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Americans like to be in the lead when it comes to our neighbor to the north, and there is very little we can produce or do better that we would be willing to cede to our Canadian friends.
Unfortunately, our advantages are coming to an end under Joe Biden’s incompetent administration, especially when it comes to energy independence.
Canada recently completed construction of the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion, which will give the North American country the benefit of increased oil production and transportation capacity from Edmonton to the West Coast around Vancouver.
Canada’s Trans Mountain pipeline expansion will see the North American country benefit from oil production and transportation capacity from Edmonton to the West Coast around Vancouver. (Getty Images)
The Canadian government, despite ongoing struggles with radical environmental groups, wisely recognized that completing the project was critical to strengthening the country’s international standing.
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A major expansion of Canada’s oil pipeline infrastructure is expected to increase buyers of a vital natural resource, and Americans, especially in the Midwest, may face higher gas prices at the pump — a burden that will create additional inconvenience for families when they need gas in their cars.
I commend Canadians for their commitment to energy independence and to protecting our interests from environmentalist agendas. These are admirable priorities that all countries should pursue. Future generations of Canadians will certainly benefit from our government’s actions in this area.
Unfortunately, while Canada is entering an era of enhanced energy independence, the United States is entering an era of increased energy dependency that comes with national security risks, thanks to the policies of President Biden and powerful bureaucrats in federal agencies.
American energy is vital to global security, but Biden is weakening the U.S. at every turn.
In fact, on January 20, 2021, one of President Biden’s first acts as commander in chief was to cancel our nation’s Keystone XL pipeline, which has cost the country billions of dollars and tens of thousands of jobs.
In response, I introduced a resolution opposing the Administration’s decision to revoke the permit for the Keystone XL Pipeline. Cancelling this pipeline is just the first in a long series of reckless decisions by Biden that will undermine our energy security.
House Republicans included my resolution in a broader energy bill, HR1 (The Energy Cost Reduction Act), that passed the House last year. The Democratic-controlled Senate has yet to consider the proposal.
The Biden Administration is not only halting construction of vital energy pipelines through the United States, but is also depleting the US Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR), a reserve reserve for emergencies, in order to cover up the President’s glaring energy policy failures.
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When Biden took office in January 2021, the SPR stockpile was at 638 million barrels, but it has fallen to nearly 350 million barrels after the administration released hundreds of millions of barrels in 2022. President Biden’s reckless actions have pushed U.S. oil reserves to their lowest level in the past 40 years, posing a threat to the United States in the event of a real emergency. Adversaries are undoubtedly monitoring the situation and may still be trying to exploit U.S. weaknesses.
But the current administration has no realistic plan to revitalize American energy production to replenish emergency oil supplies and lower prices.
To make matters worse, hundreds of thousands of barrels of oil are going to Communist China as the administration routinely sells off emergency oil reserves at an unprecedented pace. According to U.S. Census Bureau data, U.S. oil exports to China increased 88% from 2022 to 2023. Thanks in part to the Biden administration, China may now have the largest government-controlled oil reserves in the world.
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That’s why House Republicans have delivered on their promise to restore America’s energy supply and security. We’ve passed several bills to achieve these goals, including the Strategic Production Response Act and the Protecting America’s Strategic Petroleum Reserve from China Act, two bills that have been awaiting consideration in the Democratic-controlled United States Senate for the past year.
The Strategic Production Response Act would ensure that non-emergency SPR releases are accompanied by a plan to increase the percentage of federal lands and waters leased for oil and gas exploration. This bill represents an important step to free up domestic energy production, increase emergency supplies, and protect the nation’s energy security.
The Protecting the United States Strategic Petroleum Reserve from China Act would prohibit the Biden Administration from further selling America’s emergency reserves to our enemy, China, or any entity owned or controlled by the Chinese Communist Party. House Republicans will continue to stand up to China and stop the Biden Administration from ceding America’s energy security to our enemies.
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Despite the significant challenges our nation faces as the Biden Administration seeks to undermine America’s energy security and future, House Republicans are taking action to stand up to Communist China and advance our energy security. We will not cede energy dominance to Canada, or any other country in the world.
We will continue to fight to restore America’s energy independence. The cost of inaction, or of continuing the status quo, is too high for future generations.
To read more comments from Councilwoman Debbie Lesko, click here