West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin, who also serves as chairman of the United States Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, visited Alberta alongside Premier Jason Kenny to visit to oilsands and to discuss energy security.

Many are hoping this visit may serve as an inroad for more Canadian energy exports to the United States, and there exists a potential for renewed conversations on the Keystone XL pipeline which was nixed by President Biden just prior to its completion.

While Sen. Manchin is a Democrat, he does have a history of bipartisanship on issues like abortion, gun control, immigration, and most topically, energy policy.

The senior senator from West Virginia has even publicly called for Biden to restore the Keystone XL pipeline. Those calls and the need for ethical Canadian oil have only been amplified since the onset of the Russian invasion of the Ukraine, with the U.S. facing a significant oil deficit since banning the import of Russian energy assets.

During a media availability, I was able to ask the senator what he believes is driving the resistance within the Democratic Party and the Biden administration against importing ethical, readily available, and more environmentally responsible Canadian oil to supply their growing demands, and why is the United States increasing oil imports from undemocratic serial human rights violators like Venezuela and Iran instead?

The nearly-completed Keystone XL would deliver 830,000 barrels of ethical Canadian oil to the U.S., more than offsetting the nearly 700,000 barrel deficit they are now facing as a result of the ban on Russian energy imports.

If you agree that it is time to finish Keystone XL and for Canada and the U.S. to work together as energy allies, sign our petition at BuildKeystoneXL.com.