j_gveVF_grVgXVg">Twitter</a> Thursday warning people against tweeting &#8220;something snarky&#8221; following the network&#8217;s subscription service being canceled after less than one month, leaving &#8220;hundreds&#8221; out of a job, and called for people to &#8220;be kind.&#8221;
&#8220;PSA if you&#8217;re going to tweet something snarky about CNN+, hundreds of journalists and technicians who did nothing but work their tails off just had the rug pulled out from under them,&#8221; Smith tweeted. &#8220;So be kind.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
PSA if you’re going to tweet something snarky about CNN+, hundreds of journalists and technicians who did nothing but work their tails off just had the rug pulled out from under them. So be kind.
&mdash; Ellie Smith (@elliekaysmith_) <a href="https://twitter.com/elliekaysmith_/status/1517187599030538240?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 21, 2022</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Gov. Noem responded to the <a href="https://twitter.com/elliekaysmith_/status/1517187599030538240?s=20&amp;t=WekdIg4j_gveVF_grVgXVg">tweet</a> that those employees aren&#8217;t the only ones who lost a job, noting the thousands, not hundreds, who found themselves out of work after Biden <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/biden-faces-backlash-across-country-for-canceling-keystone-xl-pipeline">revoked</a> the permit for the $9 billion Keystone XL pipeline on his first day in office, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/16-republican-states-demand-biden-reinstate-keystone-xl-pipeline">reported</a> previously by The Daily Wire.
&#8220;Now you know how the Keystone XL Pipeline workers feel,&#8221; Noem&#8217;s tweet read.
Fox Business <a href="https://www.foxbusiness.com/energy/keystone-xl-cancellation-has-ripple-effect-on-pipeline-workers-native-americans">cited</a> a study from the State Department that found a total of 26,100 indirect and direct jobs would have come from the project, through its construction and supply chain across several states.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Now you know how the Keystone XL Pipeline workers feel. <a href="https://t.co/HBBnRPDIOC">https://t.co/HBBnRPDIOC</a>
&mdash; Kristi Noem (@KristiNoem) <a href="https://twitter.com/KristiNoem/status/1517238902163181571?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 21, 2022</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
The Biden Administration&#8217;s climate czar, John Kerry, previously suggested the thousands who were out of work by the president shutting down the pipeline could go learn how to make solar panels instead, <a href="https://www.yahoo.com/video/john-kerry-suggest-oil-workers-211114294.html">reported</a> Yahoo.
&#8220;The president of the United States has expressed in every comment he has made about climate the need to grow the new jobs that pay better, that are cleaner,&#8221; Kerry responded.
&#8220;What President Biden wants to do is make sure those folks have better choices, that they have alternatives, that they can be the people to go to work to make the solar panels,&#8221; he added.
The White House climate czar at the time also suggested that green jobs like solar power and wind were reportedly taking off before the COVID-19 pandemic struck.
&#8220;The same people can do those jobs,&#8221; the former secretary of state shared, adding that &#8220;coal plants have been closing over the last 20 years.&#8221;
Some people took to social media to commend Noem for her take down, recalling Kerry&#8217;s &#8220;solar panel&#8221; suggestions for those out of work due to Biden&#8217;s policies that are hurting everyday Americans.
Earlier this week, Republican chief legal officers from more than a dozen states <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/16-republican-states-demand-biden-reinstate-keystone-xl-pipeline">sent a letter</a> to Biden urging him to reconsider the pipeline, which was designed to transport hundreds of thousands of oil barrels from Alberta, Canada, to the United States. The officials called out the &#8220;hypocrisy&#8221; of the U.S. now possibly looking to import Canadian oil.
&#8220;We warned you then if your decision was not reversed, Americans would &#8216;suffer serious detrimental consequences,&#8217; consumers would pay higher prices, and our allies would become further dependent on Russian and Middle Eastern oil,&#8221; the attorneys general write in a letter sent Monday obtained by <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/16-republican-states-demand-biden-reinstate-keystone-xl-pipeline">The Daily Wire</a>. &#8220;We hate to say we told you so.&#8221;
RELATED: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/sd-gov-noem-proposes-end-to-conceal-carry-fees-wont-cost-you-a-penny-to-exercise-second-amendment-rights">SD Gov. Noem Proposes End To Conceal Carry Fees: &#8216;Won&#8217;t Cost You A Penny&#8217; To Exercise Second Amendment Rights</a>
RELATED: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/sd-governor-calls-on-biden-to-rescind-all-mandates-after-he-claims-there-is-no-federal-solution-to-pandemic">SD Governor Calls On Biden To Rescind All Mandates After He Claims &#8216;There Is No Federal Solution&#8217; To Pandemic</a>

Kristia Noem

Governor Kristi Noem Torches Biden And CNN+ Producer In Tweet After Network’s Premium Service Shuts Down

