Democratic Senator Joe Manchin said Tuesday that he did not invite Jason Kenney to appear before the US Senate committee on energy and natural resources to “religion the past,” namely the scrapping of the Keystone XL pipeline by the PresidentJoe Biden.
Yet that is what many of the committee’s Republican members seized on, using the Alberta premier’s appearance today as an opportunity to criticize the Biden administration’s energy policy in general and its decision to sink Keystone XL.
As gas prices have soared, Republicans have spoken out about tying the price at the pump to its cancellation, though Kenney’s presence also gave those senators an opportunity to criticize the administration for reaching out to hostile regimes. to boost oil production.
On both issues, Kenney seemed more than willing to pander to Republicans, while refraining from being too harsh on the President of the United States.
He was there to champion his province as a reliable source of energy for the US, and, as he said in his opening remarks, he floated the idea of building a new pipeline “to achieve the dream of North American energy independence and security.” North”.
He expressed frustration that the United States has looked for oil elsewhere, in OPEC and in specific countries like Venezuela and Saudi Arabia, and has spent hundreds of billions of dollars in recent decades defending security in the Persian Gulf.
The solution to Washington’s energy security challenges, he said, “is your closest friend and ally.”
Kenney’s appearance came as gasoline prices soar, Washington is scrambling for more oil, and US midterm elections are just around the corner.
He was invited by Manchin, the committee chairman and Keystone supporter, who is also a critical swing vote in the evenly split Senate. Just over a month ago, the West Virginia Democrat visited Alberta to tour the tar sands and meet with executives and key players in its oil industry.
The committee also heard virtual testimony from Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson. Nathalie Camden, Quebec’s deputy minister of mines, and Electricity Canada president Francis Bradley also testified.
perplexed government
Kenney said his administration was perplexed that the administration’s response to soaring gasoline prices was to plead with OPEC to produce and sell more oil “while working to lift sanctions on dictatorships like Iran and Venezuela.”
Kenney said that, with the political will of Washington, “we could also build another major pipeline that would free the United States forever from imports from hostile regimes.”
Republicans on the committee were no doubt receptive to his comments and more than happy to pursue those topics. Wyoming Republican John Barrasso, the ranking member on the committee, asked a series of questions about Biden’s decision to kill Keystone.
“Is it fair to say that President Biden’s decision to kill the Keystone pipeline increased costs, harmed the environment, and added to our supply chain problems?” he asked.
“I think that’s a reasonable conclusion,” Kenney said.
“Does Biden’s policy make any sense to the people of the United States or of Canada?” Barraso asked.
“It’s up to you to find out what works for people in the United States,” Kenney said. “But I will just say this. It seems inexplicable to us that the US government has focused more on encouraging additional OPEC production than Canadian production.”
Alberta Premier Jason Kenney said he found the US focus on OPEC oil production “inexplicable” in this friendly exchange during a Senate hearing on US oil and mineral needs. .USA
Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, went on to ask if Canadian energy companies have been unable to deploy capital as a result of some of the energy policies imposed by the Biden administration..
“Well, I’d say yes,” Kenney said.
Lee asked what message is being sent “to our Canadian allies, including Alberta” by the cancellation of the Keystone XL pipeline and reaching out to countries like Venezuela and Saudi Arabia to increase production.
“All I can say is: unexplained,” Kenney said.
While Republicans were receptive, Kenney needed to convince Democrats on the committee, who, except for Manchin, supported the decision to scrap Keystone XL. However, most Democrats did not attend and those who did asked questions not directly related to Kenney’s speech.
For example, Senator Angus King, a Democrat from Maine, asked how Alberta had reduced its methane emissions.
After the hearing, Manchin appeared to support Kenney’s argument for a new pipeline, saying I hope Biden changes course.
According to a Wall Street Journal report last month, officials in the Biden administration are looking at ways to boost oil imports from Canada, but they don’t want to resurrect the Keystone XL pipeline.
Reference-www.cbc.ca