Biden Looks at Severing International Pipeline

November 4, 2021

With temperatures falling and oil and natural gas prices rising to unprecedented levels, one would think that the Biden administration would be searching for ways to make energy less expensive. But in yet another move that defies logic, Biden has launched an investigation into the economic repercussions of shutting down the Line 5 pipeline. Here’s the story from Politico:

The Biden administration is probing the possible economic impact of shutting down the contentious Line 5 pipeline at the center of a dispute between Michigan and Canada. Environmentalists, Indigenous groups, and Michigan’s Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer have all been calling for the closure of the nearly 70-year-old pipeline, saying that was one accident away from environmental catastrophe.

They have been drawing parallels to the administration’s stonewalling of the then-under-development Keystone XL pipeline—and saying a similar move on Line 5 could show it is serious about transitioning away from fossil fuels… the administration is currently just looking into what the economic impacts of shuttering the pipeline would be and hasn’t made a decision on its fate.

Running from Wisconsin refineries through Michigan to Canada, Line 5 has been powering the Great Lakes since 1953. Its propane heats American homes, and American cars run on the gasoline made from its crude oil. The pipeline is also very important for our neighbor to the north, Canada. If Biden takes the extraordinary step of closing it, Canada may pursue legal or economic action against the U.S. The normally cordial relationship between the two countries has already been frayed since Biden canceled Keystone XL Pipeline during the very first days of his presidency. 

Using a favored tactic, left-wing environmental groups who want to see the pipeline go away claim they are primarily concerned about safety. (Apparently, some protestors who sabotaged a section of the pipeline in October didn’t get the memo.) But these concerns are ill-founded because the Canadian company that operates Line 5 already reached an agreement with the state of Michigan in 2018 to encase Line 5 in a submerged tunnel and invest in comprehensive safety and inspection measures. The environmental left and Gov. Whitmer apparently won’t take yes for an answer when it comes to safe, affordable energy.