FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 17, 2021
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Mike Lewis (334) 353-2199
Joy Patterson (334) 242-7491
Attorney General Marshall Calls on President Biden to Put America’s Energy Security First and Reopen Keystone XL Pipeline
(MONTGOMERY) – Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall called on President Joe Biden to put America’s national energy security first and reopen the Keystone XL pipeline.
In a letter dispatched to the White House today, Attorney General Marshall and 18 other attorneys general called out the Biden administration for its opposition to the vital new oil pipeline between Canada and the United States, particularly at a time when America’s energy infrastructure is under attack.
“In recent days, Americans witnessed first-hand the vulnerabilities of our energy
infrastructure when a cyberattack by malicious foreign actors resulted in a shutdown of the Colonial Pipeline,” Attorney General Marshall and his colleagues wrote. “The aftermath has been alarming. Price spikes, fuel shortages, and gas lines akin to those seen in the Carter Administration have demonstrated the widespread disruption and public panic that result when just one pipeline system goes offline.”
Attorney General Marshall and the other attorneys general underscored that Americans depend upon safe and secure energy supplies, which is why robust energy infrastructure, like the Keystone XL pipeline, must be built.
“When you were Vice President, your State Department concluded multiple times that Keystone XL was a net positive for the economy, the environment, and energy security. And just days ago, your Energy Secretary acknowledged that a pipeline – as opposed to other transport methods – ‘is the best way to go’ when it comes to moving fossil fuels.
“But your Administration’s current approach exchanges those fact-based conclusions for the faddish preoccupations of your coastal elite constituencies. Indeed, hours after you took office, you purported to kill thousands of jobs, extinguish billions in economic opportunity, and jeopardize American energy independence because of the ‘message’ Keystone XL sends to the global community – whatever that means.”
“To be clear, we believe your Keystone XL decision was unconstitutional and unlawful, and we 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. 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 supplies they need now.”
“Maybe one day, down the road, we will obtain the Utopian energy profile you desire,” Attorney General Marshall and the other attorneys general added. “But in the meantime, Americans want practical, effective leadership – not visionary deprivations. We again encourage you to reconsider and recalibrate your energy and environmental policies. Put Americans, our national security, and our environment first.”
Attorney General Marshall is also a part of 21-state coalition currently suing the Biden Administration over its unconstitutional revocation of the Keystone XL pipeline cross-border permit.
Read the AGs’ Letter to President Biden here
Read 21-State Keystone XL pipeline lawsuit here
[To access links, click PDF icon at top right of press release]
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