Machin is moaning about the pipeline to Biden for political reasons, not reasons of governance. His approval rating has dropped, but, so has his disapproval rating dropped. He is hoping come 2024, a presidential election year, his "uncertain" rating which has increased will carry him through another election.
Machin receives his election funding from oil & gas and other GOP sources. He isn't a Democrat, but, in saying so West Virginians believe their federal interests are balanced between the two parties, hence, Machin's boat and his claims of bipartisan influence.
By asking Biden to restore the XL pipeline he is looking for money from the GOP and his petroleum industry buddies. It is all quid pro quo and the Democrats have two years to find someone that can primary Machin and hope the people will back a new candidate that isn't as deceitful as Machin.
Machin can be viewed as a "Snyder Democrat," in one that doesn't care about potable water.
Nearly every corner of the world has opposed this pipeline and it is necessary to end the idea it is possible. Machin's petroleum buddies want him to hit back with the pipeline after COP26 and the emergence of the urgency of seeking the end of greenhouse gas emissions.
Machin is their puppet in quid pro quo.
The Democrats need to run real candidate that reflects hope to the people of West Virginia. Machin is nothing but more of the same corruption that has always existed.
President Biden is releasing oil from the national reserves. Every other president has done the same thing when prices were high. The prices locally have already dropped 24 cents. It is working. The people won't have this issue if they purchase electric vehicles and the sooner the better. Electricity is a stable price that can be counted on to increase job opportunity as well as stable energy costs. There won't be problems with a families budget day to day because of fossil fuel energy profiteers. Enough is enough. The American family needs safe and efficient transportation.
The computer chip/semi-conductor industry is becoming more dependable, even in difficult times caused by the pandemic. There is plant being planned by Samsung outside of Austin, Texas (click here). There isn't a Wall Street company involved with semi-conductors happy about sourcing Taiwan, now that China is being a real jerk about communism imposition. Communication companies that provide for social media are leaving China because of growing regulations and danger to their own people. It is time to make the USA completely self-contained in the needs that really are that of national security. I think Samsung is doing the right thing for their company as well as a more secure USA and it's economic engine.
August 7, 2020
In the West Virginia coalfields (click here) — on the edge of which my aunt and uncle live, and where I spent holidays and vacations as a kid — the economic mood ranges from depressed to apocalyptic. At one point, more than 100,000 West Virginians worked in the mines that produced well-paying jobs and gave people money to spend. That money spilled over into other sectors: retail, construction, and education, to name a few, and was the backbone of the state’s economy. Now, fewer than 20,000 locals work in these mines, and the jobs that do exist pay far less than they used to, thanks to successful anti-union actions by coal companies. As a result, a region that once boomed along with human consumption of fossil fuels is now littered with shuttered mines, shuttered storefronts, and shuttered dreams....
West Virginians need to realize their needss are best filled by sincere Democrats that want to actually provide real jobs rather than the sparce number of coal jobs. Machin's corruption needs to be displayed and allow for a successful primary to elect a person that sincerely cares about West Virginian people.
Opposition to Keystone XL centered on the devastating environmental consequences (click here) of the project. The pipeline faced more than a decade of sustained protests from environmental activists and organizations; Indigenous communities; religious leaders; and the farmers, ranchers, and business owners along its proposed route. One such protest, a historic act of civil disobedience outside the White House in August 2011, resulted in the arrest of more than 1,200 demonstrators. “This is not a pipeline to America,” said the late civil rights activist Julian Bond, among the many arrested. “It’s a pipeline through America, and it threatens to be a disaster for us if it leaks poisons on the way.” Leading scientists and economists came out in opposition to the project, in addition to unions and world leaders such as the Dalai Lama, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, and former president Jimmy Carter (together, these and other Nobel laureates have written letters against the project). In 2014, more than two million comments urging a rejection of the pipeline were submitted to the U.S. Department of State during a 30-day public comment period.