Oil industry urges Trump to approve Dakota Access pipeline
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Fireworks went off over the Oceti Sakowin camp where people gathered to protest the Dakota Access oil pipeline in Cannon Ball, N.D. Sunday.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Vietnam veteran Allen Coomsta Matt walked into his teepee at the Oceti Sakowin camp where people gathered to protest the Dakota Access oil pipeline as snow began to fall in Cannon Ball, N.D. today. “I’ve been living in teepees all my life,” said Matt.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
A person looked out over the Oceti Sakowin camp where people gathered to protest the Dakota Access oil pipeline as the sun rose in Cannon Ball, N.D. today. Protesters who celebrated a major victory in their push to reroute the Dakota Access oil pipeline vowed to remain camped on federal land as they waited to find out whether President-elect Donald Trump might seek to overturn a decision that delayed the $3.8 billion project.
BISMARCK, N.D. » Industry leaders are urging President-elect Donald Trump to make approval of the disputed Dakota Access oil pipeline a priority when he takes office next month, but a spokesman for Trump isn’t offering many clues about how the incoming president might act.
Meanwhile, the leader of the Standing Rock Sioux is calling on pipeline opponents to leave a camp in southern North Dakota where they’ve been protesting for months, as dangerous winter weather sets in. Many are vowing to stay, however.
Here’s a guide to the latest developments and key background about the protest:
THE TRUMP FACTOR
Two industry groups are calling on Trump to pave the way for the pipeline’s completion when he enters the White House in January. The requests come after the Army Corps of Engineers declined to issue a permit for the $3.8 billion pipeline to cross under a Missouri River reservoir in southern North Dakota near the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation.
The American Petroleum Institute represents the U.S. oil and natural gas industry, and the MAIN Coalition is made up of agriculture, business and labor entities that benefit from Midwest infrastructure projects.
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Trump supports construction of the pipeline, spokesman Jason Miller told The Associated Press today, but Miller wouldn’t say whether Trump would reverse the Corps’ decision. Miller said the Trump administration will review the situation “and make the appropriate determination.”
Trump holds stock in Energy Transfer Partners. Pipeline opponents worry that Trump’s investments could affect any decision he makes on the project as president.
EASEMENT DENIAL
The Corps on Sunday said it would not approve an easement for a pipeline crossing beneath Lake Oahe, a Missouri River reservoir and the source of drinking water for the nearby Standing Rock Reservation. The Standing Rock tribe says the pipeline threatens its water and cultural sites.
Corps Assistant Secretary for Civil Works Jo-Ellen Darcy said her decision was based on the need to consider alternative routes.
Dallas-based pipeline developer Energy Transfer Partners said the decision is politically motivated and that President Barack Obama’s administration is just delaying the matter until he leaves office.
Protesters, who describe themselves as “water protectors,” say they have no plans to leave despite the Corps’ decision and recent wintry storms. Standing Rock Chairman Dave Archambault said today that he doesn’t think there will be any developments for months and that people should go home.
THE ORIGINS
Energy Transfer Partners got federal permits for the pipeline in July, about two years after it was announced. The pipeline is projected to move a half-million barrels of crude oil daily to an existing pipeline in Patoka, Illinois, for shipment to Midwest and Gulf Coast markets.
Supporters say the pipeline will have safeguards against leaks, and is a safer way to move oil than trucks and trains, especially after a handful of fiery — and sometimes deadly — derailments of trains carrying North Dakota crude.
The Standing Rock Sioux, whose reservation straddles the North Dakota-South Dakota border, have challenged the Corps’ decision to grant permits at more than 200 water crossings. A federal judge in September denied the tribe’s request to block construction of the entire pipeline.
MISSING LINK
The pipeline is largely complete except for the section under Lake Oahe, about a mile upstream of the reservation.
The tribe argues putting the pipeline there could affect drinking water for more than 8,000 tribal members and millions downstream. The Corps of Engineers granted Energy Transfer Partners the permits needed for the crossing in July, but the agency decided in September that further analysis was warranted given the tribe’s concerns, leading to Sunday’s decision.
The company responded by asking U.S. District Judge James Boasberg to declare that it has the right to lay pipe under Lake Oahe. The judge isn’t likely to issue a decision until January at the earliest.
Obama raised the possibility of rerouting the pipeline in early November, and Archambault has said that would be acceptable to the tribe provided the new route isn’t near the reservation and doesn’t cross the Missouri River. But Energy Transfer Partners CEO Kelcy Warren told The Associated Press that that the pipeline won’t be rerouted and the company has no alternative than to stick to its plan.
25 responses to “Oil industry urges Trump to approve Dakota Access pipeline”
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pe trump supports the access pipeline at present but he will back down and work out a deal with the tribes or he will reroute the pipeline.
remember he is a deal maker and will work out a win-win deal. guaran!!
aloha
the rich serving the rich
The president elects decision may appear to be a conflict of interest if he is unable to detach from his business interests as POTUS ( he has stock in the oil company). As I look into my crystal ball, Congress will let him do what he wants for a year and if he doesn’t make good on his campaign rhetoric, they will move to impeach, and get a real Republican (Pence) in place. Yep, impeachment is part of the wonderful tools of politics. Trump has a huge learning curve in the “game of thrones”.
