WASHINGTON (AP) – In one of his first acts as the new chair of the Senate Committee on Energy, Democratic Senator Joe Manchin on Tuesday urged President Joe Biden to revoke his executive order to revoke a presidential license for the long-delayed Keystone XL. oil pipeline. side with Republican critics who say Biden’s move will cost thousands of well-paid jobs.
Manchin, of West Virginia, has yet to lead a hearing since he was named chairman last week, but he spoke out over the controversy over the pipeline that spanned four presidencies. In a letter to Biden, Manchin said Keystone XL and other pipelines “are still the safest way to transport our oil and natural gas resources and support thousands of well-paid jobs in the US unions.”
His comments hint at the troubled relationship the White House is likely to have with Manchin, a moderate who has urged Biden to act in a two-pronged way against COVID-19 aid and other issues, including climate change. Manchin heads a committee critical to Biden’s efforts to address climate change, but has voiced skepticism about some of the actions proponents say are necessary to reduce the emissions of harmful greenhouse gases that contribute to global warming.
Manchin, a longtime defender of the coal industry who once copied a climate change law for a campaign ad, has worked to improve relationships with environmentalists. He says he supports “responsible” efforts to address climate change, but he has urged Biden to consider the effects of his actions on energy-producing states such as West Virginia.
Manchin broke with his party and questioned Biden’s move to rejoin the global Paris climate agreement, in which more than 100 countries pledged to achieve zero net carbon emissions by the middle of the century.
Biden rejoined the Paris accord on his first day, after former President Donald Trump pulled the US out of the 2015 accord. Echoing an argument from Republicans, Manchin has said the United States is putting itself at a disadvantage by pledging to limit fossil fuels, while India and China continue to burn massive amounts of coal.
Likewise, Manchin said revoking the Keystone XL cross-border permit could have a negative impact on safety, jobs and energy security, citing Canada as one of the US’s largest and most reliable trading partners.
The 1,700-mile (2,735-kilometer) pipeline was planned to carry approximately 800,000 barrels of oil daily from Alberta to the coast of the Gulf of Texas, through Montana, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, and Oklahoma. First proposed in 2008, the pipeline has become symbolic of the tensions between economic development and the reduction of fossil fuel emissions that cause climate change. The Obama administration rejected the pipeline, but Trump revived it and was a strong supporter.
Manchin’s comments follow similar comments from AFL CIO President Richard Trumka, who said in an interview with “Axios on HBO” that he wished Biden hadn’t canceled Keystone XL on his first day of work.
“I wish he had combined that more carefully with what he was doing second by saying that we are creating jobs here,” Trumka said, referring to Biden’s January 27 implementing order on climate change.
Trumka, like Manchin, an ally of Biden, said he believes Biden knows he made a mistake by not announcing job creation plans, while rejecting the Canadian pipeline.
“The next time the topic came up, it was done the right way,” Trumka said, noting that the White House promises to create jobs in detecting mines, fixing “leaks and seeps” in old mines and cleaning old industrial sites.
White House spokesman Vedant Patel said Biden has proposed “transformative investments in infrastructure that will not only create millions of good union jobs, but also help tackle the climate crisis.”
Manchin said his views on the pipeline are based on accidents in his state and elsewhere in which crude oil transported by truck and rail has been spilled. He cited an analysis by the US transportation division that found that spills or other incidents were transported approximately once per 50 million liters of crude oil by rail and 55 million liters by truck, compared to once per 720 million liters per pipeline.
‘I detonated a train in my state. I know that product is still coming to the United States, ″ Manchin told reporters last month. “I think it is safer to come by tube than by road or rail. So we’ll have those discussions. ″
Manchin’s letter came when 14 Republican Attorneys General sent a letter telling Biden that his decision to reject Keystone XL “will result in devastating damage to many of our states and local communities. Even those states outside the path of the Keystone XL pipeline – all Americans indeed – will suffer serious, damaging consequences, ″ GOP officials said.
The letter was written by Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen and signed by 13 other state agents, including Ken Paxton of Texas and Patrick Morrissey of West Virginia, who lost a senate race to Manchin in 2018.