The question is why?
For more than 40 years, the United States was held hostage to the whims of OPEC and other foreign energy producers who were hostile to our national interests. For more than four decades, politicians on both sides of the aisle lamented our foreign oil dependency and dreamed of a day when the country would become energy independent.
In what alternate universe does shutting down production of U.S. and Canadian oil and natural gas drive down carbon dioxide emissions, when the result is that we have to beg Russia and OPEC to ship oil and natural gas overseas—emitting additional and unnecessary carbon dioxide into the atmosphere in the process? Moreover, how does it benefit the environment to encourage Russia and OPEC—with inferior environmental protection laws than the United States—to produce and ship more oil and natural gas while suppressing U.S. energy production? How does deliberately shifting oil and natural gas production to Russia and OPEC from the United States benefit the U.S. economy or U.S. national security?
The Biden administration’s energy and environmental policies are being exposed as nothing other than political greenstanding. Shutting down U.S. energy production appeases the radical climate lobby that wields significant power over the administration. However, it does nothing to benefit the environment, as it simultaneously puts the United States and its economy at the mercy of hostile foreign powers.
The Biden administration needs to put an end to any and all discussion of shutting down the Line 5 pipeline. It also needs to put an end to its Russia-and-OPEC-first energy policy. Failure to do so will impose additional woe on U.S. consumers, while doing absolutely nothing to reduce carbon dioxide emissions or benefit the environment.