Kristi Noem

South Dakota

Republican chief legal officers in more than a dozen states are urging President Joe Biden to reconsider his quashing of the Keystone XL Pipeline and are criticizing the &#8220;hypocrisy&#8221; of the U.S. now potentially importing Canadian oil.
On his first day in office, Biden <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/biden-faces-backlash-across-country-for-canceling-keystone-xl-pipeline">revoked</a> the permit for a $9 billion pipeline designed to transport hundreds of thousands of oil barrels from Alberta, Canada, to the United States. Now, Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen is leading the charge to reinstate it.
&#8220;We warned you then if your decision was not reversed, Americans would &#8216;suffer serious detrimental consequences,&#8217; consumers would pay higher prices, and our allies would become further dependent on Russian and Middle Eastern oil,&#8221; the attorneys general write in a letter sent Monday obtained by The Daily Wire. &#8220;We hate to say we told you so.&#8221;
Biden&#8217;s cancellation of the 1,200-mile pipeline <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/keystone-pipeline-dead-killed-by-biden-thousands-of-jobs-lost">reportedly</a> killed thousands of jobs, and Republicans <a href="https://www.foxbusiness.com/energy/biden-energy-secretary-keystone-xl-pipeline-jobs">wrote</a> to the administration in February demanding to know how many. Knudsen and 20 other Republican attorneys general filed a lawsuit last year against Biden alleging he exceeded his authority by nixing the pipeline, The Daily Wire <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/21-states-file-lawsuit-against-biden-to-overturn-controversial-canceling-of-keystone-xl-pipeline">reported</a>.
The letter comes amid record-high gas prices and 40-year high inflation that has put a strain on American families. The Producer Price Index, an inflation measurement for wholesale producers, spiked 11.2% annually from March 2021 to March 2022, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/wholesale-inflation-surges-11-2-breaking-another-record">The Daily Wire</a> reported. The Consumer Price Index, which tracks consumer inflation, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/consumer-prices-soar-8-5-in-march-highest-hike-since-1981">reached</a> its highest level in 41 years only a day before these numbers were released.
&#8220;We&#8217;re seeing 50 plus percent increases in the price of gasoline,&#8221; Knudsen told The Daily Wire in an interview. &#8220;I don&#8217;t care if you&#8217;re in Montana or if you&#8217;re in Virginia. Everybody bears that cost and that hurts. Fuel is what drives our economy and we have to be able to drive our vehicles. We have to be able to heat our homes.&#8221;
The Republicans say European countries are now &#8220;unable&#8221; to levy sanctions on Russia amid its invasion of Ukraine without risking an economic recession and blast the president for a potentially contradictory decision to <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/u-s-wants-more-oil-from-canada-but-not-a-new-pipeline-to-bring-it-11649163668">now</a> import oil from Canada. The letter notes that the pipeline would have provided the same oil.
TC Energy, the company overseeing the pipeline, filed a $15 billion trade claim against Biden last year <a href="https://www.spglobal.com/commodityinsights/en/market-insights/latest-news/oil/112321-tc-energy-seeks-15-billion-in-keystone-xl-damages-from-us-government">seeking</a> damages from the U.S. government. The formal request for arbitration was submitted under an alleged &#8220;breach&#8221; of the legacy North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).
TC Energy did not respond to a request for comment.
According to the legal officers, Biden&#8217;s &#8220;excessive regulations&#8221; are raising energy costs. They reference a <a href="https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2021/01/25/2021-01765/protecting-public-health-and-the-environment-and-restoring-science-to-tackle-the-climate-crisis">portion</a> of Executive Order 13990 that aims to reduce &#8220;climate pollution&#8221; and the suspension of rail tank cars being able to transport liquified natural gas.
In February 2021, Biden moved to <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/biden-halts-oil-gas-leases-as-oil-prices-skyrocket-at-home">halt</a> oil and gas leases on federal lands. The administration said Friday it would resume leases with the plan of reducing land usage and also charge companies more money for production.
Knudsen said that while &#8220;leases are available&#8221; to companies it is clear that the administration has &#8220;made the terms so unfavorable&#8221; and implemented further regulations that hamper production.
The White House did not respond to a request for comment.
&#8220;Your decisions, however, have stripped Americans of the manifold benefits the Keystone XL pipeline would deliver—jobs, tax revenue, and new and sustained economic opportunities,&#8221; the attorneys general write in their letter.
&#8220;There is no end in sight to the painfully high energy costs or inflation that Americans are now enduring because of your failed policies,&#8221; they also write. &#8220;Stop the quiet conversations with foreign powers and oligarchs.  The solutions are right here at home.  On behalf of the citizens of our states, we demand you immediately take the actions outlined above to reverse the damage you have done and provide relief for struggling families and businesses.&#8221;
In addition to Knudsen, signers include Steve Marshall of Alabama, Treg R. Taylor of Alaska, Mark Brnovich of Arizona, Leslie Rutledge of Arkansas, Ashley Moody of Florida, Todd Rokita of Indiana, Jeff Landry of Louisiana, Lynn Fitch of Mississippi, Eric Schmitt of Missouri, John O&#8217;Connor of Oklahoma, Alan Wilson of South Carolina, Ken Paxton of Texas, Sean Reyes of Utah, Patrick Morrisey of West Virginia, and Bridget Hill of Wyoming.
<a href="https://www.scribd.com/document/570459076/EXCLUSIVE-15-Republican-States-Demand-Biden-Reinstate-Keystone-XL-Pipeline">View the letter in full here.</a>

Keystone Pipeline

16 Republican States Demand Biden Reinstate Keystone XL Pipeline

Joe Biden

Ken Paxton

Mark Brnovich

Oil and Gas

Moderate Democratic West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin suggested that the Keystone XL Pipeline could be &#8220;rebranded&#8221; or &#8220;rerouted,&#8221; as Americans continue to suffer pain at the pump from high gas prices.
Speaking at a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f01keXEq0J0">joint press conference</a> with Jason Kenney, the Premier of the Canadian province of Alberta, Manchin spoke about the necessity of the relationship between the U.S. and Canada for energy production and consumption, especially in the wake of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
&#8220;The horrific war that [Russian President Vladimir] Putin has put on Ukraine is an atrocity,&#8221; Manchin said. &#8220;It truly is. And I don&#8217;t think it’s something, I don&#8217;t believe, that any of us can tolerate. And there shouldn&#8217;t be a thing that we should be counting on, or buying, or supporting, from Russia, that gives them the resources to use in this genocide that they&#8217;re committing in Ukraine. But with that, we have to be stronger. We have to be committed and resilient enough to be able to say ‘we&#8217;re going to produce the energy that the world needs. We&#8217;re going to extract and process the minerals, the critical minerals, that helps us with a cleaner environment, transitioning into a new world, if you will.’ But that can be done right here.&#8221;
Later on, Manchin was asked by a reporter what he believed the chances were that the Keystone XL pipeline would be revived to address the need for more oil. “The brand of the XL pipeline is probably gone,” Manchin responded. “Can it be rebranded, can it be rerouted, can it be these different things? We need this product. You all have a product that we have to have in order for us to meet the demand in our country, but in your country, too, and the world.”
“Pipelines will carry [oil] a lot safer, cleaner, and much better and more efficient than [by] rail or by trucks &#8230; the cleanest way to transport it is by pipe,&#8221; Manchin added. He said he didn&#8217;t know if the Biden administration “is going to entertain that,” but “they’d be foolish not to.”
Manchin has been a frequent <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/watch-manchin-criticizes-biden-administration-say-you-will-support-oil-and-gas-development-and-production">critic</a> of the Biden administration&#8217;s energy policy, especially as it relates to domestic oil and gas production. He has repeatedly voiced his concerns with the administration&#8217;s policies, and called for resuming federal oil and gas drilling. He also <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/two-democrat-senators-join-republicans-in-calling-for-u-s-to-increase-domestic-oil-production">held up</a> two of Biden&#8217;s <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/joe-manchin-sinks-bidens-anti-fossil-fuel-fed-nominee">nominees</a> to Executive Branch positions over his concerns. Manchin also excoriated the Biden administration over news that <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/consumer-prices-soar-8-5-in-march-highest-hike-since-1981">inflation</a> hit another record high, and called on Biden to pursue an &#8220;all of the above&#8221; energy policy to help ease the pain of sky-high inflation. &#8220;Getting inflation under control will require more aggressive action by a Federal Reserve that waited too long to act. It demands the Administration and Congress, Democrats and Republicans alike, support an all-the-above energy policy because that is the only way to bring down the high price of gas and energy while attacking climate change,&#8221; Manchin said in a <a href="http://manchin.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/04/12/2022/manchin-statement-on-highest-inflation-in-four-decades">statement</a> Tuesday.
&#8220;The United States of America is equipped to be energy independent from Russia and other terror-sponsoring countries while also working to fight global climate change and break our dependence on the critical mineral supply chain from China. The inflation number today is only the beginning unless we take immediate action to address the pain being felt across our nation.&#8221;

