LITTLE ROCK – Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge and 18 other state attorneys general called on President Joe Biden to support additional energy infrastructure – including the Keystone XL pipeline – following the Colonial pipeline shutdown that caused price spikes, fuel shortages, and long lines at gas stations across the south and eastern parts of the country. The letter to Biden detailed the harm caused by his cancelation of the Keystone XL Pipeline and urged Biden to put Americans’ national security and the environment first.
“Real jobs have been cancelled by President Biden and now we are not only faced with extremely high fuel prices, but our national security is truly in jeopardy,” said Attorney General Rutledge. “I wake up every morning committed to holding the Biden Administration legally accountable, and I will continue to aggressively lead efforts to protect Arkansans and all Americans from federal overreach.”
The Colonial pipeline situation showed the widespread panic and disruption that can result when just one pipeline system goes off-line. In the aftermath of the cyberattack, the Biden administration quickly relaxed environmental and safety rules to “secur[e] critical energy supply chains … alleviate shortages … [and] avoid[] potential energy supply disruptions to impacted communities.”
“Most Americans—particularly those not located along the coasts—now wish you had been… diligent and responsive before you determined that Keystone XL could be sacrificed on the altar of left-wing virtue signaling,” the letter stated.
In addition to supplying our own energy needs, energy infrastructure is needed to maintain our nation’s leadership as a net-energy exporter – a position that enhances our national security, increases global stability, and creates good-paying jobs for American workers.
Biden unilaterally canceled the Keystone XL pipeline on his first day in office, even though Obama’s State Department concluded multiple times that Keystone XL was a net positive for the economy, the environment, and energy security. And just days ago, Biden’s own Energy Secretary acknowledged that pipelines are “the best way to go” when it comes to moving fossil fuels.
“To be clear, we believe your Keystone XL decision was unconstitutional and unlawful, and many of the undersigned states are currently pressing those claims in federal court. But beyond the basic lawlessness of your decision, the current predicament shows what a poor policy decision it was,” the letter stated. “Your impulse to bow to an extreme climate agenda untethered to scientific fact or reality—exhibited by the Keystone XL cancellation and other similar actions—affirmatively deprives Americans of the safe and clean energy supply they need now. It undercuts our energy independence by eliminating a large and secure source of oil in a time of growing global unrest. It damages our reputation with geopolitical allies, like Canada, by reneging on our commitments. It destroys sophisticated, high-paying jobs. And it stunts sustainable economic growth in pipeline communities and throughout the country.”
In addition to Attorney General Rutledge, the attorneys general of Alabama, Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Texas, Utah, West Virginia, and Wyoming also signed onto the letter.