Lankford’s response to Biden’s elimination of Keystone—“irrational move”

 

Oklahoma U.S. Sen. James Lankford joined the list Thursday of those critical of President Biden’s fast move to eliminate approval of the Keystone XL pipeline in the country.

“Yesterday’s irrational denial of the Keystone XL permit damages our relationship with Canada and will lead to higher prices at the pump for consumers,” said the Republican Senator in a statement.

“Limiting access to an oil pipeline kills jobs and limits our energy supply. Kicking people who work in the energy sector on day-one may help progressive politics, but in Oklahoma, we know our jobs and livelihoods are next.”

He called the pipeline the physical embodiment of the Democrats’ crusade against traditional energy and said Biden “wasted no time turning back years of Americans’ hard work developing, ironing out the route, and building this trans-border pipeline.”

The Senator argued pipelines are the safest way to transport oil and the Keystone would have been built under the strictest pipeline safety standards ever implemented.

Sen. Lankford was one of those who supported President Trump’s executive orders in 2019 to promote energy infrastructure and economic growth. In December of 2018, he joined 43 members of Congress in a letter to the President urging him to take the action to allow the pipeline to move forward.

Source: Lankford press release