Joe Manchin

Manchin Suggests Keystone XL Pipeline Could Be ‘Rebranded,’ ‘Rerouted’ To Help Ease Energy Crisis

During a congressional hearing, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) attempted to tie “fossil fuel extraction” to the kidnapping, rape, and murder of American Indian women. She intimated that local police officers helped facilitate this violence by protecting the safety of pipeline workers from violent environmentalist activists. And she seemed to blame the Keystone XL pipeline for crimes that took place in areas where it had not been built.
AOC, who blames fossil fuels for climate change and has <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/watch-ocasio-cortez-tries-grill-wells-fargos-ceo-ryan-saavedra">asked</a> bank executives if they should be held responsible for climate change because of their services to the energy industry, said she found a “very meaningful connection” between “fossil fuel extraction sites and abductions and murders of indigenous women.”
Ocasio-Cortez said “ruthless” oil companies encourage violence, and she accused unnamed state legislatures of “authorizing and almost legalizing the use of violence against fossil fuel protesters.” In fact, environmentalist protesters have frequently threatened — or perpetrated —  violence against oil and gas industry workers, especially at pipeline worksites. For instance:
<ul>
<li>A team of 20 environmentalist extremists attacked a pipeline worksite with <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10528525/Trudeau-ignores-violent-terrorism-20-eco-terrorists-axes-surround-Gaslink-pipeline-workers.html">axes and shot flare guns</a> at workers in British Columbia. They felled trees across roadways and threw torches at the Royal Canadian Mounted Police officers who responded. A policeman called the February 17 assault on the Coastal Gaslink pipeline “a calculated and organized violent attack that left its victims shaken and a multimillion dollar path of destruction.” No arrests were made;</li>
<li>In September 2016, a group of protesters <a href="https://www.breitbart.com/border/2016/09/05/militant-native-american-protesters-attack-pipeline-crew/">attacked</a> pipeline workers near the Standing Rock reservation, injuring four security officers and <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/us/oil-pipeline-protest-turns-violent-after-american-indian-burial-sites-destroyed">two dogs</a>; and</li>
<li>One protester against the Dakota Access Pipeline <a href="https://www.nationalreview.com/2016/12/dakota-access-pipeline-violence-rules/">shot at police three times</a> with a .38 caliber pistol. Other demonstrators threatened cops with Molotov cocktails and hurled feces at them. Security guards also say the Green activists attacked them, flashing a handgun and a knife.</li>
</ul>
Ocasio-Cortez seemed outraged that local police officers would “protect their extraction sites” from such protests, “even when workers are raping and killing indigenous women.”
AOC seemed to say that proposing a pipeline caused murders to increase. The congresswoman reported that 10% of indigenous murders or kidnappings that took place in “states affiliated with pipeline projects” had “occurred in counties where the Keystone Pipeline alone is proposed to be built.” Ocasio-Cortez did not explain how the future construction of the pipeline retroactively caused deaths and kidnappings to occur in the past.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
.<a href="https://twitter.com/AOC?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@AOC</a>: &quot;Fossil Fuel extraction&quot; is correlated with &quot;abduction and murders of indigenous women across the United States&quot; <a href="https://t.co/eUXYcNaJmQ">pic.twitter.com/eUXYcNaJmQ</a>
&mdash; Tom Elliott (@tomselliott) <a href="https://twitter.com/tomselliott/status/1504566064084094986?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 17, 2022</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
The hearing drew attention to the tangled, overlapping web of police jurisdictions that come into play at a reservation; unfortunately, not all of its conclusions were accurate.
AOC’s witness — Angel Charley, executive director of the Coalition to Stop Violence Against Native Women — testified that oil and natural gas companies set up “man camps” for pipeline workers, who abuse American Indians with impunity, because “many tribes do not have tribal jurisdiction over non-Native workers.”
Ocasio-Cortez asked whether this means criminals “essentially escape jurisdiction from having a clear path to accountability because of where these sites are happening.” Charley agreed.
In fact, all crimes that take place on reservations are punishable — and some law enforcement officers say giving reservations more jurisdiction may reduce the number of prosecutions. “The FBI has exclusive jurisdiction for about 20 serious crimes on Indian land such as murder, rape, robbery, etc., and will come in and take over any investigation when and if those crimes occur,” Tim Dees, a former tribal law officer, <a href="https://www.huffpost.com/entry/if-you-commit-a-crime-can_b_1507190">explained</a>. Some tribes allow local police departments to make arrests and bring charges on their land, while others entrust this exclusively to tribal law enforcement officers.
Reservations are a frequent haven for American Indian fugitives. “Tribal governments are notoriously political, and taking enforcement action against a favored person, such as the tribal chairman&#8217;s nephew, could be fatal to one&#8217;s career,” Dees wrote. South Dakota reservations sheltered <a href="https://www.indianz.com/News/2018/07/17/native-sun-news-today-county-looks-at-fu.asp">22%</a> of all active felony warrants issued by the Pennington County Sheriff’s Office in 2018.
For her final question, Ocasio-Cortez asked Charley to explain “how this collaboration between law enforcement and fossil fuel companies puts indigenous women, in particular, at heightened risk of abduction and murder.”
Charley cited no facts and replied with only one sentence: “This is a continuation of state violence against indigenous women.”
“I think what we see here is that the data speaks [sic] for itself,” Ocasio-Cortez replied.
The Bronx socialist’s comments came during a March 3 congressional hearing on “The Neglected Epidemic of Missing BIPOC Women and Girls.” The Democrat-controlled House Oversight and Reform Committee echoed MSNBC’s <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/joy-reid-goes-off-on-missing-white-woman-syndrome-candace-owens-has-a-question">Joy Reid</a> in <a href="https://oversight.house.gov/legislation/hearings/the-neglected-epidemic-of-missing-bipoc-women-and-girls">bemoaning</a> “missing white woman syndrome.” While the committee asserted without proof that “white women are given vastly higher levels of media attention than women of color,” it admitted “the problem is impossible to measure” due to a lack of data.
In <a href="https://docs.house.gov/meetings/GO/GO02/20220303/114460/HHRG-117-GO02-Wstate-CharleyA-20220303.pdf">written testimony</a>, Charley blamed the murder rate on “systemic racism” that is “rooted in the devaluation of [i]ndigenous lives since the onset of colonization.” But the committee said, “The disproportionate rate of missing Black and Indigenous women and girls can be attributed to … higher rates of intimate partner violence against BIPOC women than white women.” In 2016, the National Institute of Justice, a U.S. government institution, found American Indian and Alaska Native women were <a href="https://nij.ojp.gov/topics/articles/violence-against-american-indian-and-alaska-native-women-and-men">1.6 times</a> as likely as non-Hispanic white women to suffer domestic violence. The difference in the rate of sexual assaults was not statistically significant.
Critics of the hearing suggested that AOC should spend more time focusing on her own district’s surging crime rate. “Are they drilling in NYC?” <a href="https://twitter.com/paul02663276/status/1504648185712500739">asked</a> one Twitter user. New York City experienced <a href="https://abc7ny.com/nyc-crime-causes-shootings-murders/11505549/">485 murders</a> in 2021, and the number of major crimes committed in the Big Apple — such as homicide, rape, robbery, felonious assault, and burglary/grand theft — reached its <a href="https://nypost.com/2022/01/03/nyc-wiped-out-five-years-of-policing-progress-in-2021/">highest level in five years</a>.

