Trump to sign orders advancing Keystone, Dakota pipelines

Former President Barack Obama stopped the proposed Keystone XL pipeline in late 2015, declaring it would have undercut US efforts to clinch a global climate change deal

Washington, Jan 24: President Donald Trump will sign orders on Tuesday to advance the construction of the Keystone XL and Dakota Access oil pipelines, a pair of projects that were blocked by the Obama administration due in part to environmental concerns.

Trump is to sign the orders on Tuesday, according to a person with knowledge of the decision. The move is expected to be cheered by Republicans and some union groups who backed the projects.

Former President Barack Obama stopped the proposed Keystone XL pipeline in late 2015, declaring it would have undercut US efforts to clinch a global climate change deal that was a centerpiece of his environmental legacy. The pipeline would run from Canada to US refineries in the Gulf Coast.

The US government needed to approve the pipeline because it crossed the border. Separately, late last year, the Army Corps of Engineers declined to allow construction of the Dakota Access pipeline under Lake Oahe, saying alternative routes needed to be considered. The Standing Rock Sioux tribe and its supporters say the project threatens drinking water and Native American sites, though Energy Transfer Partners, the company that wants to build the pipeline, disputes that and says the pipeline will be safe.

The pipeline is to carry North Dakota oil through South Dakota and Iowa to a shipping point in Illinois. The person with knowledge of Trump's decisions insisted on anonymity because that person was not authorised to confirm the moves ahead of a formal announcement.

Trump has moved swiftly this week to make good on some of his core campaign pledges he says are aimed at creating jobs and growing the economy. On Monday, he signed a memorandum withdrawing the US from the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade pact, a proposed accord with 11 Pacific Rim countries and another of Obama's prized accomplishments.

"Great thing for the American worker what we just did," Trump said as he signed the order in the Oval Office. Yet even as Trump moves to implement his agenda, he is still making false claims.

PTI