Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont., on Tuesday said President Joe Biden’s executive order on the Keystone XL Pipeline “take(s) us back to the ’70s” regarding energy policy, bringing with it higher oil prices, inflation, loss of jobs, and national security implications.
Daines ridiculed Biden, and Democrats as a whole, on Newsmax TV for their stance on the pipeline and other energy issues, saying the party is beholden to radical leftists.
“Many of us remember what happened back in the 1970s, back when we were dependent on the Middle East for oil,” Danes, 58, told “Spicer & Co.” “Thank God for American energy innovation that has allowed us to reverse that. And now we are independent.
“But the actions of the Biden administration take us back to the ’70s: higher oil prices, inflation, loss of jobs, but the national security implications can’t be overstated. We’re in such a strong position as a nation because of independence in relation to energy. We’re no longer dependent on the Middle East. This reverses that course.”
Daines, a chemical engineer by training, derided those who claim the pipeline is harmful to the environment, especially compared to other means of transporting petroleum. He said it has the least amount of carbon dioxide emissions as any transportation method.
“This is all about a radical agenda of the left, the Green New Deal,” said Daines, a Republican elected to the Senate in 2015. “It is Biden appeasing that side of his party. Here’s the sad part, though: That’s now the center of gravity for the Democrats the fringe side of the Democrats. That is where they’re at. That’s their center of gravity. This does not bode well for our economy, our national security, for jobs, and the price of gasoline.”
He said changing the course will be difficult, because Democrats are virtually universal in opposing any compromise.
“We need Democrats to get on board,” he said. “That’s the problem, they wind up embracing this Green New Deal.
“It’s hard to find a Democrat who wants to find common ground on common sense balanced energy portfolios.”