Washington, DC – Today, Congressman Frank Lucas (R-Okla.) joined House Republican Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.) and House Energy Action Team Co-Chairs Rep. Jeff Duncan (R-S.C.) and Rep. Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.) in sending a letter to President Biden urging the Biden Administration to oppose energy policies like those that restrict the construction of additional American pipeline capacity, which undermine America’s energy security, following the wake of the cybersecurity attack on the Colonial Pipeline Company. The cybersecurity attack forced the 5,500-mile pipeline offline and caused massive gasoline supply shortages across the southeast United States.

“The rapid onset of this crisis, caused by a Russian criminal organization, highlights the need to invest in our nation’s critical infrastructure,” the letter reads. “We urge you to reevaluate the regulations and permitting processes that prevent construction of new pipelines to distribute fuel throughout the country and the expansion of domestic refining capacity.  While your administration has taken some small hasty steps to patch the immediate supply shortages, these are not the permanent reforms we need for the sustainable future of our economy and energy infrastructure.”
 
“Instead of ensuring that the reliability and low costs of American energy independence are enjoyed by every family across the country, your early actions as President have only made our nation more fuel insecure and exacerbated cost disparities between different parts of the country.  On the first day of your Administration, you announced the revocation of the cross-border permit for the Keystone XL Pipeline and reversed other executive orders aimed at streamlining the federal permitting process for critical infrastructure projects.  These actions demonstrate an intent to make needed infrastructure construction more difficult. However, the current crisis created by taking a single pipeline offline shows that while our nation has made great strides towards total energy security, we must ensure that every region in the country can enjoy the same levels of energy reliability.”
 
The letter urges President Biden to reject irresponsible policies like the Green New Deal and instead focus on true energy infrastructure reforms that allow the construction and permitting of new pipelines and refineries.

Read the full letter here.

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