Boston Mayor, Activists Rally To Ask Jeff Flake To Reject Kavanaugh Nomination

AOC Links ‘Fossil Fuel Extraction’ To The Murder Of Indigenous Women. Here’s Why It Doesn’t Work.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez

Dakota Access Pipeline

Energy

Environmentalists

Fox News White House correspondent Peter Doocy repeatedly asked White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki to give a straight answer as to whether President Joe Biden would ever consider restarting construction on the Keystone XL Pipeline — and she repeatedly gave him the runaround.
Doocy asked three times for a simple &#8220;yes or no,&#8221; noting at Wednesday&#8217;s press briefing that the Biden administration has often said that all options are on the table with regard to dealing with the fallout of the Russian invasion of Ukraine and questioning whether that meant that restarting construction on the Canada-to-the-United-States pipeline was one of those options.
WATCH:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Doocy: &quot;Is a restart of the the Keystone XL construction completely off the table as long as Joe Biden is president?&quot;
Psaki: &quot;Well, why don&#39;t you tell me what that would help you address?&quot;
Doocy: &quot;I&#39;m asking you if it is an option. You guys say are all options on the table.&quot; <a href="https://t.co/i4JInd97dz">pic.twitter.com/i4JInd97dz</a>
&mdash; Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) <a href="https://twitter.com/CurtisHouck/status/1501639894287982594?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 9, 2022</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
&#8220;Quick yes or no, because there&#8217;s a lot of grey area here: Is a restart of the the Keystone XL construction completely off the table as long as Joe Biden is president?&#8221;
&#8220;Well, why don&#8217;t you tell me what that would help address?&#8221; Instead of giving the requested &#8220;yes or no,&#8221; Psaki responded with a question of her own.
&#8220;I&#8217;m asking you if it is an option. You guys say all options on the table. Is restarting Keystone construction one of them?&#8221;
Psaki pushed back again, evading the question and instead explaining why she did not believe restarting Keystone construction would solve any of the problems currently facing the American people — namely the global need for more oil production without depending on Russia to get it.
WATCH:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Psaki: &quot;If we&#39;re trying to bring about more supply, that does not address any problem.&quot;
Doocy: &quot;Is supply from Canada, a friendly ally, instead of Saudi Arabia &#8211;&quot;
Psaki: &quot;That &#8212; that&#39;s&#8230;we&#39;re already getting that oil&#8230;The pipeline is just a delivery mechanism[.]&quot; <a href="https://t.co/OWpJR5Cvxg">pic.twitter.com/OWpJR5Cvxg</a>
&mdash; Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) <a href="https://twitter.com/CurtisHouck/status/1501640569025671177?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 9, 2022</a></blockquote>
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&#8220;If we&#8217;re trying to bring about more supply, that does not address any problem,&#8221; Psaki protested.
&#8220;It&#8217;s supply from Canada, a friendly ally, instead of Saudi Arabia,&#8221; Doocy pointed out.
&#8220;That — that&#8217;s already — we&#8217;re already getting that oil, Peter,&#8221; Psaki continued. &#8220;The pipeline is just a delivery mechanism, it is not an oilfield. So it does not provide more supply into the system. It does not address &#8230;&#8221;
Doocy interrupted to ask once more whether or not Keystone would ever be on the table as long as Biden remained in the White House.
WATCH:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Doocy: &quot;Is it possible that Joe Biden will ever say, &#39;you guys can go ahead w/construction of Keystone XL?&quot;
Psaki: &quot;There&#39;s no plans for that &amp; it would not address any of the problems we&#39;re have currently.&quot; (7/7) <a href="https://t.co/J6Q7aC6JOr">pic.twitter.com/J6Q7aC6JOr</a>
&mdash; Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) <a href="https://twitter.com/CurtisHouck/status/1501641019208736768?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 9, 2022</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
&#8220;Is it possible that Joe Biden will ever say, &#8216;You guys can go ahead with construction of Keystone XL?&#8221;
Once again, Psaki did not directly answer the question — although she did say that there were no plans for that to happen at the current time. &#8220;There&#8217;s no plans for that and it would not address any of the problems we&#8217;re have currently,&#8221; she said, moving on to take the next question.
Doocy also pressed Psaki during Wednesday&#8217;s briefing on the rising gas prices and the Biden administration&#8217;s attempts to spin those price hikes — which have been climbing steadily for nearly a year — as entirely the fault of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
As The Daily Wire <a href="https://dailywire.com/news/putin-price-hike-jen-psaki-invites-peter-doocy-to-join-her-in-the-white-houses-gas-price-blame-game/">reported</a>:
<blockquote>“Why did you guys decide to rebrand the rising gas prices as the #PutinPriceHike?” Doocy asked.
“I mean, if you want to use that on Fox, I welcome that,” Psaki pushed back. 
Doocy continued to press, noting both that gas prices had been rising for months prior to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and that the Biden administration had laid the blame for the rising costs on a series of other things as they occurred.</blockquote>

