Murkowski pushes Obama on Keystone XL, crude-export ban

Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) wants President Obama to get on board with her push for lifting the U.S. ban on crude exports and approving the proposed Keystone XL pipeline.

In a letter sent to Obama on Tuesday, Murkowski called on the president to take executive action.

“While I believe you retain the executive authority necessary to lift the ban on crude exports, if you need legislative support from the Congress in order to do so, you will always have a willing partner from Alaska,” Murkowski wrote in the letter on Tuesday.

{mosads}Last week, she released a white paper on the benefits associated with expanding the country’s energy trade, with a specific look at crude exports.

Along with crude exports, Murkowski mentions the Keystone XL oil sands pipeline as a means of expanding the nation’s energy infrastructure — reminding Obama that he has broadly promised to champion such issues.

“The Keystone XL pipeline, which the State Department estimated would support over 42,000 jobs, remains unapproved even after years of delay, the letter states. “I once again urge you to take immediate action on these infrastructure projects, which you have generally promised to champion.”

“Your leadership will be critical to our success in this endeavor,” the senator writes of lifting the crude exports ban and approving the TransCanada pipeline in the letter.

Murkowski also sent a similar letter on Tuesday to Secretary of State John Kerry, Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz, the Commerce Department and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.