Dear Commons Community,
President Donald Trump signed executive orders yesterday that okay the development of the Keystone XL and Dakota Access pipelines. The Keystone XL was rejected in 2015 by former President Barack Obama after a seven-year review. Trump’s orders also clear the way to continue building Energy Transfer Partners’ 1,172-mile Dakota Access pipeline, which has been stalled since the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers halted construction in December amid massive protests led by the Standing Rock Sioux. As reported in The Huffington Post:
“This is with regard to the construction of the Keystone pipeline, something that has been in dispute, and subject to a renegotiation of terms by us,” Trump said of the first action during a signing broadcast on TV networks Tuesday morning. “We’re going to renegotiate some of the terms and if they would like, we will see if we can get that pipeline built. A lot of jobs, 28,000 jobs. Great construction jobs.”
Trump then signed the second action.
“This is with respect to the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline,” he said, introducing the leather-bound order. “Again, subject to terms and conditions to be negotiated by us.”
Another action signed Tuesday calls for U.S. steel to be used if the pipelines are built, though that may mean little in the case of the Dakota Access Pipeline, which is nearly complete. One more order aims to overhaul what Trump called the “horrible permitting process” by slashing environmental regulations.
“If we’re going to build pipelines in the United States, the pipelines should be built in the United States,” Trump said. “We’re going to put a lot of workers, a lot of steelworkers back to work. We will build our own pipes, we will build our own pipelines, like we used to in the old days.”
The moves mark the first serious step by the new president to reverse his predecessor’s environmental gains in favor of propping up an oil and gas industry dogged by low prices, competition from renewable energy and regulations aimed at cutting carbon emissions. Republicans, who pushed Obama to greenlight both pipelines, hailed the orders as a victory.
… House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) said. “These pipelines will strengthen our nation’s energy supply and help keep energy costs low for American families.”
Tony
