No one loves the environment more that DJT!

[GMDino]

And probably state's rights too!

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2019/04/10/president-trump-orders-speed-oil-gas-pipeline-projects/3431466002/

Quote:Aiming to streamline oil and gas pipeline projects, President Donald Trump on Wednesday signed two executive orders making it harder for states to block construction because of environmental concerns.



The orders were prompted by fossil fuel industry pressure after officials in New York and Washington state had stopped new projects with permitting processes in recent years. 


“Too often, badly needed energy infrastructure is being held back by special interest groups, entrenched bureaucracies and radical activists,” 
Trump said before signing the orders in Texas at the International Union of Operating Engineers International Training and Education Center.


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In 2017, Washington blocked construction for a coal terminal, citing air pollution, rail safety and vehicle traffic concerns. Regulators in New York likewise blocked a natural gas pipeline because of standards to protect streams and wet lands, despite the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission approving the project in 2014. 


Trump called out New York, saying “obstruction” by the state “was hurting the country.” Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo described the orders as a gross overreach threatening environmental protections. 



“States must have a role in the process for siting energy infrastructure like pipelines, and any efforts to curb this right to protect our residents will be fought tooth and nail,” Cuomo said. 


One order requests the Environmental Protection Agency meet with states and tribes before creating new rules for complying with the Clean Water Act. It also calls for proposing a rule allowing liquefied natural gas to be shipped in approved rail tank cars. 


The second order seeks to accelerate energy projects that cross international borders. The secretary of state currently has the power to issue permits for cross-border projects such as pipelines, but the order states the president will make decisions to approve permits. 

President Donald Trump talks with union workers before delivering remarks on executive orders on energy and infrastructure at the International Union of Operating Engineers International Training and Education Center in Crosby, Texas, on April 10, 2019. (Photo: Jim Watson, AFP/Getty Images)

Trade groups representing the oil and gas industry supported the moves, saying access to natural gas helps families. 


“When states say ‘no’ to the development of natural gas pipelines, they force utilities to curb safe and affordable service and refuse access to new customers, including new businesses,” said Karen Harbert, president and CEO at the American Gas Association.


Environmental groups rebuked Trump's orders, which follow his decision last month to issue a new presidential permit for the stalled Keystone XL oil pipeline. 


“Trump’s developing an addiction to executive orders that rubber-stamp these climate-killing projects,” said Brett Hartl, the Center for Biological Diversity's government affairs director. 

If there is one thing the right LOVES its Executive Orders!

[GMDino]

https://apnews.com/832aca2a059f471c993a55788a3fc719

Quote:Keystone pipeline leaks oil in northeastern North Dakota


BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — A pipeline that carries tar sands oil from Canada through seven states has leaked an unknown amount of crude oil over more than quarter-mile swath in northeastern North Dakota, state environmental regulators said Wednesday.

State Environmental Quality Chief Dave Glatt told The Associated Press that regulators were notified late Tuesday night of the leak near Edinburg, in Walsh County. Glatt said pipeline owner TC Energy shut down the pipeline after the leak was detected. The cause of the spill is under investigation.

Full Coverage: Keystone Pipeline
The Calgary, Alberta-based company formerly known as TransCanada did not immediately respond to phone messages seeking comment Wednesday.


State regulators were on the scene Wednesday afternoon, and they estimated that the area of the spill was 1,500 feet long by 15 feet wide. Glatt said some wetlands were affected, but not any sources of drinking water.

The company was still working to contain the spill Wednesday afternoon.

Crude oil began flowing through the $5.2 billion pipeline in 2010. It is part of a system that also is to include the proposed $8 billion Keystone XL pipeline designed to transport the oil from western Canada to terminals on the Gulf Coast.

Earlier Tuesday, the U.S. State Department held the sole public meeting on a new environmental review of the long-stalled proposal. A federal judge blocked it last year, saying more environmental study was needed.

The original Keystone is designed to carry crude oil across Saskatchewan and Manitoba, and through North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas and Missouri on the way to refineries in Patoka, Illinois, and Cushing, Oklahoma. It has experienced problems with spills in the past, including one in 2011 of more than 14,000 gallons of oil in southeastern North Dakota, near the South Dakota border.

In 2017, the pipeline leaked an estimated 210,000 gallons of oil onto agricultural land in northeastern South Dakota, in a rural area near the North Dakota border.