Sen. Mike Braun, R-Ind., told Newsmax that President Joe Biden should have, from the get-go, pushed for energy independence before banning all Russian oil imports.
Appearing Tuesday on "The Chris Salcedo Show," Braun asserted that the Biden administration "should have been doing exactly what the Trump administration was doing, and that [was] become completely energy independent."
Braun then said that the Biden administration sent "the signal that we want to take out" the oil and gas industry in "five to 10 years."
According to NBC News, in August, Biden signed an "executive order setting a national goal for zero-emissions vehicles to make up half of new cars and trucks sold by 2030."
Braun went on to mention that there is often a lag between when the supply of oil and gas increases and when consumers see prices fall.
Noting the distinction between oil and gas production and the efficiency of its transport, Braun said:Â "First of all, the Keystone XL pipeline probably won't be turned back on even if you wanted to. You have to have an eight-Â to 10-year commitment to get the pipeline company to build it."
According to the New York Post, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said that building the Keystone XL pipeline would not help offset the effects of banning Russian oil.
"No decision has been made at this point by the president about an import — a ban on importing oil from Russia," Psaki said in a briefing. "Those discussions are ongoing internally and also with our counterparts and partners in Europe and around the world."
Psaki then maintained that building the Keystone XL pipeline from Canada to the United States would not help alleviate costs.
"The Keystone was not an oil field, it's a pipeline. Also, the oil is continuing to flow in, just through other means, so it actually would have nothing to do with the current supply imbalance," Psaki said.
via newsmax