TransCanada Corp’s Keystone XL pipeline was rejected under President Obama and Energy Transfer Partners’ $3.8 billion Dakota Access project was halted in its tracks when it reached Lake Oahe in North Dakota amid protests by Native Americans, environmental groups, and citizens around the world, reports Bloomberg.
President Obama stopped the Keystone XL pipeline in 2015, saying its construction would undermine the country’s efforts to clinch a global climate change deal. That pipeline would run from Alberta, Canada to refineries on the Gulf Coast. The government needed to approve the pipeline because it crossed over our border, according to CTV News.
READ MORE: CHECK OUT OUR TOP STORY ON THE DAKOTA ACCESS PIPELINE
The Hill is reporting that a person familiar with the president’s actions said that the “orders will not grant the final permits needed for the oil pipelines, but will move both projects toward approval.” Perhaps it’s not surprising, but lawmakers were told of the president’s orders late Monday.
The White House said the orders would be signed at 11:00 a.m. today. “It certainly confirms his commitment both to the rule of law and to job creation and energy security, which is pretty critical,” said North Dakota GOP Rep. Kevin Cramer, a Trump ally whose state will contain segments of both pipelines. Cramer added that it’s a “pretty significant differentiation between the previous administration and this one.”
The projects need different approvals. The Keystone XL pipeline needs a presidential permit to cross our border. The DAPL needs the of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to grant an easement to build under Lake Oahe.
Watching the signing of the executive orders at 11:34 a.m on CNN., this writer also needs to point out that Trump also says we need to use pipes built in the U.S. and not overseas.