Rick Perry: Biden admin. gave Putin 'leverage' by blocking American pipelines and drilling
Several other Republicans and conservative pundits have echoed Perry's assessment.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Former Trump Energy Secretary Rick Perry blasted the Biden administration who he says gave Russian President Vladimir Putin "leverage" by killing American energy efforts and "rubber-stamping" the Nord Stream 2 pipeline in Europe.
"#Putin got an assist from incompetent world leaders who propped up #Russia while risking their own energy security," the former Republican governor of Texas tweeted. "By killing the #KeystoneXL pipeline and rubber stamping NS2, the Administration increased Russia’s leverage over global energy markets, which got us here."
BIDEN WH SLAMMED AFTER ACKNOWLEDGING SANCTIONS 'NOT DESIGNED' TO DISRUPT RUSSIA ENERGY EXPORTS
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Russian President Vladimir Putin gestures while speaking to the media during a joint news conference with Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban. (Yuri Kochetkov/Pool)
In a second tweet, Perry explained that "It didn’t have to be this way."
"The United States can rescue Europe from a looming energy crisis by opening the Keystone XL pipeline and exporting US LNG to provide Europe with a reliable energy supply so they don't have to rely on #Russia," Perry tweeted.
Perry has been joined by several Republican politicians and conservative pundits across the country in calling out the Biden administration for clamping down on oil and gas energy production in the United States which they say has benefitted Russia.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"It has never been more clear that robust American energy production is essential to our economic and national security---and to combatting the enemies of freedom around the world!" Virginia Congressman Bob Good tweeted Thursday.
Traffic jams are seen as people leave the city of Kyiv, Ukraine, Thursday, Feb. 24, 2022. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
"Biden didn't sanction Russia's energy sector because he couldn't," the Federalist’s Tristan Justice tweeted. "Trump could have. That's the power of energy independence forfeited by this administration with no plans to change."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"When Biden canceled the Keystone Pipeline on day one and greenlit the Nord Stream 2 Pipeline, he emboldened Putin and crushed our energy independence," Texas Congresswoman Beth Van Duyne tweeted. "Bad policies have real consequences."
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A woman walks past the debris in the aftermath of Russian shelling, in Mariupol, Ukraine (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki was asked Thursday about the president's efforts to kill oil production in the United States since taking office including blocking the Keystone XL pipeline.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"[Biden] said today the notion that [financial pain] is going to last for a long time is highly unlikely," Fox News' Peter Doocy asked Psaki. "Would he try to ensure that by lifting some of the restrictions...he's put...on the energy industry, or rethinking some projects like the Keystone pipeline?"
"The Keystone Pipeline is not flowing, so I'm not sure how that would solve anything," Psaki responded, adding that there are "plenty" of oil leases that are "not being tapped into."
"You should talk to them about that," Psaki said.
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