By Mitch Borden
While visiting Texas on Wednesday to promote trade policy and fundraise for President Trump’s reelection, Vice President Mike Pence made a stop in Midland. While standing in front of a local oil rig, Pence told a group of industry professionals the Permian Basin was at the heart of an “energy renaissance.”
He then recounted some of the ways the Trump Administration has made energy production a priority. As recorded by CBS 7.
“We approved the Keystone and Dakota pipeline. We rolled back the hydraulic fracking rule. The methane rule. The stream buffer rule. The clean power plant. And we got America out of the disastrous job-killing Paris Climate Accord. We’re putting America energy first.”
Pence also pointed to how the proposed US-Mexico-Canada Agreement, or USMCA, could help the Permian Basin. The trade deal is the Trump administration’s proposed replacement for NAFTA, but it still needs to be approved by Congress.
Pence said the deal will help companies export American energy to Mexico and keep Mexican energy resources open for U.S. companies to develop. He also said he wants Texas officials to support the plan
“We’re calling all the members of Congress from Texas to get behind the USMCA and ratify it and send it to President Trump's desk.”
Currently, House Democrats are opposed to the deal and some Republicans have also voiced concerns about the USMCA, but Vice President Pence said it’s a big win for the U.S. energy sector.
After visiting the oil rig, Vice President Pence was scheduled to appear at a private fundraising event in Midland for President Trump's reelection.
