In his first day as President Joe Biden signed an executive order cancelling the Keystone pipeline. What does this really mean?
First, opponents of fossil fuels are giddy with delight. Of course, in the bigger scheme of things, this really won’t matter at all, making a zero dent in any so-called climate change. But tens of thousands of good-paying jobs will be lost both in America and Canada, not what either country needs in this pandemic. American labor unions who supported Biden feel betrayed.
Millions upon millions of dollars will have been wasted in what has already been accomplished in building the pipeline. Furthermore, contracts must still be honored, a further waste of even more millions of dollars. And what will be done with all of the construction materials already in place? All of this will have a significant and deleterious impact on our GNP.
Biden’s action also weakens the critically important Canada-US relationship, our closest ally. Moreover, it also undermines U.S. national security by making us more dependent upon OPEC oil imports in the future.
Canada must sell its oil, so it will naturally look to China who desperately needs oil. So, is this executive order a great idea by helping to strengthen America’s biggest strategic and economic opponent? China is also the world’s biggest polluter.
Americans will consume millions of barrels of oil per day for many years to come, so who is the benefactor of this action? Not the USA. But China stands ready and more than willing and anxious to open a new Canadian oil source. It would appear that Biden is putting America last and really helping China.”
David W. Haughey, Murray
