Posted on 11/24/2021 5:03:02 AM PST by RandFan
Centrist Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) is calling on President Biden to restore the Keystone XL pipeline as gas prices across the country rise.
"I continue to call on President Biden to responsibly increase energy production here at home and to reverse course to allow the Keystone XL pipeline to be built which would have provided our country with up to 900,000 barrels of oil per day from Canada, one of our closest allies," Manchin said in a Tuesday statement, according to the Gazette in Colorado Spring, Colorado.
"To be clear, this is about American energy independence and the fact that hard-working Americans should not depend on foreign actors, like OPEC+, for our energy security and instead focus on the real challenges facing our country's future," he added.
Machin's call for action came shortly after the Biden administration announced a plan on Tuesday to release 50 million barrels of oil from the nation's Strategic Petroleum Reserve in order to curb rising gas prices, the news outlet noted.
In February, Manchin reportedly sided with Republicans who urged Biden to rethink canceling a presidential permit for the pipeline, arguing that pipelines across the country "continue to be the safest mode to transport our oil and natural gas resources, and they support thousands of high-paying, American union jobs.″
Manchin also addressed the issue of inflation in the country last week, mentioning his belief that the Democrats' Build Back Better Act, which was recently passed by the House and will be taken up in the Senate, would not help lower prices.
“The cost they see every day. And every day they go to fill up is a dollar and a quarter more a gallon,” he said of rising gas prices at the time. “Three twenty-nine, $3.39.”
“A gallon of milk is now $4 in many places. It’s taking a toll. And I hear it when I go to the grocery store or if I go to the gas station. They say, ‘Are you as mad as I am?’ and I say, ‘Absolutely,’ ” Manchin continued.
Biden has expressed his views on ending American dependence on fossil fuel.
"This is the decade that will determine the answer. This decade," he said during an international climate summit earlier this month, the Gazette noted. "The science is clear: We only have a brief window left before us to raise our ambitions and ... to meet the task that's rapidly narrowing."
“Call” on him all you want, but he’s not in charge.
An actual crack in the monolith! Manchin goes from GOP obstructionist to a democrat with an obvious solution to the energy crisis, drill, transport and refine. The regime can’t change course without causing an explosion on its left.
Funny when you see Dems occasionally break character and say things that make logical sense. Unfortunately the party doesnt respond well to those that do.
It’s also already too late because the pipeline company has already cancelled the project and moved resources elsewhere.
I think Politicians are starting to realize that they have far more clout in a government without a mentally functioning president with seriously low poll numbers.
If no one is home, there isn’t really the strong leadership to stop you beyond over using a stasi tactic of having the FBI invade a house, ect.
Yup. As much as I feel Manchin is a fake, he knows which side his bread is buttered on. He wants to be reelected.
Not much Manchin can do except force Biden to do something constructive that’s good for the long term. I think there’s a potential Alaskan Pipeline that can be pursued...as well as some leases.
We were energy independent without the pipeline. Still could be with proper defiance.
Wind and solar can never provide our needs...it's plain stupidity. They are accessories to fossil fuels.
Wow, he is to the Right of over a half of the Repubs.
I remember reading that. But Biden has such a wonderful relationship with Canada....we’d have to beg to revive it.
That is why it is an obvious BS gesture (which liberal Democrats understand). HOLLOW~
C’mon, Joe, show your gratitude toward our Republic and do what’s right for American and the American people, flip the U.S. Senate. You can do that ... you can become an American hero ... in an instant ... all by yourself.
They won’t, because they’re tired of the BS from the States. Their fallback project is building a pipeline to the Canadian Pacific Coast... for China to buy their oil instead, thus depriving the US of it.
My concern is that he’ll use that as a swap: My vote for the restoration for Keystone.
Biden just met with Trudeau 10 days ago...Canada is p**** over shutting down the pipeline.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.