The US Republicans Bring Keystone XL Decision During High Gas Cost Period

Republicans are trying to revive the controversial Keystone XL pipeline expansion dispute as an election-year political tool against Joe Biden, blaming him for rising gasoline prices.

Members of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce interrogated a group of senior oil and gas sector leaders asked to testify about the apparent disconnect between crude oil pricing and pump prices on Wednesday.

The lines of questioning changed based on the person’s political affiliation: Democrats criticized the Executives for not doing enough to help, making billions and not helping the economy, while Republicans searched for ways to blame the White House.

“What happened is we denied Canada access to our market,” said H.R. McMaster, one of Donald Trump’s former national security advisers. “What’s Canada going to do? They’re going to have to sell oil elsewhere, maybe to China, for example, which will give China maybe more power over Canada’s economy.”

Rep. David McKinley, who has been representing the West Virginia district for the Republicans since 2011, showed off a Wall Street Journal report from Tuesday that said that according to anonymous sources, the U.S. is trying to get more energy from Canada. 

“Really? Didn’t he just cancel the permit for the Keystone pipeline that would have imported 830,000 barrels of crude oil per day from Canada?” he asked.

“Canada’s network of pipelines are already running at full capacity, so we’ll have to import by rail, which according to analysts is more expensive.”

Officials from the Biden administration didn’t respond to any questions regarding Canadian energy imports on Wednesday. The White House is said to be trying to increase imports to relieve supply demands caused by a North American ban on Russian energy.

But according to Virginia Democrat Rep. Donald McEachin on Wednesday, the White House hasn’t bought into the idea that a different scenario on the Keystone XL project would have had any effect on the price of gas. 

“The reality is that the Keystone pipeline would not be operational until at least next year, so the notion that somehow that’s adversely affecting the price of oil and the price of gas at the pump is to me somewhat mystifying,” McEachin stated.

“What’s more, the Keystone XL was essentially a Canadian export pipeline designed to take Canadian oil to foreign markets, and Canadian officials have said as much.”

Original source material for this article taken from here