WASHINGTON, Dec. 30 (UPI) -- House Republicans will work to create the "architecture of abundance" needed to take advantage of North American energy leadership, a lawmaker said.
The House Energy and Commerce Committee published a 105-page strategy document meant to highlight the agenda of the incoming Republican-led Congress. It says federal policies are ill-suited to develop the infrastructure needed to take advantage of the oil and gas production boost in the United States.
"Creating this architecture of abundance is slowed at every step by archaic federal rules that can cause years of delays and even block some pipeline and power line projects outright," the paper reads.
Rep. Fred Upton, the committee's chairman, said the new Congress would work to advance its blueprint when it comes into power in January.
"To borrow a slogan from my old boss, President Reagan, 'You ain't seen nothing yet,'" he said in a statement Monday. "We have a tremendous opportunity next Congress, and we will deliver."
Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., is slated to become the Senate leader next term. Approving the Keystone XL oil pipeline from Canada, a GOP favorite, is said to top his agenda.
The House strategy said Keystone XL would create "thousands of jobs" and displace Middle East oil imports.
The pipeline would bring as much as 800,000 barrels of Canadian oil through the United States to southern U.S. refineries. Canada is the top oil exporter to the United States.
A memo sent to the White House by leading environmental groups in mid-December argues the Keystone XL pipeline planned from Canada fails key climate tests.
