On This Day In 2017
Trump orders revival of the controversial Keystone XL
This project had been halted by the Obama Administration, because several factors made this pipeline a terrible prospect for the environment.
The Keystone XL pipeline would transport “tar sands” all the way from Canada to Texas. Tar sands are known as the “dirtiest” of fossil fuels because they create toxic byproducts and are harder to clean up when spilled. Environmentalists and Native American groups highlighted concerns that the pipeline could leak and contaminate our waterways—not an outlandish prospect, since the main contractor, TC Energy, was responsible for a break in North Dakota that spilled over 380,000 gallons of oil.
As usual, Trump exaggerated his justifications bigly. He claimed the project would create “a lot of jobs, 28,000 jobs. Great construction jobs.” But those would have been only temporary. The State Department estimated the number of permanent jobs which would be created was…fifty.
By our math, 50 is less than 28,000
Nevertheless, OTDI 2017, Trump ordered the project’s revival.
Biden reinstated Obama’s halt just a few hours after he was sworn in. As Kevin Killer, the president of the Oglala Sioux Tribe, put it: "For his team to have it as a Day One action item was very meaningful. We felt heard."
PBS reports on Trump’s approval: https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/trump-administration-approves-keystone-pipeline-on-u-s-land
Mother Jones described the resistance to Keystone XL: https://www.motherjones.com/environment/2020/02/trump-keystone-xl-pipeline-native-indigenous-activism/
NBC News describes the reaction to Biden’s cancellation: https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/joe-biden/biden-reversed-trump-keystone-xl-pipeline-native-american-groups-want-n1265025
Trump orders revival of the controversial Keystone XL
