After Cancelling America’s Keystone XL Pipeline, Biden Approves Russian Pipeline To Germany

After canceling America’s Keystone XL Pipeline and killing thousands of jobs on his very first day as President, Joe Biden’s administration recently approved the construction of the massive Nord Stream 2 pipeline from Russia to Germany.

Back in 2019, President Trump signed the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2020 into law. The bill placed sanctions on the company that laid down pipes for the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, effectively halting construction. To quote Trump, “We’re protecting Germany, we’re protecting France, we’re protecting all of these countries. And then numerous of the countries go out and make a pipeline deal with Russia where they’re paying billions of dollars into the coffers of Russia.”

With Biden now in control of America, he has decided to abandon Trump’s attacks against the Nord Stream 2 pipeline and provide Russia with a massive geopolitical victory. On May 19, 2021, Biden’s State Department announced in a report to Congress that the U.S. will be lifting the sanctions that Trump placed against Nord Stream AG, the company in command of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline.

With the completion of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline certain, Germany will be near fully dependent on Russian energy, receiving up to 110 billion cubic meters of natural gas through the pipeline each year. These 110 billion cubic meters of natural gas represent nearly 100% of Germany’s current annual natural gas consumption.

The move marks a complete reversal of comments that Biden’s Secretary of State Antony Blinken made at his Senate confirmation hearing in January. When asked about the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, Blinken told senators that he was “determined to do whatever we can to prevent that completion.” Less than five months later, Blinken’s State Department is approving the very pipeline that he previously promised to prevent from being completed.

Biden’s recent approval of a massive pipeline that is beneficial to Russia comes as countless Americans are suffering by being forced to pay ridiculous energy prices. Since Biden was inaugurated on January 20, 2021, average American gas prices have increased over 25% to the highest levels in over six years, and monthly inflation has increased over 250% to the highest levels since the Great Recession.

While Russia gets to be energy independent and enjoy the privilege of exporting billions of dollars worth of their natural resources to our allies thanks to Biden’s administration, Americans are forced to suffer and import more of their energy. Furthermore, if pipelines are supposedly inherently bad and Biden feels the need to halt construction of them in America, why would he approve of a much larger pipeline to go through multiple countries?

Biden’s decision to lift bipartisan sanctions on a Russian company so that Russia can control more of the global energy infrastructure after canceling a major U.S. pipeline with an array of benefits on his first day as President should be universally condemned. This move is just another example of Biden’s transition away from Trump’s policy of “America first” to a new policy of “America last.”