Trump advances controversial oil pipelines with
executive action, by Athena Jones and Jeremy Diamond, 1/24/17,
CNN
President Donald Trump on Tuesday
signed executive actions to advance approval of the Keystone XL and Dakota
Access oil pipelines.
The decision to advance the
pipelines cast aside efforts by President Barack Obama's administration to
block construction of the two pipelines, while making good on one of Trump's
campaign promises.
As he signed the documents Tuesday
in the Oval Office, Trump also vowed to "renegotiate some of the
terms" of the Keystone bill and said he would then seek to "get that
pipeline built."
Trump also issued executive actions
declaring oil pipelines built in the US should built with US materials,
streamlining the regulatory process for pipeline construction and shortening
the environmental review process.
Trump during his campaign said he
would streamline the approval of the Keystone XL pipeline, which was stalled
for years in the Obama administration until Obama denied approval for the
pipeline's construction altogether in November 2015.
And Trump said for the first time in
December that he supported construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline, which
stalled last year amid protests opposing its construction on Native American
lands. The Obama administration denied the company a permit it needed to
complete the pipeline late last year. Protesters of the pipeline projects
quickly condemned the decisions Tuesday.
"President Trump is legally
required to honor our treaty rights and provide a fair and reasonable pipeline
process," said Standing Rock Sioux Tribe chairman Dave Archambault II in a
statement. "Americans know this pipeline was unfairly rerouted towards our
nation and without our consent. The existing pipeline route risks infringing on
our treaty rights, contaminating our water and the water of 17 million
Americans downstream."
Enviornmental groups and activists
were also quick to slam the decision, with Tom Steyer, the president of NextGen
Climate, accusing the Trump administration of putting "corporate interests
ahead of American interests."
"The pipelines are all risk and
no reward, allowing corporate polluters to transport oil through our country to
be sold on the global market, while putting our air and water at serious
risk," he said in a statement.
Meanwhile, Sen. Heidi Heitkamp, a
Democrat from North Dakota where the Dakota Access Pipeline is being built,
welcomed the move, as did Sen. Joe Manchin, a Democrat from West Virginia.
"What this country needs is
more jobs, and that is why I have always been a proponent of the Keystone XL
Pipeline and was an original cosponsor of legislation approving the Keystone XL
Pipeline project," Manchin, who has already supported several of Trump's
nominees and initiatives, said in a statement. "With a majority of
Americans in support of the Keystone XL pipeline's construction, I'm glad we
are finally moving forward with this important project."
Just as Trump on Tuesday flicked to
the need to "renegotiate" the Keystone XL pipeline terms, Trump
during his campaign argued not just for quick approval of the pipeline, which
would shuttle oil from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico, but also said he would
push for a deal that would grant US taxpayers a share of the profits. Trump
said that the US would approve the pipeline while also seeking a "better
deal."
Trump's approval of both pipelines
are early signs of how his administration will take a drastically different
approach to energy and environmental issues. Beyond approving the pipelines,
Trump has also vowed to slash environmental protection regulations and has
nominated several skeptics of the overwhelming scientific consensus on climate
change to key Cabinet posts dealing with environmental issues.
By approving the Dakota Access
pipeline, Trump is also likely to spark a new wave of protests over the issue.
Comments
The use
of pipelines to transport oil and natural gas is the safest and cheapest way to
get these products moved. Once completed these pipelines will result in cost
savings. It is $3 per barrel cheaper to
send it through a pipeline than it is to send these products by rail or truck.
The Dakota pipeline will carry US oil and the Keystone pipeline will carry
Canadian oil.
Norb
Leahy, Dunwoody GA Tea Party Leader
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