OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) – Oklahoma Attorney General Mike Hunter is once again calling on President Biden to support energy infrastructure following the Colonial Pipeline shutdown by changing course on the Keystone Pipeline.

Earlier this month, Colonial Pipeline was hit by criminals who locked up the company’s corporate network.

Multiple sources confirmed to The Associated Press that Colonial Pipeline had paid the criminals who committed the cyberattack a ransom of nearly $5 million in cryptocurrency for the software decryption key required to unscramble their data network.

Even so, it took the company several days to get back to normal operations. As a result, there were gas shortages reported along the East Coast and in the Southeastern part of the United States.

Following the cyberattack, Oklahoma Attorney General Mike Hunter joined 18 other state attorneys general to send a letter to President Biden.

The group is calling on Biden to reverse his decision regarding the Keystone Pipeline.

“Americans depend upon safe and secure energy supplies, which is why we must build and maintain robust energy infrastructure that is resilient in the face of accidents and sabotage,” the letter states. “A temporary shutdown of one pipeline’s full-capacity operations shouldn’t bring half the country to the brink. We need more safe and clean energy sources. But your Administration’s current approach exchanges those fact-based conclusions for the faddish preoccupations of your coastal elite constituencies.”

“It undercuts our energy independence by eliminating a large and secure source of oil in a time of growing global unrest. It damages our reputation with geopolitical allies, like Canada, by reneging on our commitments. It destroys sophisticated, high-paying jobs. And it stunts sustainable economic growth in pipeline communities and throughout the country.” 

Attorney General Hunter is also a part of 21-state coalition currently suing the Biden Administration over its revocation of the Keystone cross-border permit.