President Trump signed executive orders on Tuesday effectively reviving the controversial Keystone XL and Dakota Access pipelines, which had been stalled by the Obama administration under pressure from environmental and other groups.
The president said the projects would be subject to a “renegotiation of the terms.” But he made clear the government was resuming consideration for both pipelines, describing them as a potential boon to construction workers.
“We’re going to put a lot of … steel workers back to work,” Trump said. “We’ll build our own pipelines, we will build our own pipes.”
To that end, the president signed three other orders related to pipeline construction, including one expediting the environmental permitting process for infrastructure projects and one directing the Commerce Department to maximize the use of U.S. steel.
Looking ahead, Trump also announced he planned to nominate a justice for the Supreme Court next week, moving swiftly to try to fill the seat left vacant by the death of Justice Antonin Scalia. The president was summoning top senators to the White House later Tuesday to discuss his upcoming nomination. Continue reading “Tue, Jan. 24, 2017: Trump signs executive order advancing Dakota Access, Keystone pipelines; Intends to nominate Supreme Court justice next week”
