President Trump Expected to Announce Exec. Orders Regarding DAPL, Keystone Pipelines This Morning
U.S. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump gestures after arriving for jury duty at Manhattan Supreme Court in New York August 17, 2015. REUTERS/Lucas Jackson
A reliable source tells me the Trump administration will be making an announcement regarding two pipeline projects important to North Dakota later this morning.
The long-delayed Keystone XL pipeline, which languished for years due to regulatory delays implemented by the Obama administration, is one of the projects. The Dakota Access Pipeline, which has drawn lengthy and violent protest from the #NoDAPL movement organized by the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, is the other.
I’m told President Trump will be making his announcement latter this morning. It’s clear, based on earlier statement’s from Trump’s people, that he supports the completion of these projects.
[mks_pullquote align=”right” width=”300″ size=”24″ bg_color=”#ffffff” txt_color=”#000000″]I’m told President Trump will be making his announcement latter this morning.[/mks_pullquote]
This lines up with what North Dakota Congressman Kevin Cramer told me in an interview last week. “By next week the EIS will be rescinded,” Cramer told me referring to the lengthy environmental study President Obama initiated in his final days in office. The Congressman said the Trump administration has the authority to rescind it because, in legal filings responding to the pipeline company’s request that the study be enjoined, the Obama administration itself argued that this was the case.
Cramer also said he expected an easement to be issued for the pipeline to cross Lake Oahe by as early as Monday. Obviously that didn’t happen, but I think the pipeline’s supporters would settle for Tuesday.
This is good news for North Dakota. Both projects would increase the pipeline take away capacity for oil produced in our state. Keystone would have room for about 100,000 barrels per day of North Dakota oil. The Dakota Access line would serve North Dakota exclusively with hundreds of thousands of barrels worth of daily capacity.
Stay tuned.
UPDATE: Fox News confirms.
