Cruz joins 13 Republicans in introducing Keystone Pipeline bill
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Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and 13 other Republican senators introduced a bill Tuesday to authorize the continuation of Keystone XL Pipeline construction.
The bill would reverse President Joe Biden’s recent executive order to revoke a presidential permit for the Keystone XL oil pipeline.
Sen. John Cornyn didn’t sponsor the bill, but has previously spoken out against the pipeline’s cancellation.
“There’s no doubt our energy industry has already suffered during the pandemic, and President Biden’s answer is to kick the industry further down the well,” Cornyn said after Biden signed the order in January.
Pipeline construction started in 2008 and the pipeline would transport oil from Alberta, Canada to the Gulf Coast of Texas. It was expected to employ more than 11,000 Americans in 2021 and create more than $1.6 billion in gross wages, according to its website.
No Senate Democrats sponsored the bill, suggesting that in the Democratic-run Congress the legislation is unlikely to get far. Republican sponsors ranged from from Wyoming to Alaska.
“President Biden’s misguided decision to cancel the Keystone XL Pipeline with the stroke of a pen cost thousands of hard-working Americans their jobs,” Cruz said Tuesday. “I am proud to support congressional authorization for the construction of the Keystone XL pipeline to combat Democrats’ efforts to destroy jobs they simply don’t like.”
The president signed the executive order based on the Obama administration’s 2015 review with the State Department that reported that the U.S. should focus on “the development of a clean energy economy, which would in turn create good jobs.”
The report also stated the pipeline would “undermine U.S. climate leadership by undercutting the credibility and influence of the United States in urging other countries to take ambitious climate action.”
During the bills’ introduction some sponsors argued against the pipeline harming the environment.
“Sending energy jobs overseas where there are worse environmental standards will only increase global emissions,” said Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La.
Others said that American jobs are more important than some environmental causes.
“We must reverse Biden’s disastrous decision and send a clear message that supporting American workers is more important than supporting Saudi Arabia and allowing radical environmentalists to cash in on campaign promises,” said Sen. Steve Daines, R-Montana.
