LITTLE ROCK – Attorney General Rutledge joined 15 state attorneys general calling on President Joe Biden to reinstate the Keystone XL pipeline permit following reports that his Administration is seeking to import more oil from Canada. Rutledge also called on President Biden to stop federal efforts to impose excessive regulations that will increase Americans’ energy costs.
“On his first day in office, President Biden took jobs away from Arkansans and hit all Americans with higher energy prices,” said Attorney General Leslie Rutledge. “Reinstating the Keystone XL pipeline permit will drive down gas prices and allow the United States to remain energy independent. It’s time for President Biden to end his anti-energy policies.”
President Biden’s unilateral decision on his first day in office to cancel the Keystone XL pipeline eliminated thousands of jobs, cost millions in tax revenue, and inflicted economic harm on the communities along its route. It also set a dangerous precedent for future permits and projects that would enhance our nation’s energy security and independence, and it made America more dependent on foreign oil producers – like Russia, Saudi Arabia, and Venezuela – for our energy needs.
In a February 2021 letter, Attorney General Rutledge and a coalition of state attorneys general previously warned President Biden that if he cancelled the Keystone XL Pipeline, Americans would suffer serious and detrimental consequences, higher energy prices and a more volatile world where United States allies would become increasingly dependent on Russian and Middle Eastern oil. Those predictions have come true.
In addition to Attorney General Rutledge, attorneys general from Montana, Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Florida, Indiana, Louisiana, Missouri, Mississippi, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Texas, Utah, West Virginia, and Wyoming also signed the letter.
About Attorney General Leslie Rutledge
Leslie Carol Rutledge is the 56th Attorney General of Arkansas. Elected on November 4, 2014, and sworn in on January 13, 2015, she is the first woman and first Republican in Arkansas history to be elected as Attorney General. She was resoundingly re-elected on November 6, 2018. Since taking office, she has significantly increased the number of arrests and convictions against online predators who exploit children and con artists who steal taxpayer money through Social Security Disability and Medicaid fraud. Further, she has held Rutledge Roundtable meetings and Mobile Office hours in every county of the State each year, and launched a Military and Veterans Initiative. She has led efforts to roll back government regulations that hurt job creators, fight the opioid epidemic, teach internet safety, combat domestic violence and make the office the top law firm for Arkansans. Rutledge serves on committees for Consumer Protection, Criminal Law and Veterans Affairs for the National Association of Attorneys General. She also served as the former Chairwoman of the Republican Attorneys General Association.
A native of Batesville, she is a graduate of the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville and the University of Arkansas at Little Rock William H. Bowen School of Law. Rutledge clerked for the Arkansas Court of Appeals, was Deputy Counsel for former Governor Mike Huckabee, served as a Deputy Prosecuting Attorney in Lonoke County and was an Attorney at the Department of Human Services before serving as Counsel at the Republican National Committee. Rutledge and her husband, Boyce, have one daughter. The family has a home in Pulaski County and a farm in Crittenden County.