The left successfully shut down the Keystone XL pipeline, but they aren't stopping there. Activists are now targeting two other oil pipelines, Line 3 in Minnesota and Line 5 in Michigan. Both pipelines bring crude oil from Canada down into the U.S., much as Keystone would have done.
Unlike Keystone, which was still under construction, Line 3 and Line 5 are already operational. At issue are new upgrades for safety and modernization, which have already gone through a public hearing and approval process. "But now we see anti-energy protesters, just like you saw with Keystone, begin to descend upon Minnesota, they're bussing people in from across the country to cause an issue, when there shouldn't be any issue at all," says Chris Ventura with the Consumer Energy Alliance (CEA).
So far, the Biden administration is standing by the approvals for work on Line 3, despite a strong push from activists. "Right now the federal government is being pressured by activist groups to revoke the permits for Line 3," says Ventura.
The left's push to cancel and shut down pipelines will have serious economic and national security consequences, according to Ventura. "The oil is still going to come in," he tells KTRH. "We've been importing more oil from Russia currently, which is not exactly a country that has our best strategic interests, along with increased imports from the Middle East and possibly Venezuela as well."
"Where that oil and natural gas is produced overseas, those countries don't have the environmental safeguards and worker safety mechanisms in place that we do when we're producing it domestically."
At a time when oil and gas prices are spiking to their highest levels in years, putting a boot on the neck of American energy production is not a smart move. "We've done an analysis at CEA, and if these pipelines are canceled we predict $13.6 billion in lost economic investment, and more than 63,000 jobs put at risk," says Ventura.