Jen Psaki Briefs White House Media Members

Peter Doocy Asks For A Straight Answer On Keystone, Gets The Runaround From Jen Psaki

Jen Psaki

Peter Doocy

Russia

Fox News host Martha MacCallum challenged National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan directly on American energy independence, and he appeared to struggle with an answer to her question.
Sullivan joined MacCallum for a morning interview on &#8220;Fox News Sunday,&#8221; and she pressed him on the United States&#8217; dependence on foreign sources for energy despite being a <a href="https://dailywire.com/news/you-would-have-a-trifecta-mike-pompeo-says-biden-could-do-three-things-right-now-to-turn-us-energy-policy-around/">net exporter of energy</a> prior to President Joe Biden taking office.
WATCH:
<div style="width: 720px;" class="wp-video">
<video class="wp-video-shortcode" id="video-339494-1" width="720" height="406" preload="metadata" controls="controls"><source type="video/mp4" src="https://www.dailywire.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/Grabien-1444335.mp4?_=1" /><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/Grabien-1444335.mp4">https://www.dailywire.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/Grabien-1444335.mp4</a></video></div>
&#8220;Why not reopen the Keystone Pipeline and reopen federal leases on U.S. land? Because we had energy independence and that was large leverage for the United States over Russia. Now we don’t have that anymore,&#8221; MacCallum began. &#8220;In fact we now buy more fuel from Russia than we have in the past, so how – why wouldn’t you want to revisit those in order to increase our leverage over Russia?&#8221;
&#8220;Well, first, Martha, the United States is still a substantial producer of energy,&#8221; Sullivan pushed back. &#8220;Second, we have worked with partners around the world to take steps to ensure that Russia’s attempts to use energy as a weapon get frustrated.&#8221;
Sullivan went on to say that the United States was prepared to &#8220;find cargoes of liquefied natural gas elsewhere in the world&#8221; and make sure that those got redirected to Europe in the event that Putin chose to &#8220;turn down&#8221; the amount of energy that Russia was supplying to Europe.&#8221;
&#8220;But you do concede we are no longer energy independent, Jake? And we were before,&#8221; MacCallum pressed again.
Sullivan appeared to be caught off guard by the question, pausing briefly before he skipped over it completely and pivoted instead to explain that the United States planned to be leader in <a href="https://dailywire.com/news/sound-familiar-dem-governor-running-president-james-barrett/">transitioning to clean energy</a>.
&#8220;What I would say is that the United States is investing massively in being a leader in energy transition in which, yes, for now, we continue to use fossil fuels but over the course of years and decades, we become a clean energy superpower, because that ultimately is not just where the jobs are. It’s where the strategic advantage will lie, because we can’t just look at next year or the year after,&#8221; Sullivan said. &#8220;That’s not what China is doing. We have to look out ten, 20, 30 years and over those years, President Biden’s investments and his visions for how to make the United States the world’s clean energy superpower, that’s what’s going to put us in the best strategic position alongside democratic like-minded allies and partners.&#8221;
MacCallum was quick to point out the fact that Russia and China might see that answer as a green light to go ahead with whatever they had planned, adding, &#8220;Some might say that Russia and China would look at that answer and feel that they are in a pretty good position. They came out and said you know we have a deep friendship, we have an unshakable alliance now, the two of us are in lockstep. What’s the White House reaction to that statement from them on Friday?&#8221;
Sullivan pushed back on MacCallum, arguing that Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping had not actually used the word &#8220;alliance.&#8221;
&#8220;They used some other phrases, but did not actually go so far as to call themselves allies,&#8221; he said.
&#8220;Let me just put this up on the screen for you,&#8221; MacCallum replied. &#8220;It says, &#8216;a friendship between these two states has no limits, there are no forbidden areas of cooperation&#8217; and they also suggested China would have Russia&#8217;s back on their decisions with regard to Ukraine and the same would be true for Russia of China’s decisions with regard to Taiwan. That sounds like an alliance.&#8221;

U.S. Secretary Of State Mike Pompeo Visits “The Story With Martha MacCallum”

WATCH: Martha MacCallum Challenges National Security Directly On American Energy Independence — He Responds With Uncomfortable Pause

