President Trump's Fourth Full Day in Office: Resurrecting Dead Pipelines

On President Trump's fourth full day in office, he signed two presidential memoranda that resurrected oil pipelines everyone thought were dead. The two pipelines, the Dakota Access Pipeline and the Keystone XL pipeline, have been the subject of controversy for years, with many concerned about their construction, potential spills, and impact on the environment.

The Keystone XL pipeline is intended to carry crude oil for 1,200 miles from Canada to Steele City, Nebraska, and connect to an existing segment that ends on the gulf coast. The Dakota Access Pipeline, or DAPL, is a $3.8 billion dollar pipeline stretching 1,100 miles from North Dakota to Illinois. The protests against these pipelines began at the Standing Rock Sioux reservation in North Dakota, which happens to be right next to where the pipeline would cross the Missouri river.

The Obama administration had paused both pipelines in 2015 and again in late 2016, respectively. However, Trump's memoranda directed the agencies in charge of approving each pipeline to speed them through the review process. This move has sparked concerns among environmental groups, states, landowners, and tribal nations who want the US to move away from fossil resources.

One of the main reasons why people wanted these pipelines to be stopped was due to their routes. The Keystone pipeline would need to cross the Ogallala aquifer, which stretches beneath Nebraska, South Dakota, Wyoming, Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, and New Mexico. The aquifer's water is used for both drinking and irrigation, so if it were contaminated by a pipeline spill, it could be devastating to people's health and nearby agriculture.

Despite the risks associated with pipelines, they are statistically safer than transport by train or truck. However, when they do spill, they have spilled about three times more volume than trains. Recently, a Canadian pipeline spilled 200,000 liters of oil, and just days later, there was another even larger spill in Iowa. These incidents highlight the potential dangers of pipelines.

Pipeline companies continue to claim that they are good for the economy. TransCanada, the company in charge of Keystone XL, promised that it would create thousands of much-needed jobs for Americans. Trump echoed this claim when he signed the memoranda, stating that if these pipelines are built, "we will see if we can get that pipeline built - a lot of jobs, 28,000 jobs, great construction jobs."

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enTrump: Okay, Keystone pipelineOn President Trump’s fourth full day inoffice, he signed two presidential memorandathat resurrected oil pipelines everyone thoughtwere dead.Trump: This is with respect to the constructionof the Dakota Access Pipeline, Dakota AccessPipeline.These pipelines are concerning for states,landowners, and tribal nations worried aboutconstruction and dangerous spills — andfor environmental groups who want the US tomove away from fossil resources.The Keystone XL pipeline is intended to carrycrude oil for 1,200 miles from Canada to SteeleCity, Nebraska, and connect to an existingsegment that ends on the gulf coast.And the Dakota Access Pipeline, or DAPL, isa $3.8 billion dollar pipeline stretching1,100 miles from North Dakota to Illinois.It ignited a massive protest movement thatstarted at Standing Rock Sioux reservationin North Dakota, which happens to be rightnext to where the pipeline would cross theMissouri river.The Obama administration had paused both;Keystone XL in 2015, and the Dakota AccessPipeline more recently in late 2016.Trump’s memoranda directed the agenciesin charge of approving each pipeline to speedthem through the review process.That’s a problem, because there were a lotof reasons people wanted these pipelines tobe gone for good.Some of those reasons have to do with thepipelines’ routes.With Keystone, construction would need tocross the Ogallala aquifer.Which stretches beneath Nebraska, South Dakota,Wyoming, Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas,and New Mexico.The aquifer’s water is used for both drinkingand irrigation.So if it were contaminated, by, say, a pipelinespill, it could be devastating to peoples’health and nearby agriculture.While pipelines are statistically safer thantransport by train, or truck, they are stillprone to breaking.And, when they do spill, they spilled aboutthree times more volume than trains.Recently, a Canadian pipeline spilled 200,000liters of oil and days later, there was anothereven larger spill in IowaDespite these risks, pipeline companies continueto claim that they’re good for the economy.TransCanada, the company in charge of KeystoneXL, promised it would “create thousandsof much-needed jobs for Americans.”Trump echoed that claim when he signed thememorandum:Trump: “If they like we will see if we canget that pipeline built - a lot of jobs, 28,000jobs, great construction jobs.\"But those big numbers are misleading.Sure, Obama’s State Department calculatedthat Keystone XL might create 40,000 or morejobs, but they would only be temporary constructiongigs.Over the long term, it would only create about50 permanent jobs in the US.Mark Barteau: Well, I think this is goingto be full employment for lawyers, becauseI think we're going to see all of these thingscontested in the courts.So, the war is not over, but I'm afraid it'sgoing to be a much more guerrilla war in thecourts on some of these.Already being challenged in the courts: theDakota Access Pipeline.Construction on the pipeline is almost complete— except for the final, most contentiousstretch.To finish it, the pipeline operator, EnergyTransfer Partners, needs to drill beneathLake Oahe on the Missouri river.And for that, it needs an easement from theUS Army Corps of Engineers.Lake Oahe is the water source for the StandingRock Sioux Tribe, which has been fightingthe pipeline since April.Standing Rock leaders argue that they weren’tadequately consulted about the pipeline, whichcould contaminate their water supply, andendanger sacred sites.After eight months of clashes between theprotesters and an increasingly militarizedpolice force, the US Army ruled that EnergyTransfer Partners would not be allowed todrill beneath the river.But President Trump asked the Army Corps torevisit that decision.Monte Mills: Obama couldn't unilaterally decideto stop it, three months ago, and Trump now,even though he's issued this memorandum, itdoesn't say go forward and grant this permit,or else.It says, agency you need to consider thesethings.For them to simply stop that process and switchgears I think opens the door to some significantpotential legal challenges, particularly iftheir decision is viewed as essentially arbitrary.Aside from legal battles, what might reallykill these pipelines -- are economics.Dropping oil prices might take away the incentivefor companies, like say TransCanada or EnergyTransfer Partners, to invest in pipelinesin the future.Which would be good news for the environmentalistsand the first nations people who have beenfighting for centuries to protect their land.And there is this whole other wrinkle toothat we didn't even get into, it is the problemof Eminent Domain.In the state of Iowa, the government granted,i think it was 200 parcels of land to theDakota Access Pipeline, and then of course17 of those land-owners were like NO and theysued.And then in Nebraska, with Keystone, the stategovernment couldn't actually agree withinitself who had the power to grant the EminentDomain.\n"