Senate Hearing Highlights Importance of Pipeline Infrastructure

At a hearing Tuesday, Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Chairwoman, Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, examined our nation’s energy infrastructure and highlighted the important role that oil and gas pipelines play in moving energy resources, creating jobs, and growing local economies.

“Without infrastructure, we cannot move vital resources from Point A to Point B. And while some would contend otherwise, we know for a fact that pipelines are the safest and most efficient way to move those resources,” Murkowski said. “We know that pipelines directly create jobs in their construction, maintenance, and operation. We know these are good jobs. We know that pipelines indirectly create jobs because it is a materials-intensive industry. These are also good jobs. And we know that all of this induces economic growth and additional job creation.”

Murkowski concluded Tuesday’s hearing by pointing to pipelines as the safest and most efficient way to transport energy and called for the pipeline permitting process to be streamlined so that our nation can better benefit from its vast energy resources.

Among the witnesses who testified in support of pipeline infrastructure was Mr. Sean McGarvey, the President of North America’s Building Trades Unions. While noting the high wages associated with domestic pipeline jobs, McGarvey also wrote in his prepared testimony that “Every single energy project is subjected to years of regulatory and environmental study. And to be sure, pipeline infrastructure has failed to keep pace with increased production, which had caused several regions of the country to experience shortages and severe price spikes…Our country cannot afford an energy policy that is all hat, no cattle.”

Archived video and witness testimony from Tuesday’s hearing is available on the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee website.

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