Democrat Senator Manchin urges Biden to reverse opposition to Keystone XL pipeline

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The head of the U.S. Senate energy committee, Joe Manchin, on Tuesday urged President Joe Biden to reverse his opposition to the Keystone XL pipeline, saying the project provides union jobs and is safer than transporting the oil via trucks and trains.

Biden revoked a permit for the pipeline which would transport 830,000 barrels a day of carbon-intensive heavy crude from Canada’s Alberta to Nebraska. It was part of a flurry of Biden’s executive orders aimed at curbing climate change.

In a letter to fellow Democrat Biden, the West Virginia senator said that even without the pipeline, the oil would still find its way to the United States by rail and truck, and pointed to U.S. data showing those methods result in more spills than pipelines.

“Pipelines continue to be the safest mode to transport our oil and natural gas resources and they support thousands of high-paying, American union jobs,” Manchin said.

Democrat Senator Manchin urges Biden to reverse opposition to Keystone XL pipeline