Energy

PA Republicans call for pipeline expansions following invasion of Ukraine

State Sen. Wayne Langerholc

State Sen. Wayne Langerholc Commonwealth Media Services

Pennsylvania Republicans are among those pressing the Biden administration to allow construction to resume on the Keystone XL pipeline, which once promised to transport over 800,000 barrels of crude oil per day from Canada to the U.S. Gulf Coast. 

The push comes as the Russian invasion of Ukraine threatens to further disrupt energy markets, especially following recent sanctions levied by the U.S. and European allies. 

Given Russia’s status as an oil and gas exporter, Republican state lawmakers are introducing a resolution that urges President Joe Biden to restart construction of the 875-mile pipeline – a move they say would bolster the nation’s energy independence. 



“This resolution demands that we reengage in the discussion of energy independence,” said state Sen. Wayne Langerholc, who chairs the chamber’s Transportation Committee. “We must use the abundant natural resources that we and our allies have within our reach to put us on a path toward energy independence. While the Keystone XL pipeline is but one piece of this puzzle, it represents a tangible solution to the problem … We cannot continue to be held hostage to foreign entities and radical environmentalists.” 

He was joined by state Sens. Gene Yaw and Joe Pittman, both of whom co-sponsored the resolution. Yaw said that Americans could see drastic energy price increases as a result of the crisis, while Pittman said restarting the pipeline would allow the U.S. to supply its allies with energy.

“Unless we act now to ramp up domestic oil and gas production, there will be little other way to shield Americans from extraordinary price increases,” Yaw said in a statement. “Although shortsighted climate rhetoric has left our national security at risk, we can still pivot and limit the impacts of this geopolitical crisis.”

The Keystone XL pipeline was slated to deliver up to 830,000 barrels of crude oil daily from Canada to the Gulf Coast, but the pipeline was ultimately canceled after Biden revoked its permit. 

In an executive order, the Biden administration said the pipeline “would undermine U.S. climate leadership by undercutting the credibility and influence of the United States in urging other countries to take ambitious climate action.”

The potential environmental impacts of the pipeline – and the nation’s continued reliance on fossil fuels – prompted criticism of the pipeline by environmentalists, ultimately leading to Biden’s revocation of the pipeline’s permit. 

Rob Altenburg, director of the environmental advocacy nonprofit PennFuture Energy Center, told City & State that the focus on building out pipeline infrastructure in light of the Russian invasion of Ukraine is to be expected.

“It’s not surprising that the fracked gas industry is trying to take advantage of that crisis in Europe to further weaken protections for public health and the environment,” Altenburg said, stressing that proposals to expand pipeline infrastructure and increase U.S. exports to Europe would just be replacing one foreign import with another.

Altenburg also suggested that pipelines and natural gas infrastructure aren’t reliable, pointing to widespread power outages in Texas last year during freezing weather conditions. “This is not resilient; this is not reliable. If we are going to have energy security, we need to look at other sources, rather than putting more eggs in the gas basket,” he said. 

From June to November of 2021, the U.S. imported an average of 19.5 million barrels of crude oil per month from Russia, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. From 2015 to 2020, the most recent years for which annual data is available, the U.S. imported an average of 160 million barrels of crude oil from Russia per year. In total, the U.S. imported approximately 3.4 billion barrels of crude oil from across the world over that same period. 

House Appropriations Committee Chair Stan Saylor, a York County Republican, announced his own resolution to urge New York and New Jersey to end their respective bans on the construction of new natural gas pipelines. 

“Not only have anti-energy policies from President Joe Biden down to blue-state governors resulted in increased costs to consumers, but they mean that we as a country are helping to finance Vladimir Putin’s unprovoked war on Ukraine through oil and natural gas imports,” Saylor said in a statement. “It’s unconscionable and outright shameful.”

House State Government Committee Chairman Seth Grove also announced forthcoming legislation designed to increase natural gas drilling and distribution in the state. Grove’s proposal would also reform the permitting process for natural gas drilling, provide funding for pipeline construction and remove the state from the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative. 

“Russia, and particularly its president, Vladimir Putin, must be held accountable for the senseless war in Ukraine. There is no reason why Americans should be forced to purchase natural gas imported from Russia,” Grove said in a statement. 

Grove added that the state should increase its natural gas production to “further secure our energy sector and decrease, if not zero out completely, American’s reliance on foreign gas.”

State lawmakers aren’t the only politicians pushing to expand pipeline infrastructure. In a U.S. Senate primary debate held last week, GOP candidates Kathy Barnette and George Bochetto both supported expanding the nation’s pipeline infrastructure, with Barnette saying she would sponsor legislation to restart the Keystone XL pipeline. 

Altenburg, however, contested claims that the continuation of pipeline construction would have a significant impact in the near-term as the Ukraine crisis continues to unfold. 

“These plans – to expand pipelines, build (liquefied natural gas) terminals – these are multi-year, multibillion-dollar projects,” Altenburg said. “None of these projects that they’re contemplating is going to increase any energy shipments to Europe anytime in the near future.”

X
This website uses cookies to enhance user experience and to analyze performance and traffic on our website. We also share information about your use of our site with our social media, advertising and analytics partners. Learn More / Do Not Sell My Personal Information
Accept Cookies
X
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Do Not Sell My Personal Information

When you visit our website, we store cookies on your browser to collect information. The information collected might relate to you, your preferences or your device, and is mostly used to make the site work as you expect it to and to provide a more personalized web experience. However, you can choose not to allow certain types of cookies, which may impact your experience of the site and the services we are able to offer. Click on the different category headings to find out more and change our default settings according to your preference. You cannot opt-out of our First Party Strictly Necessary Cookies as they are deployed in order to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting the cookie banner and remembering your settings, to log into your account, to redirect you when you log out, etc.). For more information about the First and Third Party Cookies used please follow this link.

Allow All Cookies

Manage Consent Preferences

Strictly Necessary Cookies - Always Active

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data, Targeting & Social Media Cookies

Under the California Consumer Privacy Act, you have the right to opt-out of the sale of your personal information to third parties. These cookies collect information for analytics and to personalize your experience with targeted ads. You may exercise your right to opt out of the sale of personal information by using this toggle switch. If you opt out we will not be able to offer you personalised ads and will not hand over your personal information to any third parties. Additionally, you may contact our legal department for further clarification about your rights as a California consumer by using this Exercise My Rights link

If you have enabled privacy controls on your browser (such as a plugin), we have to take that as a valid request to opt-out. Therefore we would not be able to track your activity through the web. This may affect our ability to personalize ads according to your preferences.

Targeting cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.

Social media cookies are set by a range of social media services that we have added to the site to enable you to share our content with your friends and networks. They are capable of tracking your browser across other sites and building up a profile of your interests. This may impact the content and messages you see on other websites you visit. If you do not allow these cookies you may not be able to use or see these sharing tools.

If you want to opt out of all of our lead reports and lists, please submit a privacy request at our Do Not Sell page.

Save Settings
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Cookie List

A cookie is a small piece of data (text file) that a website – when visited by a user – asks your browser to store on your device in order to remember information about you, such as your language preference or login information. Those cookies are set by us and called first-party cookies. We also use third-party cookies – which are cookies from a domain different than the domain of the website you are visiting – for our advertising and marketing efforts. More specifically, we use cookies and other tracking technologies for the following purposes:

Strictly Necessary Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Functional Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Performance Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Social Media Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Targeting Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.