Donald Trump Revives Keystone XL and Dakota Access Pipeline Projects

President Trump has made an executive decision to resurrect the construction of two separate pipelines—Dakota Access and Keystone XL—which have been focal points of protest for years.

The New York Times reports this decision is Trump’s latest efforts to dismantle Obama era policies. The former U.S. President had rejected the proposed Keystone pipeline back in 2015, in a bid to curb reliance on carbon based energy and to meet growing challenges of climate change.

Trump’s decision means the Keystone pipeline will now be up for government discussion. He’s also given the green light on another pipeline: the Dakota Access, which would run from North and South Dakota to Illinois.

The Republican party is arguing the project will spur job growth and expand the country’s energy resources. Environmentalists, on the other hand, are seriously concerned the pipeline’s method of oil extraction will produce gases that warm the planet at a higher rate than normal petroleum. The project would carry tar sands crude, which is especially greenhouse gas intensive, due to the energy it takes to extract the thick crude.

Signing orders to move forward with the construction of the Keystone XL and Dakota Access pipelines in the Oval Office. pic.twitter.com/OErGmbBvYK

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) 24 January 2017

Environmentalists and Native American protesters have fiercely opposed the Dakota Access pipeline. Members of the Standing Rock Sioux (among other tribes) have protested the project on the grounds that it crosses beneath a lake—Lake Oahe— which provides drinking water to Native Americans. Building underneath it may jeopardise water supplies and destroy sacred land.

Spicer: #DakotaAccess and #Keystone pipelines "benefit every American, regardless of the color of your skin." pic.twitter.com/6i1vxjoB4O

— Fusion (@Fusion) 24 January 2017

According to Tom Goldtooth, executive director of the Indigenous Environmental Network, Trump did not consult the Standing Rock or other Sioux tribes before signing off on the executive orders. “These actions by President Trump are insane and extreme, and nothing short of attacks on our ancestral homelands as Indigenous peoples,” he said.

“The actions by the president today demonstrate that this Administration is more than willing to violate federal law that is meant to protect Indigenous rights, human rights, the environment and the overall safety of communities for the benefit of the fossil fuel industry.”

White House press secretary Sean Spicer told reporters on Monday the president supports energy projects like this because it can “increase jobs, increase economic growth, and tap into America’s energy supply more.”

“I think the president is very, very keen on making sure that we maximize our use of natural resources to America’s benefit,” said Spicer. (Sounds a lot like the case here in Australia with coal mining, but y'know, that kind of went bust after a while…)

We can't afford to build new pipelines that lock us into burning more fossil fuels. I will do everything I can to stop Keystone XL and DAPL.

— Bernie Sanders (@SenSanders) 24 January 2017

The decision from Trump comes just days after he withdrew the U.S. from the Trans Pacific Partnership trade deal.

Photo: Facebook (@Standing Rock Sioux Tribe)