Montana Congressman Matt Rosendale is not a fan of the Biden administration’s energy policies. Nor is he a big fan of getting the U.S. entangled in a great power conflict with Russia over Ukraine.
On March 15, 2022, Rosendale made an appearance on Newsmax where he argued that America’s oil price problems are “very solvable.”
“It’s very unfortunate that Trans Canada Corp. didn’t place Hunter Biden on the board of directors to make sure that they can keep the permit in place for the Keystone XL pipeline,” Rosendale joked on John Bachman Now. The Montana congressman was taking a shot at Hunter Biden and his lucrative job for the Ukrainian energy company Burisma.
“I think that probably would have been a much better investment than paying all the legal fees that they have and still not being able to keep the pipeline in place.”
If Keystone XL was allowed to be built, it would have facilitated the flow of roughly 800,000 barrels a day of crude oil from Canada, Montana, and North Dakota, according to Rosendale.
In addition, he called attention to how the United States was producing approximately 13 million barrels of crude oil on a daily basis under former President Donald Trump’s watch.
“Under this administration, that’s been reduced to about 11 million barrels a day,” Rosendale asserted. The Montana congressman argued that the increased oil production would have helped bolster tax revenues.
“We would have had the supplies going into the global marketplace and helping us keep those prices down instead of purchasing 600,000 barrels a day of Russian crude,” Rosendale remarked. “We’re delighted to see that legislation come forward to stop and halt the imports of crude oil from Russia, and we immediately saw the price of crude start going down as the global market started seeing some activity. It’s all about supply and demand and that, supply is still going to be available out there.”
Rosendale is still concerned that Biden may potentially “go around and pick another tyrant” now that the US has cut oil imports from Russia. In this case, he was referring to the leaders of Iran, Saudi Arabia, and Venezuela.
Rosendale was firmly against using strategic oil reserves, which he believes should only be used “in case we actually enter into a time of war.”
“To drain those to provide three days or weeks worth of relief on gasoline prices is ridiculous,” Rosendale remarked. “That’s not what they’re there for, especially when we have the ability to produce this oil domestically and not have to tap into those resources. All we have to do is had the administration again put the permit back and place for Keystone XL and allow the leasing on federal lands that the courts have ordered him to open up anyway … we can ramp up that production fast as long as the president gets out of the way.”
Rosendale briefly touched on the Russo-Ukrainian conflict.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy gave a speech directed to members of Congress on March 16, when he called for increased sanctions against Russia and a no-fly zone.
Rosendale commented the day before Zelenskyy’s speech and described the situation in Ukraine as “tragic.” However, he stressed that the U.S. government can’t help establish a no-fly zone.
“That would put us in direct conflict with Russia, and I personally would not support such actions,” Rosendale observed. “It’s not smart at all.”
Since being elected in 2020, Rosendale has emerged as a leading liberty conservative voice who has placed more emphasis on American border security as opposed to being obsessed about Ukraine’s territorial integrity. Unlike the majority of Republicans, Rosendale is working to enhance the interests of the Historic American Nation by calling for more energy sovereignty and a restrained foreign policy.
Republicans will have to realize that they can’t go around trying to save the world and get involved in every conflict under the sun. The primordial duty for any elected official in the U.S. is to serve the American people. The rest is just details.
