If you want to see how truly screwed up the Biden administration is, all you have to do is look at how they’ve handled three pipelines since Joe Biden was sworn in.
First, the Keystone XL Pipeline. The 12 year battle over this important pipeline had finally been resolved during the Trump administration, and the pipeline was being built. Thousands and thousands of American jobs had been created. The pipeline was the safest way to bring the crude oil from Canada into the United States for refining.
Then Joe Biden was sworn in. And by the stroke of a pen (by executive order) he killed the pipeline, and all those jobs. Now the oil will either be brought in by truck or train, which is far more hazardous, or the oil will be shipped off to China (along with all those jobs) and the carbon emissions and pollution spewed into the atmosphere will be far worse, because China’s standards (to the extent they exist at all) are far less environmentally friendly. This has to be one of the stupidest decisions an American president has ever made.
Pipeline number two – the Colonial Pipeline. This East Coast pipeline was attacked by Russian cyber-criminals through the use of ransomware. Cyber-attacks have been on the rise for years now, and I don’t blame Joe Biden for the attack itself. What I do blame him for is the wink-and-a-nod his administration gave relative to paying off the cyber-criminals. Reportedly $5 million was paid to the thugs. US policy has to be clear and unequivocal. We do not pay off cyber-criminals – period. Just as kidnappers should never be paid off. To do otherwise just encourages more kidnapping, and more cyber-attacks. Yes, a private company ultimately paid the ransom. But with the tacit approval of the Biden administration.
It must also be noted that Biden cut Vladimir Putin an incredible amount of slack, after years of criticizing Donald Trump for allegedly being too soft on Putin. Biden said there was “no evidence” the Russian government was responsible for the cyber attack on the Colonial Pipeline, even though it’s widely known that such a sophisticated attack wouldn’t have happened without Putin‘s knowledge, if not his blessing.
And finally, pipeline number 3 – the Nord Stream 2 Pipeline. The Biden administration announced last week that it would waive sanctions on the corporation and CEO overseeing this controversial pipeline, which will allow Russia to have major leverage over Germany, Ukraine, the Baltic states, and much of Europe. Had Donald Trump done this, the Democrats and their buds in the mainstream press would have scoffed that it’s proof he must be a Russian agent. The Wall Street Journal said the Biden administration is guilty of “geopolitical malpractice.” And they’re right. This is a huge win for Putin, and a body blow to the United States and our allies.
The bottom line is, this administration had three important decisions to make concerning three major pipelines. Unfortunately, In my opinion, they whiffed on all three.