Tuesday, January 24, 2017
Trump Signs Executive Order on Keystone and Dakota Pipelines
President Trump signed executive orders this morning clearing the way for the controversial Dakota Access and Keystone XL oil pipelines to move forward.
The orders will 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.
The Standing Rock Sioux tribe and other Native American groups have been protesting the project, which they say would imperil their water supplies and disturb sacred burial and archaeological sites.
Dakota Access is also using in Iowa the power of eminent domain to take land from Iowa farm owners.
While signing the executive order, Trump took the opportunity to go protectionist and said, “From now on we’re going to be making pipeline in the United States. We build the pipelines, we want to build the pipe. We’re going to put a lot of workers, a lot of skilled workers, back to work. We will build our own pipeline, we will build our own pipes, like we used to in the old days.”
-RW
(via The Washington Post)
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What is your take on the pipeline people are protesting? I know it's mostly an issue the left is protesting, but there does seem to be some violations of property rights including the eminent domain you mentioned, is that correct?
ReplyDeleteTom Woods had a great podcast episode covering this. Most of the protesters were from other states. The Sioux were contacted officially several times and refused to even attend meetings.
ReplyDeleteFrom what I heard on the podcast (and subsequently read) the lake concern pollution is also absurd. Imminent domain in Iowa, however, should trouble anyone.
podcast: http://tomwoods.com/ep-793-what-should-libertarians-think-of-the-dakota-access-pipeline/