WH’s Deese on Keystone XL: We Need ‘Secure Energy’ That Meets Climate Goals and That’s ‘Most Important’ Part of Inflation Reduction Act

On Tuesday’s broadcast of CNBC’s “Squawk Box,” White House National Economic Council Director Brian Deese responded to a question on the Mountain Valley pipeline as part of the deal by stating “we need a secure energy strategy” “that will actually meet our climate goals,” and that “The most important takeaway” from the Inflation Reduction Act is that it puts us in a position “where we can credibly commit that we will meet our climate goals by the end of this decade while increasing our energy security here at home.”

Co-host Kayla Tausche asked, “There are also some wins for the fossil fuel industry. Specifically, the administration has said, as part of this deal, it will work to get the Mountain Valley pipeline online as soon as possible. And it makes you wonder, Brian, if the Keystone XL pipeline ran through West Virginia, do you think it would be operational?”

Deese responded, “Look, again, I think you need to look at this bill in its entirety because we need a secure energy strategy in the United States and — that will actually meet our climate goals, and that’s what this bill will do. The most important takeaway from this bill is it will put us in the position, the United States in the position where we can credibly commit that we will meet our climate goals by the end of this decade while increasing our energy security here at home. That’s a monumental step. We have to implement it effectively. But if we can get this bill passed, we’ll be in a position where the United States can do that. And to be clear, it’s not just about what we can do here at home. It means that we will own these technologies, these clean energy technologies of the future and we will become the destination to export those technologies to other countries as well. That means more jobs, it means more resilience, and industrial strength here.”

Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett