Lankford Talks with Canadian Energy Leaders On Ways to Collaborate on US Energy Independence

CLICK HERE to watch Lankford’s remarks on YouTube.

CLICK HERE to watch Lankford’s remarks on Rumble.

WASHINGTON, DC – Senator James Lankford (R-OK) today pressed for answers on how we can achieve US energy and mineral independence amid skyrocketing fuel prices and inflation in our nation. Lankford asked the witnesses at today’s hearing of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee how Canada’s energy permitting process compares to the lengthy and difficult process for getting a mine application approved in the US as well as how we can bring the US to mineral independence. He also asked about Biden’s first foreign policy decision to move our oil imports from Canada to Russia and eventually Russia and OPEC.

Witnesses at today’s hearing included Jason Kenney, the Premier of Alberta, Canada; Nathalie Camden, the Associate Deputy Minister of Mines under the Ministry of Energy & Natural Resources in Québec, Canada; Francis Bradley, the President & Chief Executive Officer of Electricity in Ontario, Canada; and Jonathan Wilkinson, the Minister of Natural Resources in Ontario, Canada.

Lankford introduced a bill to establish a secure supply chain of critical minerals and counter China’s market dominance by leveraging the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (Quad) partnership, which includes the US, Australia, India, and Japan. Lankford also authored legislation expanding the Department of Energy’s Title 17 loan program to include critical minerals development, processing, and recycling projects, which became law in 2021.

Lankford introduced the Energy Regulations Certainty Act to prevent President Biden from issuing new US oil and gas regulations and restrictions until after Russian troops have withdrawn from Ukraine. Lankford continues to lead the Senate on how to address the problems Biden has caused for stalled US energy production, skyrocketing gas prices, and increased home heating costs. Lankford continues to express support for Ukraine amid Russian aggression and repeatedly called on the US to cut off the purchase of Russian oil and gas. Lankford sent two letters to the President asking him to restore America’s energy dominance and to change course on the failing energy policies that are emboldening Putin. Lankford stood up to FERC for its ongoing push to stifle and even stop US energy production because of Biden’s lock-step with climate-change extremists.

Excerpts

On the excruciatingly long process of getting a mine permitting in the US

Lankford: …The permitting process…the 48 to 60 months there. So you’re talking four or five years to be able to go through that process. We have multiple of our mining process that may take 10, 15 years to be able to go through the permitting. The question that comes up with all of our mining projects is: is there a deadline where a decision has to be made and the decision’s done?—because in the United States we go through the permitting process and at the end of it, there’s a lawsuit by some outside group that then they file suit and then there’s the lawsuit process and then it goes through NEPA evaluation again because NEPA’s expired and so that’s the continual process. One of the things that seems to be missing on our process is there’s not a deadline where a decision has to be made and the decision’s done.

On Biden’s bad first policy decision to purchase oil from Russia instead of Canada

Lankford: President Biden’s first foreign policy decision that he made, January the 20^th, of 2021 was to say the United States is not going to purchase more oil from Canada, we’re going to purchase more oil from Russia. And he then pressed on that to say, ‘Actually we’re not going to purchase more oil from Canada, we’re going to purchase more from Russia and OPEC.’ Now that has proven to be a problem obviously for the United States. We need to purchase more from Canada in the days ahead and have the consistency of that.  

###