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Americans like to be up front when it comes to the relationship with our next door neighbor to the north. There is almost nothing we want to give up to our Canadian friends so that we can produce more of it or do better.
Unfortunately, our dominance is ending under the incompetent Joe Biden administration, especially when it comes to energy independence.
Recently, the Canadians completed construction on the Trans Mountain Pipeline expansion, which will give the North American nation a boon in oil production and shipping capabilities from Edmonton to the West Coast around Vancouver.
An expansion of Canada's Trans Mountain Pipeline would give the North American nation a boon in oil production and shipping capabilities from Edmonton to the West Coast around Vancouver. (Getty Images)
Despite ongoing conflict with extremist environmental groups, the Canadian government astutely recognized the importance of completing this project to help bolster the country's standing in the world.
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Thanks to the significant addition to Canada's oil pipeline infrastructure, Americans, especially in the Midwest, may face higher prices at the pump due to a potential increase in buyers for vital natural resources. This burden will give families another inconvenience when they fill their cars.
I applaud Canadians for their commitment to energy independence and protecting their country's interests against the environmentalist agenda. These are wonderful priorities that every country should strive to achieve. Future generations of Canadians will certainly benefit from their government's actions on this front.
Unfortunately, while Canadians may be entering an era of enhanced energy independence, the United States is sliding freely into an era of increased energy dependence fraught with national security risks due to President Biden's policies and his empowered bureaucracy in federal agencies.
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In fact, one of Biden's first steps as Commander-in-Chief on January 20, 2021, was to cancel our nation's Keystone XL pipeline, which has cost the country billions of dollars and tens of thousands of jobs.
In response, I filed a resolution of disapproval with the administration's decision to revoke the permit for the Keystone XL pipeline. Canceling this pipeline was just the first in a long line of reckless decisions by Biden that undermined our energy security.
House Republicans included my resolution within a broader energy package, HR 1, or the Low Energy Costs Act, that our House passed last year. The Democratic-controlled Senate has not yet taken up this proposal for consideration.
The Biden administration isn't just stopping construction of critical energy pipelines across the United States; At the same time, it is depleting the US strategic oil reserve, allocated for emergencies, to hide the president's blatant failures in energy policy.
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When Biden took office in January 2021, the Strategic Oil Reserve held 638 million barrels, but it fell to nearly 350 million barrels after the administration released hundreds of millions of barrels during 2022. Because of President Biden's reckless actions, our oil reserves were at a low Its levels. level from 40 years ago, posing a threat to our country in the event of a real emergency. Our enemies have certainly been monitoring this situation, and may still be trying to exploit our weakness.
However, this administration has no real plan to unleash American energy production to replenish our emergency oil supplies and reduce prices.
What makes matters worse is that hundreds of thousands of these barrels of oil have gone to Communist China, with the administration selling off our emergency oil reserves at an unprecedented rate. US oil exports to China increased by 88% from 2022 to 2023, according to US Census Bureau data. China now may have the largest government-controlled oil reserves in the world, partly due to the Biden administration.
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That's why House Republicans delivered on our promise to restore America's energy supply and security. We have passed several bills to achieve these goals, including the Strategic Production Response Act and the Protecting the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve from China Act. These two projects were also awaiting a decision in the Democratic-controlled US Senate during the past year.
The Strategic Production Response Act ensures that any non-emergency release of the Strategic Reserve from the Strategic Reserve is accompanied by a plan to increase the percentage of federal lands and waters leased for oil and gas exploration. This bill represents a critical step in unleashing our domestic energy production, increasing our emergency supply, and protecting our nation's energy security.
The US Strategic Petroleum Reserve Protection from China Act prohibits the Biden administration from selling more of our emergency supplies to our adversary, China, or any entity owned or controlled by the Chinese Communist Party. House Republicans will continue to stand up to China and prevent the Biden administration from ceding our energy security to our enemies.
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Despite the critical issues our nation faces with the Biden administration's efforts to cripple America's energy security and future, House Republicans are taking action to stand up to Communist China and strengthen our energy security. We will not cede our energy superiority to Canada or any other country in the world.
We will continue to fight for the return of American energy independence; The price of inaction or the status quo is too high for future generations.
Click here to read more from REP. Debbie Lesko
