Republican Lawmakers Blast Biden's Decision To Cancel Keystone XL Pipeline Permit

Republican lawmakers on Wednesday expressed their dismay and blasted Pres. Joe Biden's decision to cancel the permit for the Keystone XL pipeline construction.

Cancellation of Permit For Keystone XL Pipeline Construction

Pres. Joe Biden signed and issued not more than 17 executive orders as he took his oath as the country's 46th president.

According to a recently published article in The Epoch Times, the executive actions include the cancellation of the permit of Keystone XL Pipeline construction that caught the attention of Republican lawmakers.

It can be remembered that former Pres. Donald Trump issued the permit to the Keystone XL Pipeline construction in 2017.

It ended a decade-long logjam of congressional debate, bureaucratic inaction, and court litigation that delayed construction of the pipeline designed to bring oil from Alberta, Canada, to refineries in Illinois and Texas. Trump issued another presidential permit for the project in March 2019.

Republican Lawmakers Condemn the Cancellation of the Permit

Republican lawmakers were not happy with Pres. Biden's decision to cancel the permit of Keystone XL Pipeline construction.

Sen. Tom Cotton said revoking the Keystone XL Pipeline permit will prevent some 60,000 jobs from being created and lead to thousands of job losses that will add to the number of unemployed persons in the country, Latin Post reported.

In a joint statement, House Minority Whip Steve Scalise and Reps. Markwayne Mullin and Jeff Duncan noted that Pres. Biden's decision to rescind an essential permit for the Keystone XL pipeline puts thousands of present and future union jobs at risk.

They added that it also undermines the trust and relation of allies in Canada, who have invested billions of dollars in completing this vital pipeline.

Mullin and Duncan are co-chairmen of the House Energy Action Team (HEAT), a GOP caucus that also includes House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy. Both Mullin and Duncan are also members of the House Energy and Environment Committee.

In a separate statement, HEAT said: "American energy security will also be undermined because this Canadian energy, destined for refineries along the Gulf Coast, will now be replaced by imports from unreliable OPEC countries." Following the permit's cancellation, the country is more likely to rely on China, Saudi Arabia, and Russia.

Economic Impact of Permit's Cancellation

Republican Rep. Pete Stauber also criticized the executive order that cancels the permit of the Keystone.

As he explained the economic impact of the president's decision, he said the Keystone XL pipeline would support over 10,000 union construction jobs in the U.S., and wages are expected to exceed $2.2 billion, which is very important in this time of the global pandemic.

Besides creating jobs, Stauber noted that roughly $1.6 billion in construction contracts were recently awarded to companies in Wisconsin, Montana, and Texas. He said project expenditures are occurring with businesses in 29 states.

Stauber added that the Keystone XL pipeline would generate over $100 million in annual property taxes for rural American communities to fund schools, infrastructure, and local services. But now, with Pres. Biden's decision to cancel the permit, the lawmakers feared that all of these might no longer happen.