TRUMP WORLD - Priorities

Jobs before environment, deregulation above health, and oil money above everything else.

"Seeing impediments to jobs, Trump prioritizes pipelines over environmental protections" PBS NewsHour 1/24/2017

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SUMMARY:  The Dakota Access Pipeline and Keystone XL Pipeline were put on hold during the Obama administration.  But new executive orders by President Trump begin putting them back on track, as part of efforts to undo former President Obama's legacy.  How do these moves fit into the broader Trump agenda for energy and the environment?  William Brangham talks with Valerie Volcovici of Reuters.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM (NewsHour):  Two of those moves gave new life to two of the most contentious oil pipelines in America, the Dakota Access Pipeline, which hundreds of Native American groups have been protesting, as well as the Keystone XL Pipeline.

Both of these had been delayed or put on hold by the Obama administration.

To understand how these moves fit into the Trump administration's broader plans for energy and environmental policy, I'm joined by Valerie Volcovici.  She covers this for Reuters.

Welcome.

VALERIE VOLCOVICI, Reuters:  Thank you.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM:  So let's talk about these two pipelines in particular.

The Dakota Access pipeline, what did Trump's order say about that?

VALERIE VOLCOVICI:  So, Trump's order this morning basically said that he wants to expedite the process.

As you well know, the Dakota Access protest has really galvanized Native American tribal sovereignty issues.  It's brought together so, wide coalition of environmentalists, social activists, in addition to tribes.

So it's been one of the more high-profile protests that we have seen in a while.  Right now, it's kind of stalled because former President Obama ordered an environmental review of a kind of contentious section of this pipeline that the tribe argues crosses into some sacred sites.  His aim is really to move it along, because…

WILLIAM BRANGHAM:  He wants to get this built.

VALERIE VOLCOVICI:  He wants to get it built, and he said so on the campaign trail, and he is following through on day four, whatever it is, of the administration.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM:  Yes, this one really wasn't that much of a surprise, if you had been listening to him all along.

VALERIE VOLCOVICI:  Right.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM:  And then what about the Keystone XL?  That is a slightly different issue.  This was another pipeline that goes from Canada down to the Gulf.

And this was one that Obama for many, many years seemed to wrangle with and debate what to do, and then eventually denied the permit for it.  What did Trump do today?

VALERIE VOLCOVICI:  Well, what Trump did today is, first of all, it invited Canada to reapply.  TransCanada is the company that wants to get it built.  As far as I'm aware, TransCanada has said it wants to reapply.

And then it will have the State Department.  They will do an environmental impact assessment of the permit and decide whether or not to issue it.  And it needs to be done within 60 days.

So, again, another sign that Trump wants to fast-track this, because, as we remember from the Keystone fights, it lasted a long time and kind of became a symbol of President Obama's environmental goals and it really also galvanized the environmentalists.

IN THE DUST - Fossil Fuel Jobs

"Tough times for U.S. towns powered by fossil fuel energy jobs" PBS NewsHour 6/20/2016

COMMENT:  Though I do have compassion for this class of workers, this is another example of what can (and does) happen when a town or region depends on just one (or very few) industries for jobs.  In today's world any town or region needs a wide and diversified source of jobs to have a resilient economy that can survive change.  The era of one-industry towns is dead.

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SUMMARY:  Plummeting fuel prices are usually considered a good thing, but in rural Wyoming -- where fossil fuels like coal employ 10 percent of the state's private sector workforce -- they can spell disaster.  For the people of Gillette, dropping coal costs mean layoffs, a disappearing identity and struggles to adapt to the changing face of American industry.  Special correspondent Leigh Paterson reports.

LEIGH PATERSON (Inside Energy):  Gail Japp's horses have helped her through hard times, like when she was getting divorced.

GAIL JAPP, Former Peabody Energy Employee:  When you have had a bad day, you just come out and they just make life worth going on.

LEIGH PATERSON:  Especially this one, named Money.

GAIL JAPP:  He's very trusting and he's very loving.

LEIGH PATERSON:  Recently, things have been tough again.  Japp was one of the nearly 500 Wyoming coal miners laid off recently.  And to pay her mortgage, she will have to sell a lot of her things, including her beloved horses.

GAIL JAPP:  So, I have no choice.  I just — I have got to downsize.  And there's a lot of stuff I'm going to have to sell.

LEIGH PATERSON:  Japp worked for Peabody Energy for over a decade, mostly massive haul trucks.  After cutting jobs, including hers, in March, the coal giant declared bankruptcy in April.

GAIL JAPP:  Those were so fun.  Them things were just awesome.

LEIGH PATERSON:  She misses it, and is worried about getting a new job.

GAIL JAPP:  Yes, I can't leave Gillette, which is really going to make it hard for me to find something, because my dad is 90 years old, and then I got two grandkids here in town that try to stay with me as much as they can.  So it's just — I don't know.  It's been devastating.

LEIGH PATERSON:  That's because prices for coal, oil, and gas are all way down, all at the same time.  Revenue from those industries accounts for around 70 percent of the state's budget.

Fossil fuels employ around 10 percent of Wyoming's private sector work force, so, an energy bust hits towns like Gillette particularly hard, because this region is rich in all three, coal, oil, and gas.  Gillette even calls itself the energy capital of the nation.

But over the past year, unemployment claims in the county have more than doubled.  Businesses are closing, homes are up for sale, rail traffic is way down, and people all of the sudden are in need of basics like food.