One of the first things Biden destroyed upon getting into office was to shut down the Keystone XL pipeline. This not only put a strain on our oil supply, but also resulted in the loss of thousands of jobs.
As we approach the summer months where the demand for gas surges, Biden is at it again. This time he is planning to cancel oil and gas leases in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge otherwise known as ANWR.
Report: Biden to Cancel Oil, Gas Leases in Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR), Despite High Gas Prices https://t.co/CdJjremxZm via @BreitbartNews
— Joel Pollak (@joelpollak) June 1, 2021
Biden’s administration will reportedly cancel several oil and gas leases granted in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) in the last weeks of the Trump administration — days after defending similar leases on Alaska’s North Slope. https://t.co/KUibKTkXxX
— Breitbart News (@BreitbartNews) June 1, 2021
According to Breitbart,
President Joe Biden’s administration will reportedly cancel several oil and gas leases granted in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) in the last weeks of the Trump administration — days after defending similar leases on Alaska’s North Slope.
The decision was reported by the Washington Post on Tuesday, and would mark an attempt to reverse one of President Donald Trump’s historic achievements: the opening of ANWR’s coastal plain in his tax cut legislation in December 2017.
The Post reported that “Interior would halt the leases on the grounds that Trump officials rushed the Jan. 6 auction and did not follow proper procedures.” But environmental groups have also lobbied to reverse Trump’s decision on ANWR.
ANWR was set aside by Congress in 1980 — though biologists in Alaska have joked that Congress confused ANWR and the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska (NPR-A) to the west, which has more wildlife and less oil and gas potential.
The fossil fuel industry has lobbied for ANWR to be opened, arguing that new technologies such as directional drilling and ice roads minimize the environmental impact and risk to wildlife. The local Iñupiat Alaska Native communities and the state government also support oil and gas activity in ANWR. But environmental groups oppose it, noting that the migratory Porcupine Caribou herd uses the coastal plain to calve. The Gwich’in Alaska Natives, who live further south but also hunt the caribou, and who would not benefit directly from oil and gas development, want ANWR to be closed.
Environmental groups also want ANWR close for the same reason they lobbied for the Keystone XL pipeline to be closed, though it is the most environmentally-friendly way to transport oil — namely, that they oppose all fossil fuel development, due to the risks of climate change.
As stated in this piece there exists a variety of newer and safer means to drill for oil. Furthermore, disregarding these technological advancements and shutting down pipelines actually hurts the environment more.
We saw this first hand during the cyberattack that shut down the colonial pipeline which halted the shipping of oil across the eastern third of the United States. In fact, the Biden White House openly admitted pipelines are the safest way to transport oil.
Fox News Reports:
President Biden’s energy secretary is facing renewed backlash for canceling the Keystone XL pipeline permit after she admitted this week that using a pipeline is “the best way” to transport fuel.
At a Tuesday press conference, Department of Energy (DOE) Secretary Jennifer Granholm was asked by a reporter about the “feasibility of using rail cars” to transport fuel across the country as the nation faces a gas shortage from a Russian cyber attack.
The energy secretary said the Department of Transportation was looking into the use of rail cars to transport fuel and that “these are not easy solutions,” as there are a lot of variables with rail transportation.
Granholm also said the Colonial pipeline, which runs from Texas to New York and is similar to the recently canceled Keystone XL pipeline, is the premiere way to pump petroleum into communities.
“So this particular area of the country there – this is why we have doubled down on ensuring that there’s an ability to truck oil in – gas in,” Granholm said. “But it’s – the pipe is the best way to go.”
Granholm sparked backlash online due to her answer, particularly by conservative politicians across the country who are calling the secretary out on Twitter for Biden’s decision to nix the Keystone pipeline.
House Minority Whip Steve Scalise, R-La., pointed out the quote from Granholm, writing on Twitter that the reason Biden killed the pipeline was “pure politics.”
🚨 WATCH → Joe Biden's own Energy Secretary admitted that "pipe is the best way” to transport fuel.
So why did Joe Biden cancel the Keystone XL pipeline?
Pure politics. pic.twitter.com/VRECpwVCUW
— Steve Scalise (@SteveScalise) May 12, 2021
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