Joe Biden is eager to boost Canadian oil imports, as the United States continues to struggle with high gasoline costs, but he refuses to re-initiate the Keystone XL pipeline that he canceled on his first day in office in 2021.
The Biden administration, according to the Wall Street Journal, is attempting to boost Canadian oil imports using rail, which is riskier and dirtier for the environment than using pipelines, as Sec. of Transportation Pete Buttigieg has stated.
The Journal reported this week:
“One of the Biden administration’s top efforts right now is to find new ways to increase oil imports from Canada, according to people familiar with the situation. But there’s one huge exception: they don’t want to resurrect Keystone XL, which President Biden effectively terminated on his first day in office.”
The people said that the discussions are still in their early phases and that no simple answers have emerged.
“Kevin Birn, an analyst with S&P Global Commodity Insights, said Canada has enough reserves under its soil to satisfy American demand. It just does not have enough pipeline capacity to transport it here right now,” he added.
Despite having obtained an environmental assessment, the Keystone XL pipeline was initially shelved by the Obama administration. Trump revived it, allowing work to begin and generating thousands of jobs. However, Biden terminated it as a show of support for environmentalists seeking to wean the country off fossil fuels due to climate change.
The Biden administration has justified its decision to halt the Keystone XL pipeline by stating that it would not have been finished on time to address the current fuel crisis. It has yet to respond to allegations that shutting Keystone XL sent a signal to oil and gas producers regarding the administration’s intentions to limit future exploration and development, which it subsequently did.
Biden’s decision cost thousands of current and future employment opportunities, including many “sensible, good-paying union jobs,” as Breitbart News wrote at the time.
It’s clear that the Democrats do not care about the American worker. They have betrayed blue-collar Americans at every turn without except. We can only work for and demand a major change in leadership come 2024.