Trump vows
to undo Obama's climate agenda in appeal to oil sector BISMARCK,
N.D. | By
Valerie Volcovici and Emily Stephenson , 5/27/16,
Reuters
Donald Trump, the presumptive
Republican presidential nominee, promised on Thursday to roll back some of
America's most ambitious environmental policies, actions that he said would
revive the ailing U.S. oil and coal industries and bolster national security.
Among the proposals, Trump said he
would pull the United States out of the U.N. global climate accord, approve the
Keystone XL oil pipeline from Canada and rescind measures by President Barack
Obama to cut U.S. emissions and protect waterways from industrial pollution.
"Any regulation that's
outdated, unnecessary, bad for workers or contrary to the national interest
will be scrapped and scrapped completely," Trump told about 7,700 people
at the Williston Basin Petroleum Conference in Bismarck, the capital of
oil-rich North Dakota. "We're going to do all this while taking proper
regard for rational environmental concerns."
It was Trump's first speech detailing
the energy policies he would advance if elected president. He received loud
applause from the crowd of oil executives.
The comments painted a stark
contrast between the New York billionaire and his Democratic rivals for the
White House, Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders, who advocate a sharp turn away
from fossil fuels and toward renewable energy technologies to combat climate
change.
Trump slammed both rivals in his
speech, saying their policies would kill jobs and force the United States
"to be begging for oil again" from Middle East producers.
"It's not going to happen. Not
with me," he said.
Trump's comments drew quick
criticism from environmental advocates, who called his proposals
"frightening."
"Trump’s energy policies would
accelerate climate change, protect corporate polluters who profit from
poisoning our air and water, and block the transition to clean energy that is
necessary to strengthen our economy and protect our climate and health,"
said Tom Steyer, a billionaire environmental activist.
But industry executives cheered the
stance. "It’s simple. If Trump wins, oil field workers will be happy. If
Clinton wins, oil workers will be unhappy," said Derrick Alexander, an
operations manager at oilfield services firm Integrated Productions Services.
Trump hit Clinton hard in his
speech, saying the former secretary of state would be more aggressive than
Obama on regulations. He repeated several times Clinton’s March comments that
her policies would put coal miners out of work. "Hillary Clinton's agenda
is job destruction," Trump said.
CANCEL PARIS
Trump said slashing regulation would
help the United States achieve energy independence and reduce America's
reliance on Middle Eastern producers. "Imagine a world in which oil
cartels will no longer use energy as a weapon," he said.
The United States currently produces
about 55 percent of the oil it uses, with another quarter of the total coming
from Canada and Mexico, and less than 20 percent coming from OPEC, according to
U.S. Energy Department statistics.
Trump's advisers, including U.S.
Representative Kevin Cramer of North Dakota, have said they suggested Trump
examine the role of OPEC in the global oil price slump since 2014, which has
contributed to the demise of a handful of smaller U.S. oil companies. Saudi
Arabia and other OPEC members have declined to cut production to support
prices.
Until Thursday, Trump had been short
on details of his energy policy. He has said he believes global warming is a
hoax, that his administration would revive the U.S. coal industry, and that he
supports hydraulic fracturing - an environmentally controversial drilling
technique that has triggered a boom in U.S. production.
Earlier this month, he told Reuters
in an interview that he would renegotiate "at a minimum" the U.N.
global climate accord agreed by 195 countries in Paris last December, saying he
viewed the deal as bad for U.S. business. He took that a step further in North
Dakota. "We're going to cancel the Paris climate agreement," he said.
Trump also promised he would invite
Canadian pipeline company TransCanada (TRP.TO)
to reapply to build the Keystone XL pipeline into the United States, reversing
a decision by Obama to block the project over environmental concerns.
"I want it built, but I want a
piece of the profits," Trump said. "That's how we're going to make
our country rich again."
Trump's pledge briefly sent
TransCanada's shares 29 Canadian cents higher to C$54.13 on the Toronto Stock
Exchange, but the stock quickly leveled back off and close up 2 Canadian cents
at C$53.86.
In response to Trump's promise that
he would seek more profits from the pipeline, TransCanada spokesman James
Millar noted the project would create jobs, offer major contracts to U.S.
suppliers and provide tens of millions in taxes for state coffers.
"The pipeline will benefit
American workers longer term as the companies they work for have signed
contracts to ship and refine oil through Keystone XL," Millar said in an
email.
(Additional reporting by Julie
Gordon in Vancouver; Writing by Richard Valdmanis; Editing by Andrew Hay and
Tiffany Wu)
Comments
The first
step was to call global warming the hoax that it is. This next step is to defund the UN’s climate
change apparatus. Soon to follow will be
canceling Executive Orders that in 1992, signed on to and in 1993 ordered
implementation of UN Agenda 21.
A Trump
victory will mean a victory for American Conservatives who have been fighting
UN Agenda 21 for decades.
Norb
Leahy, Dunwoody GA Tea Party Leader
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