Fox News Sunday

Martha MacCallum

I started pipelining in 2008 during one of the worst economic recessions our country has ever witnessed. I’ve seen disaster after disaster, both natural and policy-related, devastate our oil and gas supply over the past 13 years of my pipelining career. Yet through all of this, I have never been more concerned for our nation and its energy security than I am right now, watching the Biden administration minimize the progress we have made over the past decade.
I began my career as a welder’s helper before realizing that I had all of the necessary skills to be a pipeline welder myself. I’ve become passionate about doing my part to bring reliable, affordable, safe energy to the American people. Being married to someone in the pipeline industry as well, we’ve seen the industry change over the years— sometimes for the better and lately, for the worst.
After working 10 to 12 hour shifts on projects across the country and making a good living, I was instantly out of a job when President Biden decided to <a href="https://www.realclearenergy.org/articles/2021/07/28/why_is_the_biden_administration_attacking_americas_energy_independence_787549.html">favor foreign pipelines</a> over critical infrastructure projects like the Keystone XL pipeline here at home. Not only was I immediately out of a job during a struggling, post-pandemic job market, but I was pregnant with my first child. This past year and a half was supposed to be the most joyful year of my life— not the most stressful. However, President Biden seemed to have other plans for pipeliners like myself.
When you have a child, your entire mindset changes. I instantly went into “provider mode,” yet I no longer had a job and paycheck to help provide for my family. I’ve now been laid off for over a year and disadvantaged because of the effective halt on new pipeline projects in our country. At this point, I see very little hope for the future of American energy. I’m disappointed in President Biden’s failing leadership, which has impacted my husband, my newborn son, and the course of our nation.
Pipeline welding is all I’ve ever known. And I don’t just believe in it because it’s my job, I believe in it for the sake of my son’s future – our nation’s future. Hardworking families like mine need <a href="https://news.bloomberglaw.com/securities-law/the-natural-gas-reality-check-a-96-billion-price-tag">affordable gas</a> for our vehicles and cheap energy to heat our homes, dry our clothes, and cook dinner. I can’t imagine how bad it will be if these rising gas prices continue.
Prioritizing pipeline infrastructure in America is the best path forward from an environmental perspective. A <a href="https://www.fraserinstitute.org/article/pipelines-are-safest-way-transport-oil-and-gas">recent study</a> reaffirms that pipelines are 4.5 times safer than transporting oil and gas by rail or truck. If the Biden administration is trying to be environmentally conscious, they better look at the facts before trying to threaten viable pipelines like Dakota Access. Pipelines are the most climate-friendly, effective option; far more “green” and safe compared to the alternatives.
One missed paycheck at a time, I lose more hope in the current state of our country. During his campaign, Joe Biden promised to be an advocate for middle class families. However, he has instead <a href="https://www.foxbusiness.com/energy/keystone-xl-cancellation-has-ripple-effect-on-pipeline-workers-native-americans">killed thousands of family-sustaining pipeline jobs</a>. I will most likely have to settle for an entry-level job with entry-level pay here in Tennessee now that there seems to be no realistic options. John Kerry’s <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2021/01/29/kerrys-misleading-framing-potential-solar-wind-jobs/">empty promise</a> of employing us in solar panel jobs has so far not come to fruition. The Biden administration is putting people like myself out of jobs that are needed now more than ever as we try to recover post-pandemic.
I found purpose in working on projects like the Keystone pipeline, Mountaineer Express, and the Buckeye Express over the past thirteen years. My hope is that one day I’ll get to do the job I love again, in order to provide for my family and provide reliable energy to Americans.
The views expressed in this opinion piece are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.
Suzanne Walker is a pipeline welder based in Reagan, Tennessee, who lost her job after President Biden canceled Keystone XL. She is affiliated with Pipeliners Local Union 798.

Joe Biden’s Energy Policies Hurt My Family

U.S. taxpayers may have to end up paying $15 billion to the Canadian company behind the Keystone XL Pipeline. The company is seeking damages after Democrat President Joe Biden canceled the pipeline to pursue his far-left energy agenda.
TC Energy announced last month that they were scrapping the project because revoked the permit needed to complete the pipeline. Fox Business <a href="https://www.foxbusiness.com/energy/keystone-xl-cancellation-has-ripple-effect-on-pipeline-workers-native-americans">noted</a> that a study from the State Department found that the pipeline would have created 26,100 indirect and direct jobs.
TC Energy announced last week that it had &#8220;filed a Notice of Intent to initiate a legacy North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) claim under the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement to recover economic damages resulting from the revocation of the Keystone XL Project’s Presidential Permit,&#8221; the company said in a statement. &#8220;TC Energy will be seeking to recover more than US$15 billion in damages that it has suffered as a result of the U.S. Government’s breach of its NAFTA obligations.&#8221;
The Notice of Intent was filed with the U.S. Department of State.
In May, nearly two dozen state attorneys general filed a lawsuit against the Biden administration for canceling the pipeline, saying that he exceeded his presidential authority.
The attorneys general argue that Biden exceeded his authority because “of a provision Congress tucked into tax legislation in 2011 that required then-President Barack Obama to either approve the pipeline within 60 days or issue a determination that it wasn’t in the national interest,” NBC News <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/joe-biden/21-republican-led-states-sue-biden-over-keystone-xl-rejection-n1261356">reported</a>. “Obama then rejected TransCanada’s (now TC Energy Corp) application weeks later, saying Congress gave him insufficient time, but allowed the company to re-apply, which deferred the decision until after his re-election. Obama later rejected the application, President Donald Trump approved it, and Biden revoked the approval.”
The states that are suing Biden include Texas, Montana, Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Georgia, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Utah, West Virginia, and Wyoming.
The lawsuit <a href="https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/sites/default/files/images/admin/2021/Press/TX%20v.%20Biden%20Complaint.pdf">states</a> in part:
<blockquote>Revocation of the Keystone XL pipeline permit is a regulation of interstate and international commerce, which can only be accomplished as any other statute can: through the process of bicameralism and presentment. The President lacks the power to enact his “ambitious plan” to reshape the economy in defiance of Congress’s unwillingness to do so. To the extent that Congress had delegated such authority, it would violate the non-delegation doctrine. But Congress has not delegated such authority: It set specific rules regarding what actions the President can take about Keystone XL and when. The President, together with various senior executive officials, violated those rules. The action should be set aside as inconsistent with the Constitution and the Administrative Procedure Act, 5 U.S.C. §§ 500, et seq.</blockquote>
Biden has even faced criticism from his own party for his far-left energy agenda as some Democrats have <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/top-democrat-senator-urges-biden-to-reverse-on-keystone-pipeline-14-ags-threaten-legal-action">noted</a> that pipelines are the safest way to transport oil while others have <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/democrat-governor-rips-biden-energy-plan-doesnt-make-any-sense-hurts-state-an-economic-problem">noted</a> that Biden&#8217;s decision will their hurt their state.

