Democratic Senator. Joe Manchin said Tuesday that he didn’t solicit Jason Kenney to appear before the U.S. Senate’s energy and natural resources committee to “relitigate the past,” which includes the decision of President Joe Biden to scrap Keystone XL. Keystone Pipeline XL.
But that’s exactly what members of the panel’s Republican members took advantage of this Alberta premier’s appearance for an excuse to slam the Biden administration’s policy on energy in general and its decision to scrap Keystone XL.
As gas prices have increased, Republicans have been vocal about linking the cost of the gas station to its abolition. Still, Kenney’s presence allowed senators to criticize the administration’s actions by reaching out to unfriendly regimes to boost oil production.
Kenney seemed more than willing to accommodate the Republicans in both areas, but he stayed clear of slamming too harshly upon President Trump. U.S. president.
The visit promoted his province as a reliable energy source for America. The U.S. and, as the man said in his opening remarks, present the idea of creating an energy pipeline “to realize the dream to achieve the dream of North American energy independence and security.”
He expressed displeasure that it is a shame that the U.S. has turned elsewhere for oil to OPEC and specific countries such as Venezuela or Saudi Arabia and had invested hundreds of billions of dollars over the last decades to defend security in the Persian Gulf.
He added the answer to Washington’s energy security issues, “is your most trusted allies and friend.”
Kenney’s appearance took place amid a soaring gas price, Washington scrambled for more oil, and with U.S. midterm elections just shortly.
Government Perplexed
The senator was invited by Manchin, the chair of the committee and an avid Keystone fan who is a crucial, pivotal vote in the divided Senate. In the last month, this West Virginia Democrat visited Alberta to visit the oil sands and to meet with top executives and others in the oil industry.
In addition, the committee heard testimony from Natural Resource Minister Jonathan Wilkinson. Nathalie Camden from Quebec, the deputy minister of mines, and Electricity Canada president Francis Bradley were also present.
Kenney said that the government was puzzled by the president’s response to the soaring prices for gas to press OPEC to create and sell more oil “while striving to lift sanctions against dictatorships such as Iran and Venezuela.”
Kenney stated that, with determination from Washington, “we could also create a new major pipeline that will let the United States free itself from imports of hostile regimes.”
Republicans in the committee seemed to be receptive to Biden’s remarks and were more than content to continue with the topics. Wyoming Republican John Barrasso, the top member of the committee, made several questions regarding Biden’s decision to derail Keystone.
“Is it right to claim that the decision of President Biden to end the Keystone pipeline, which incurred a higher cost was harmful to the environment and exacerbated our supply chain problems?” He inquired.
“All I have to say is inexplicable,” Kenney Says
“I believe this is a reasonable decision,” Kenney said.
“Does Biden’s policies make sense to the citizens of Canada or the United States or of Canada?” Barrasso inquired.
“It’s your responsibility to determine what’s working for people in America,” Kenney said. The United States,” Kenney stated. “But I’ll add this. It is inexplicably that the administration of the United States has been more concentrated on encouraging further OPEC production rather than Canadian production.”
Senator. Mike Lee, a Utah Republican, continued asking if Canadian energy companies cannot invest capital due to specific energy policies implemented by the Biden administration.
“Well, I’d say yes,” Kenney said.
Lee wanted to know what kind of message was conveyed “to the Canadian allies, and especially to Alberta” with the decision to cancel of Keystone XL pipeline and the outreach to countries such as Venezuela or Saudi Arabia to ramp up production.
“All I have to say is inexplicable,” Kenney said.
Although the Republicans were open to it, Kenney needed to convince the Democrats on the committee, which, except for Manchin, were in favour of the decision to end Keystone XL. However, most Democrats were not present. Even those who attended asked questions that weren’t directly related to Kenney’s argument.
For instance, Sen. Angus King, a Democrat from Maine, asked about how Alberta has reduced methane emissions.
After the meeting, Manchin was seen to support Kenney’s proposal for a brand new pipeline and also said he hoped Biden would change his mind.
According to an article in The Wall Street Journal last month, Biden administration officials are trying to boost oil imports from Canada. However, they do not intend to revive the Keystone XL pipeline.