Nineteen Republican attorneys general sent a letter to President Biden calling on his government to support energy infrastructure, including reinstating the Keystone XL Pipeline permit, in light of their cyberattack that shut down the Colonial Pipeline.
On Tuesday, Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen delivered a letter together with 18 of his GOP colleagues from around the nation to Biden, saying the"aftermath" of this cyberattack that required the Colonial Pipeline offline"has been alarming."
The attorneys general likened the price rises,"fuel shortages and gasoline lines" Americans are currently undergoing to"those found from the Carter administration" and said the scenario shines light about the"widespread disruption and general public fear" when a fuel pipeline goes down.
"Americans depend upon safe and secure energy supplies, which explains exactly why we must construct and maintain strong energy infrastructure that is resilient in the face of sabotage and accidents," wrote the attorneys overall. "A temporary shutdown of a single pipeline's full-capacity operations should not bring half the country to the verge."
The team said the"safe and clean energy sources" America needs includes the Keystone XL Pipeline -- which Biden continued by executive order -- and pointed out that Biden supported pipelines when he served as former President Obama's vice president.
"But your administration's present strategy covers those fact-based conclusions to your faddish preoccupations of the coastal elite constituencies," the group stated in the letter.
"Truly, hours after you took office, you purported to kill tens of thousands of jobs, extinguish billions in economic opportunity, and jeopardize American energy independence due to the'message' Keystone XL sends into the worldwide community -- whatever that means," they added.
The attorneys general lambasted Biden because of his"urge to bow to a intense climate agenda untethered to scientific reality or fact."
Additionally, they stated the choice to cut the pipeline"undercuts" American energy freedom while damaging relations with"geopolitical allies such as Canada," who'd profit from the pipeline.
"In other words, your pursuit of the radical agenda continues to hurt Americans not insulated from the effects of your conclusions by geography or privilege," the attorneys general wrote.
"Perhaps one day, down the street, we will obtain the Utopian energy profile you desire," they concluded. "But in the meantime, Americans want sensible, powerful direction -- not visionary deprivations."
Knudsen can be contributing a 21-state lawsuit against the Biden administration challenging the Keystone Pipeline cancellation.
