06.04.21

Hoeven Urges Biden to Support American Energy Independence

BISMARCK, N.D. – Senator John Hoeven recently joined 12 of his Senate colleagues, led by Senator Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), in urging President Biden to change course on his regulatory agenda, which is harming American energy independence and slowing the nation’s economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.

“In your first 100 days in office, you have cancelled the Keystone XL pipeline, our country has experienced one of the worst gasoline shortages since the 1970s, and you waived the application of congressionally mandated sanctions paving the way for Russia to complete the Nord Stream 2 pipeline,” wrote the senators. “Left uncorrected, any one of these actions in isolation harms American families, hampers our economic recovery, and degrades our national security. Taken together, they represent a fundamental threat to America’s long-term economic and national security.” 

As a member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee and the Energy and Water Development Appropriations Committee, Hoeven is working to ensure regulatory certainty for the nation’s energy producers and push back on burdensome, one-size-fits-all federal rules. At the same time, the senator is advancing efforts to empower America to produce more energy with better environmental stewardship. This includes: 

  • Cracking the code on carbon capture, utilization and storage (CCUS) technologies, like Project Tundra, which will enable the nation to continue utilizing its abundant energy resources, like coal, while reducing emissions.
  • Working to ensure the continued operation of the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL).
    • Hoeven hand-delivered to President Biden letters from Three Affiliated Tribes Chairman Mark Fox and North Dakota Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem, emphasizing the need to keep DAPL operational while the Army Corps of Engineers completes its court-ordered review.
    • The senator has also repeatedly spoken with Army Corps Chief LTG Scott Spellmon on the importance of promptly completing DAPL’s environmental impact statement, taking into account the completed environmental assessment and noting the four years of safe operations.  
  • Streamlining the approval process for energy development and infrastructure, like transmission lines and pipelines.
    • Hoeven recently helped secure approval from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) for WBI Energy’s North Bakken Expansion Pipeline.
    • Hoeven led a bipartisan group of 25 senators in April in calling on FERC to act on vital energy infrastructure projects, including the WBI project.

In addition to Hoeven and Tillis, the letter to President Biden was signed by Senators Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.), John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), John Thune (R-S.D.), John Cornyn (R-Texas), Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.), Roger Marshall (R-Kan.), Steve Daines (R-Mont.), Rick Scott (R-Fla.), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.), Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) and Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.). The full text can be read here.

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