Two pipeline projects that came to a grinding halt under the Obama administration now are getting the green light from President Trump.
On the second legislative day of the new administration, President Trump signed executive orders to advance the construction of the Keystone XL (KXL) and Dakota Access Pipelines (DAPL).
Former President Obama killed the KXL project in late 2015, declaring it would hinder his efforts to clinch a global climate change deal. The project also failed to get approval from Hillary Clinton’s state department. The U.S. government must approve the pipeline because it crosses into the country from Canada.
Trump describes the regulatory process as a “tangled up mess.”
“We’re going to renegotiate some of the terms, and if they’d like, we’ll see if we can get that pipeline built,” said Trump. “Lots of jobs, 28,000 jobs. Great construction jobs.”
The president’s executive order also takes into account the DAPL. In December construction of the pipeline was halted while Native Americans and environmentalists protested the project.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is studying alternate routes for a short section of the oil line.
