Trump To Sign Executive Orders On Keystone XL, Dakota Pipelines

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By Michael Bastasch

President Trump will sign a pair of executive orders Tuesday to advance the building of the Keystone XL and Dakota Access oil pipelines.

A source told Bloomberg Trump will sign executive orders Tuesday, his fourth full day in office. Fox News also confirmed from a source that Trump would greenlight the projects. Both the Keystone XL and Dakota Access pipelines were blocked by the Obama administration.

Per @johnrobertsFox “Sources confirm Pres Trump will sign executive orders to move forward with the Keystone XL and Dakota access pipelines”

— Bret Baier (@BretBaier) January 24, 2017

Confirmation comes the day after White House press secretary Sean Spicer told reporters Monday approving oil pipelines would be “a big priority” for Trump.

“I’m not getting in front of the president’s executive actions, but I will tell you areas, like Dakotas and Keystone pipeline, areas where we can increase jobs, economic growth and tap into America’s energy supply more, that’s something he has been very clear about,” Spicer said.

The Keystone XL and Dakota Access pipelines are only the beginning. Trump wants $1 trillion in infrastructure over the next 10 years. Trump also promised to repeal Obama-era policies restricting energy production.

“That’s one of those ones where I think that the energy sector and our natural resources are an area where I think the president is very, very keen on making sure that we maximize our use of natural resources to america’s benefit,” Spicer told reporters Monday.

President Barack Obama declined to give TransCanada, the company building Keystone XL, the necessary cross-border permit needed to complete the pipeline in 2015. Keystone XL would have brought oil sands from Alberta to Gulf Coast refineries.

Obama argued approving Keystone XL would damage the U.S.’s image as a leader on global warming.

Observers expect Trump to sign an executive order taking away the State Department’s authority over determining whether cross-border pipelines are in the national interest.

The Obama administration blocked the Dakota Access Pipeline in November 2016 after the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers initially approved the project over the summer.

Environmentalists and American Indians staged months of somewhat violent protests against Energy Transfer Partners, the company building Dakota Access, and law enforcement officials.

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