Ever since Russia invaded Ukraine last week, Republicans and their cheerleaders in the conservative media have been advocating for restarting construction of the Keystone XL pipeline, using what can only be called tortured logic to advocate for something that in no way addresses the larger geopolitical impact of what Russian President Vladimir Putin has done.
During an appearance on Fox News Tuesday morning, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki was asked by Fox Host Dana Perino about (you guessed it) whether or not President Joe Biden would announce that Keystone is going to be completed.
Perino asked Psaki:
“We’ve seen an up-close personal view of what happens when nations get too dependent on someone like Russia for their energy. Will there be anything in the speech to talk about reversing some of those policies, for example, either Keystone pipeline or allowing our oil and gas companies to pursue federal oil and gas leases?”
Psaki proceeded to give Perino a much-needed lesson in economics, responding:
“The president shares the concern about gas prices. But, Dana, the policies you mentioned — I know, Sen. Cotton and others have mentioned these — they are not policies that would address the issue at all. This Keystone pipeline, it would take years for that to have an impact on prices.”
The press secretary then added:
“Obviously, there are a range of reasons why the president opposes it but it wasn’t functioning, isn’t functioning. It would take years. There are also 9,000 approved oil leases that oil companies are not tapping into. So, yes, we all want to take steps to address any rise in gas prices, that impact the American people but we should be very clear about what policies will help and what policies will not help.”
The United States only imports about 8% of its oil from Russia. The majority of the oil we import (about 60%) comes from Canada and Mexico, according to the U.S. Oil Information Agency:
As usual, the facts don’t support what many on the right claim. They just want to try and use a foreign policy crisis to drill like there’s no tomorrow and continue to destroy the environment.
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