They can move to impeach, but whoever votes to impeach will most likely lose their seat in congress. There is no way the GOP congress would impeach trump when they’ve seen how large his constituency is.
Trump beat out traditional conservatives like Bush, Cruz, Rubio, Kasich. Even Romney has realized how much support Trump has.
No President has won an election with as small a percentage of voters in both the primaries and the general election than Mr. Trump did.
Remember that he lost the popular vote by millions of votes.
IRT Klastri, please don’t spread “Fake News”.
kuroiwaj – It’s sad that you think math and facts are fake news. The plain fact is that Mr. Trump received the lowest percentage of total votes cast (primary and general) of any President-elect in history. When all the counting is completed, Mrs. Clinton will have received close to 3 million more votes than did Mr. Trump in the general election. He has no mandate. Obviously.
Mr. Trump reported that he owns stock in the pipeline company (he is remarkably opaque about his many conflicts of interest) so he can be expected to either lie about divestiture – as he lies about everything else.
This pipeline was rerouted to avoid the drinking water of white people – Mr. Trump’s base.
the AP is not telling the truth the land they want to finish the pipeline is private property, the protesters are not the locals but outsiders also there are oil pipelines under that lake and have been there for years, so this protest is full of bull. of course the media won’t let you know that.
Media is not telling you the whole truth!!! 64hoo is CORRECT, flight records show the “Natives” are really Cherokees from Wyoming and Oklahoma, they have been flown in by Trump supporters to set him up to come in after and SAVE the pipeline. Media never told us about Carrier, supporters did the same thing there. #MAGA
What “flight records” are you talking about? Where do you get this stuff?
MAGA TO MINUS fake news. MAGA people retweet “fake news” of children sex trade. How dumb are these MAGAs. Putin LOLling in Russia. “My dastardly plans are working”!!! I will Make America mines Again.
Don’t quote “fake media”.
He sold his interest in the pipeline. He will push to get it done now.
Who said Trump sold his interest in that company? Have any documents of any kind been released or disclosed?
IRT klastri: Commin knowledge to many insiders that Trump sold the stock. MEDIA doesn’t want us to know this though, they are saving it for after the pipeline shutdown…Media will announce it in a few days when Trump sets up a meeting with both sides, this is when “Natives” will announce the compromise and construction continues. #MAGA
What are you talking about? What “commin” knowledge?
You think that construction is going to continue as planned? Mr. Trump has no power to do anything.
And jurisdiction is an insider? Lol, the under educated speaks again.
IRT Nanakuli: Just announced Trump sold ALL his stocks back in JUNE!!! Common knowledge known by MANY insiders but only released after the Pipeline SHUTDOWN…NOW being released…where did you hear that? What for the Trump visit soon…#MAGA
again you people at the SA took away my comment about you and the AP about the Indian people blocking this pipeline a couple of days ago stop calling them Sioux that is a very degrading word to the Lakota and Oglala and other tribes of Indians that you keep calling them that Sioux word that was made up by French trappers over 200 hundred years ago it means snake and other words you cannot say on this comment page it is very degrading and if you and all news media keep saying that then you are racist, it is just as bad if I were to call black people the N word than you would call me a racist. so stop with that word and let your other news media know about it. but if you keep printing the word Sioux than I will keep calling you a racist newspaper and all other media outlets like the AP a racist group. I could not say it any clearer than that.
Maybe SA blocked you because your not nice? You did call them fake news.
Trump isn’t listed as one of the top holders so either he holds a manini amount of stock (<47) or one of his companies holds the stock. BTW, if you have any of these funds in your portfolio, you're also a pipeline "owner."
Kayne Anderson MLP Investment Company
Oppenheimer Steelpath MLP Income
Oppenheimer Steelpath MLP Alpha
Goldman Sachs Tr-Goldman Sachs MLP Energy Infrastructure Fund
Tortoise Energy Infrastructure Corp
Oppenheimer Steelpath MLP S
Tortoise MLP
ClearBridge Energy MLP Fund
Mainstay Cushing MLP Premier Fund
Alps ETF Tr-Alerian MLP ETF
*should have clarified that it is <47K....but actually, the lowest single holder is listed as holding 21,157 shares and The Donalds name is no where to be seen. Manini holder or mutual fund holder? Maybe (hidden) held by one of his companies?
Who’s the ones being more diplomatic, and acceptable to more reasoning? The Feds OR The American Indian who opposed the Keystone Pipeline? let’s see.
With all the surrounding counties saying”Not in My Backyard” .How do we compromise?
The Feds has already “Re-routed The Keystone Pipeline more than a HUNDRED times.(I think it was a 140 times)……and NO it’s NOT Two times as some will say!
The Feds went into negotiations with the Indian Tribes 12 times and guess how many of those 12 times did the Indian Tribes attend ? 2 times! So who’s being more reasonable?AUWE!
MEDIA not reporting that the HUNDRED times of rerouting was actually done prior to the “Natives” being involved in the process, they seem withhold that FACT from us…WHY doesn’t AP and MEDIA report on the multiple times that “Natives” set up negotiations and FEDS were a no show? AP not telling us all the FACTS involved in this…are they still WITHOLDING the agreement that Trump already has with “Natives” and American Petro??? Saving that one for after Victory Tour…#MAGA