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

Excerpt

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.

DAKOTA PIPELINE - President Obama's Reroute?

aka "Riot Police attacks at Dakota Access Pipeline, a reminder of the '60s black vote marches in the south."

"Tensions escalating in Dakota Access pipeline standoff, Obama suggests reroute" PBS NewsHour 11/2/2016

Excerpt

SUMMARY:  At least 140 people were arrested while occupying land in the path of the controversial Dakota Access pipeline in the past week.  President Obama has urged peaceful protests and restraint from law enforcement.  William Brangham speaks with Lynda Mapes of The Seattle Times about the extreme tension and fear of violence on the ground, reaction to the Oregon standoff acquittals and more.

JUDY WOODRUFF (NewsHour):  In North Dakota, the standoff over the controversial Dakota Access Pipeline keeps growing, as riot police cleared protesters blocking the pipeline's construction.

William Brangham has the latest.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM (NewsHour):  In the past week, at least 140 people were arrested while occupying land in the pipeline's path, including one woman charged with allegedly shooting at police.  No one was injured.

Native Americans and environmentalists say the pipeline will destroy sacred sites and threaten the drinking water of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe.  The 1,200-mile-long, nearly $4 billion pipeline would carry 500,000 gallons of crude oil daily across four states.

Yesterday, President Obama weighed in on the fight in an interview with the Web site Now This News.

PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA:  There's an obligation for protesters to be peaceful.  And there's an obligation for authorities to show restraint.

And I want to make sure that, as everybody is exercising their constitutional rights to be heard, that both sides are refraining from situations that might result in people being hurt.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM:  For more on this, I'm joined now by Seattle Times reporter Lynda Mapes, who's just back from North Dakota.

Lynda, thank you so much for being here.

Could you just tell us, what has it been like?  You were just there recently.  What is it like?  What did you see?

LYNDA MAPES, The Seattle Times:  Well, it was scary, honestly.

I was there with a Seattle Times photographer, Ellen Banner, and we truly were wondering minute to minute whether someone was going to get killed.  We were in camp the night before with tribal members who were singing their death songs.  I mean, they were very worried about the possibility of violence.

And who wouldn't be?  You have seen law enforcement marshaled from six states, armored personnel carriers, hundreds and hundreds of law enforcement officers with concussion grenades, mace, Tasers, batons.  And they used all of it.  I mean, it was frightening to watch.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM:  And when you say that they were using this, can you sort of describe the situation in which — we tend to see images of riots or protests, and we think of an equal clash between both sides.  What kinds of things did you witness?

LYNDA MAPES:  Well, the demonstrators are vastly outnumbered.  There's no question about that.

And, in many cases, they were literally sitting, arms locked, praying when they were arrested.  This changed as the standoff went on.  It all started on Thursday morning around 10:30.  It went on all through the day, all through the night, into the next day.  And, by the next day, Friday morning, demonstrators had burned two trucks on a bridge and had erected a makeshift plywood barrier.  They had a pile of rocks.

Meanwhile, the law enforcement officers had advance more than 100 yards with five armored personnel carriers side by side, hundreds of law enforcement officers advancing on them.  And it finally took an [Tribal] Elder to actually walk by himself in between the two lines, stand there, face his people, and say:  “Go home.  We're here to fight the pipeline, not these people, and we can only win this with prayer.”