US-POLITICS-EDUCATION-BIDEN

U.S. Taxpayers May Have To Pay $15 Billion In Damages To Canadian Firm Because Biden Canceled Pipeline

Biden Administration

Canada

Native American business leaders are pushing back against claims by anti-pipeline activists that Native Americans are united in condemning oil and gas industry projects.
The businessmen have stepped up their efforts since the anti-pipeline activists raided a construction site for Enbridge’s Line 3, a replacement line that would carry oil from Canada to the U.S., in early June. According to <a href="https://www.enbridge.com/media-center/media-statements/protesters-destroy-environmental-safeguards-and-damage-control-equipment">Enbridge</a>:
<blockquote>Damage to Enbridge’s Two Inlet Pump Station in northern Minnesota includes extensive vandalism of contractor equipment, construction trailers broken into, and the destruction of environmental safeguards intended to control erosion and protect water quality. While we respect everyone’s right to peacefully and lawfully protest, that is not what happened on Monday at the Two Inlets Pump Station. Protesters attempted to trap workers while forcefully entering and then occupying the site, trespassing and criminally damaging property. This is unacceptable, and we will seek the full prosecution of all involved.</blockquote>
Much of the equipment and capital damaged in the raid belonged to Native American-owned businesses that are working with Enbridge to build the pipeline, which would replace the aging Line 3 that runs 1,000 miles from Alberta, Canada, to Superior, Wisconsin. The crews working on Line 3’s replacement contain roughly 500 Native American workers, <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/minnesota-line-3-pipeline-native-american-business-leaders-defend-construction">Fox News</a> reports.
“I’m a contractor for excavation and all of my equipment on site was vandalized,” Matt Gordon, the Native American owner of Gordon Construction and one of Enbridge’s partners on the project, told Fox News. “For the most part, a majority of the people are for the pipeline. Everybody enjoys gasoline and plastic products. The opponents are shielding themselves with Native Americans. Most of the protesters were White. Line 3 has brought back millions of dollars to the reservations.”
After the raid in early June, Gordon and five other Native American business leaders representing the tribes of Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, the Boise Forte Band of Chippewa, the Leech Lake band of Ojibwe, and the White Earth Nation <a href="https://www.startribune.com/native-american-contractors-letter-seeks-end-to-destructive-and-unlawful-protests-over-line-3-pipeli/600066795/?refresh=true">wrote</a> a letter condemning the anti-pipeline activists.
“Protests that disrupt work, damage property and threaten our employees while claiming to be on behalf of our Native people is creating additional tension and consequences within our tribal communities,” the letter, sent to Minnesota tribal leaders, said. “They also intentionally create a false narrative that there is no Native American support for this project and the economic impacts and opportunities it brings to our people.”
The letter also called for action on the part of the tribal leaders, pushing “leaders of tribal communities across Minnesota to renounce these actions and call on these groups to stop future destructive and unlawful protests that endanger our Native workers and divide the communities in which we work and live.”
President Joe Biden issued an executive order in January that effectively killed the Keystone XL pipeline, a major project that would have carried oil from Canada into the U.S. Since then, activists have stepped up their efforts to shut down more oil and gas industry projects such as Line 3.
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/environmental-groups-cheer-keystone-shutdown-now-demand-biden-shut-down-all-pipelines">Environmental Groups Cheer Keystone Shutdown, Now Demand Biden Shut Down All Pipelines</a>

Climate activists

‘Most Of The Protesters Were White’: Native American Business Leaders Rip Anti-Pipeline Activists

