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Within hours of taking office, Joe Biden picked up a pen and signed the cancellation of the Keystone XL pipeline. This decision cost 10,000 jobs and billions of dollars in profits, investment and energy. Nearly two years later, a former pipeline employee lashed out at the president over energy prices.
Neal Crabtree worked on the project, which was in its fourth and final stage of construction at the time it was shut down. He spoke with Fox Business about the current state of the energy industry in the United States.
“I don’t know how he gets away with keep saying that he doesn’t have anything to do with [high gas prices] when they’ve got everything to do with it,” he said of Biden.
“It’s not just Keystone. Ever since day one — I can name you dozens of other pipelines that we were expecting to build here in the last couple of years, and they can’t get the permits,” he added.
He also referred to the difficulty he faced after being fired for the cancellation of the pipeline, which would have transported 830,000 barrels of oil per day from Canada to Texas.
“As far as my side of the industry, we’ve seen our man-hours cut almost — well, more than half. We got people that lost health insurance, they’re not getting retirement benefits, they’ve had to find different careers. When you’re 40, or 45 years old, starting over ain’t the easiest thing to do. You spent all your time building your skill set and then all of a sudden you’re making a minimum wage. It can change your life.”
Biden’s “war” against the energy industry
According to Republicans on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, Chairman Biden is trying “to cover up his failed “rush-to-green” agenda, by depleting our Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR).”
Indeed, the current president has sold more than 200 million barrels since he began his term, which translates into 40% of reserves. This is more than all U.S. presidents in history combined.
“As a result, the SPR is now at its lowest level since 1984 – and the administration has no plan to refill it. This morning, his administration announced an additional 15 million barrels would be drained from the SPR to bailout Democrats ahead of the midterms, further surrendering both our energy security and national security to countries like Russia, China, Saudi Arabia, and Venezuela,” the Committee said on October 19.
Joaquín Núñez es licenciado en comunicación periodística por la Universidad Católica Argentina. Se especializa en el escenario internacional y en la política nacional norteamericana. Confeso hincha de Racing Club de Avellaneda. Contacto: [email protected] // Joaquín Núñez has a degree in journalistic communication from the Universidad Católica Argentina. He specializes in the international scene and national American politics. Confessed fan of Racing Club of Avellaneda. Contact: [email protected]