– support Republican critics who say Biden’s move will cost thousands of well-paid jobs.
West Virginia’s Manchin has yet to lead an audience since he was named president last week, but he spoke of the controversy over the four-presidential pipeline. In a letter to Biden, Manchin said that Keystone XL and other pipelines “continue to be the safest way to transport our oil and natural gas resources and support thousands of well-paid American union jobs.”
His comments signal the complicated relationship the White House is likely to have with Manchin, a moderate who asked Biden to act in a bipartisan manner in relieving COVID-19 and other issues, including climate change. Manchin leads a committee that is crucial to Biden’s efforts to tackle climate change, but he expressed skepticism about some of the actions that advocates say are necessary to reduce harmful greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to global warming.
Manchin, a longtime advocate for the coal industry who once took a copy of a climate change bill for a campaign ad, has been working to improve relations with environmentalists. He says he supports the “responsible” effort to tackle climate change, but asked Biden to consider the effects of his actions in energy-producing states like West Virginia.
Breaking with his party, Manchin questioned Biden’s action to rejoin the Paris global climate agreement, in which more than 100 countries pledged to achieve net zero carbon emissions by the middle of the century.
Biden re-joined the Paris agreement on his first day in office, after former President Donald Trump pulled the US out of the 2015 agreement. Echoing an argument used by Republicans, Manchin said the United States puts itself at a disadvantage by promising reduce fossil fuels, while India and China continue to burn huge amounts of coal.
Likewise, Manchin said that revoking the international authorization for Keystone XL could have a negative effect on security, jobs and energy security, citing Canada as one of the largest and most reliable trading partners in the United States.
The 2,735-kilometer pipeline was designed to transport about 800,000 barrels of oil a day from Alberta to the Texas Gulf Coast, through Montana, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas and Oklahoma. First proposed in 2008, the pipeline has become emblematic of the tensions between economic development and the reduction of fossil fuel emissions that cause climate change. The Obama administration rejected the pipeline, but Trump revived it and was a big supporter.
Manchin’s comments follow similar remarks by AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka, who said in an interview with “Axios on HBO” that he wished Biden had not canceled Keystone XL on his first day in office.
“I wish he would have paired this more carefully with what he did in second place, saying that this is where we are creating jobs,” said Trumka, referring to Biden’s January 27 executive order on climate change.
Trumka, like Biden’s ally Manchin, said he believed Biden knew he made a mistake by not announcing job creation plans while rejecting the Canadian pipeline.
“The next time the issue was raised, it was done in the right way,” said Trumka, noting that the White House promises to create jobs in mine recovery, repairing “leaks and infiltrations” in old mines and cleaning up old industrial facilities.
White House spokesman Vedant Patel said Biden proposed “transformative investments in infrastructure that will not only create millions of good union jobs, but will also help tackle the climate crisis”.
Manchin said his views on the pipeline are informed by accidents in his state and elsewhere where crude oil transported by truck and train has been spilled. He cited an analysis by the United States Department of Transportation showing that spills or other incidents occurred about once for 50 million gallons of crude transported by rail and 55 million gallons transported by truck, compared to once every 720 million gallons transported by pipeline.
“I had a train explosion in my state. I know that this product is still reaching the United States, ″ Manchin told reporters last month. “I think it is safer to come by pipeline than by road or rail. So, we will have these discussions. ″
Manchin’s letter came at the time when 14 Republican attorney generals sent a letter telling Biden that his decision to reject Keystone XL “will result in devastating damage to many of our states and local communities. Even those states out of the way of the Keystone XL pipeline – in fact all Americans – will suffer serious and damaging consequences, ″ said Republican Party officials.
The letter was written by Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen and signed by 13 other state AGs, including Ken Paxton of Texas and Patrick Morrissey of West Virginia, who lost a Senate race in 2018 to Manchin.