On Wednesday, the Keystone XL Pipeline project, which was first proposed in 2008, stalled by former President Barack Obama, resurrected by former President Trump, and then finally killed by President Biden, was terminated by TC Energy, the Canadian developer of the project, in the process costing Americans thousands of jobs.
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The pipeline would have transported over 800,000 barrels of oil a day from Alberta, Canada, through Nebraska to refineries on the Texas Gulf Coast.
Trump had <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/they-are-playing-with-our-lives-local-residents-lash-out-at-biden-cancelling-keystone-xl">approved a right-of-way</a> permitting the $8 billion Keystone XL oil sands pipeline to be built across 46 miles of land controlled by the federal government, taking a giant step toward completing the full construction of the pipeline.
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As <a href="https://apnews.com/c43e33814ee71e770fdde0772d9213a9">The Associated Press</a> noted, the 1,200 mile pipeline had already garnered the requisite permits from states and localities to be built, but until the right-of-way the section in Montana controlled by the Bureau of Land Management and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers had been off-limits.
The Keystone pipeline was built in June 2010, traveling over 2,100 miles from Hardisty, Alberta, in Canada through Steele City, Nebraska, to Wood River Refinery in Roxana, Illinois, and Patoka Oil Terminal near Patoka, Illinois. In 2011, the Keystone-Cushing extension (Phase II) was completed, running almost 300 miles from Steele City to Cushing, Oklahoma. In January 2014, Phase III was completed, running roughly 500 miles from Cushing to refineries in Port Arthur, Texas. In 2016, a lateral pipeline was added traveling to Houston, Texas.
The Keystone XL pipeline connected Hardisty to Steel City using the shorter route running through Montana and used a larger diameter pipe, running through Baker, Montana.
TC Energy released a statement that pointed to Biden’s executive order on the day he was inaugurated as the cause of the death of the pipeline. The company wrote:
<blockquote>TC Energy Corporation confirmed today that after a comprehensive review of its options, and in consultation with its partner, the Government of Alberta, it has terminated the Keystone XL Pipeline Project. Construction activities to advance the Project were suspended following the revocation of its Presidential Permit on <a href="https://www.tcenergy.com/announcements/2021-01-20-tc-energy-disappointed-with-expected-executive-action-revoking-keystone-xl-presidential-permit/">January 20, 2021</a>.</blockquote>
TC Energy’s President and Chief Executive Officer, François Poirier, added:
<blockquote>We remain grateful to the many organizations that supported the Project and would have shared in its benefits, including our partners, the Government of Alberta and Natural Law Energy, our customers, pipeline building trade unions, local communities, Indigenous groups, elected officials, landowners, the Government of Canada, contractors and suppliers, industry associations and our employees. </blockquote>
Alberta Premier Jason Kenney, whose province had invested over a whopping $1 billion in the project, ripped Biden, declaring, “We remain disappointed and frustrated with the circumstances surrounding the Keystone XL project, including the cancellation of the presidential permit for the pipeline&#8217;s border crossing.”
Wyoming Senator John Barrasso, the top Republican on the Senate energy committee, snapped, “President Biden killed the Keystone XL Pipeline and with it, thousands of good-paying American jobs.”
Laurie Cox, who owns the Stroppel Hotel in Midland, South Dakota, a hotel she and her husband bought last September, had been feeding the welders, carpenters, and union laborers staying at her hotel and working on the pipeline. She told <a href="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/south-dakota-keystone-xl-pipeline-biden-decision-livelihood-pain">The Washington Examiner</a> that the day of President Biden’s inauguration, &#8220;I had a real gut-sinking feeling and was watching little snips of the news and Facebook to see what was going to happen after the inauguration.” She added that when Biden later announced he was killing the pipeline, &#8220;It hit me like a ton of bricks. I was in shock for three days.&#8221;
Cox said of the workers she had cared for, &#8220;They said their bosses sat them down and said, &#8216;The area is locked up, and we&#8217;ve all got to go home.’ I tried to choke back my tears because they were still packing up, and their families still had to be told, and the last thing they needed was an innkeeper sitting here crying on them.&#8221;
Of her own financial predicament, she stated, &#8220;How could somebody, with a swipe of a pen, destroy not only thousands of jobs but thousands of businesses?&#8221;
New Mexico GOP Rep. Yvette Herrell issued a caustic response to the cancellation of the pipeline:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Keystone XL was infrastructure.
&mdash; Rep. Yvette Herrell (@RepHerrell) <a href="https://twitter.com/RepHerrell/status/1402787479145566209?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 10, 2021</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

US-VOTE-2020-DEMOCRATS-DEBATE

Keystone Pipeline Dead, Killed By Biden. Thousands Of Jobs Lost.

John Kerry, the “climate czar” for the Biden administration, admitted on Wednesday that fuel pipelines are more efficient in terms of carbon-delivery than trains or trucks, effectively contradicting the anti-pipeline actions of President Joe Biden in his first 100 days in office.
“Isn’t it true the pipelines are more carbon-delivery efficient than trains or trucks or other forms of delivery? If you could answer just that limited question,” Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) asked during a House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing.
“Yeah, that is true,” Kerry responded, adding “I, I think that is true, but it doesn’t mean necessarily you want to be adding another line when there are other alternatives.”
“But is it better than train, and better than that, yes it is,” he continued, while masked.
<iframe loading="lazy" title="After Biden Canceled Keystone XL, Kerry Says A Pipeline Is More Carbon Efficient Than Train Or Truck" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/VSJGEU36rsI?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Kerry’s statement — particularly as the Biden administration’s central figure on issues of climate change and energy efficiency — flies in the face of Biden&#8217;s actions.
On the very first day of his administration, Biden <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/heres-what-each-of-bidens-42-executive-orders-will-actually-do">signed</a> “Executive Order on Protecting Public Health and the Environment and Restoring Science to Tackle the Climate Crisis,” which immediately killed the Keystone XL pipeline, which ran from Alberta, Canada to refineries in Illinois and Texas, and an oil pipeline distribution center in Oklahoma.
Former President Barack Obama also acted against the Keystone XL pipeline, temporarily delaying it in 2015, when Kerry was secretary of state.
Speaking with <a href="https://video.foxbusiness.com/v/6253958073001#sp=show-clips">Fox Business</a>, Rep. James Comer (R-KY) slammed Kerry’s hypocritical endorsement of pipelines after Biden killed the Keystone XL pipeline on his first day in office — an action which also eliminated thousands of jobs.
“Well, for once he’s being honest,” quipped Comer. “I didn’t like what I heard, and I don’t think most Americans would either.”
“The whole energy plan for Joe Biden is finally kicking in, we’re seeing inflation at the gas pump and we’re seeing shortages at the gas pump.&#8221;
Kerry’s statements come during a week of turbulent energy prices, following a cyber-attack on the Colonial Pipeline.
“Gasoline is reportedly flowing through the Colonial Pipeline again following a cyber-attack that forced its closure, leading to gas shortages along the pipeline’s route from New Jersey to Texas,” reported <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/crisis-ended-colonial-pipeline-restarts-operations-following-cyber-attack">The Daily Wire</a>. 
“Colonial Pipeline announced Wednesday that ‘it has begun a restart of its operations’ and that gasoline, diesel, and jet fuel began flowing through the pipeline again around 5 pm EST. It will still be several days before product delivery returns to normal, the company said in a statement issued Wednesday afternoon,” added The Daily Wire.
“Colonial will move as much gasoline, diesel, and jet fuel as is safely possible and will continue to do so until markets return to normal,” the company added, <a href="https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/overnights/553245-overnight-energy-colonial-pipeline-restarting-operations">according to The Hill</a>.
The <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/crisis-ended-colonial-pipeline-restarts-operations-following-cyber-attack">cyber-attack</a> “forced the closure of the 5,500-mile pipeline, which moves more than 100 million gallons of fuel from Texas to New Jersey every day — nearly 50% of the fuel consumed on the East Coast.”
In response, the governors of four states <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/4-states-issue-states-of-emergency-as-gas-outages-hit-nation-on-bidens-watch-biden-scrambling">issued</a> state of emergency declarations in the face of gas outages.

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