Fulfilling campaign promises, President Donald Trump signed memorandums that would lead to U.S. approval of the 1,100-mile Keystone crude oil pipeline and to completion of the Dakota Access pipeline from the Bakken and Three Forks oilfields of North Dakota. He also signed memos to encourage use of U.S. steel in pipelines and to speed up approval of domestic manufacturing plants and to expedite environmental review and approval of high-priority infrastructure projects, said a White House release.
“We’ll see if we can get that pipeline built. A lot of jobs,” Trump said after signing the memorandum involving the Keystone pipeline. The memo invites TransCanada to resubmit its proposal to the State Department for the pipeline, which was rejected by President Obama. Energy market analyst David Goldwyn told the New York Times the Keystone pipeline was a symbolic issue for environmentalists. The newspaper said “both sides made it into a symbolic test case of American willingness to promote energy production or curb its appetites to heal the planet.”
“The Dakota Access pipeline in North Dakota became the focus of protests when the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe objected to its construction less than a mile from its reservation,” said the Times. Trump’s memo directs federal agencies “to expedite reviews and approvals” for the remaining sections of the pipeline. Environmentalists said they would continue to fight both projects.
“The orders will likely have an immediate impact in North Dakota, where the pipeline company Energy Transfer Partners wants to complete the final 1,100-foot piece of the 1,172-mile pipeline route that runs under Lake Oahe. The pipeline would carry oil from the booming shale oil reserves in North Dakota to refineries and pipeline networks in Illinois,” said the Washington Post.