Trump gives OK to Keystone XL and Dakota Access pipelines
U.S. President Donald Trump has signed executive orders to move forward on construction of two controversial oil pipelines that impact Canada, giving his OK to the Keystone XL and Dakota Access projects.
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Speaking in the Oval Office in the White House as he signed the orders, Trump said that “we are going to renegotiate some of the terms” of TransCanada’s Keystone XL project. “And if they like, we will see if we can get that pipeline built — a lot of jobs, 28,000 jobs, great construction jobs.”
Trump signed an order on the Dakota Access Pipeline, saying it is also subject to terms and conditions “to be negotiated by us.”
The new U.S. president also said that if pipelines are built in the United States, they should use U.S. steel.
“From now we are going to start making pipelines in the United States,” Trump said
Shares of Calgary-based pipeline company TransCanada traded higher on word of the news. On the TSX, shares of the company were up more than two per cent, rising $1.47 to $64 in late morning trading.
The proposed Keystone XL pipeline was blocked by former U.S. president Barack Obama in late 2015, when he said it would have undercut U.S. efforts to clinch a global climate change deal that was a centrepiece of his environmental legacy.
The proposed 1,900-kilometre pipeline would run from Hardisty, Alta., to Steele City, Neb. The U.S. government needed to approve the pipeline because it crossed the border.
Speaking at a federal cabinet retreat in Calgary prior to Trump signing the executive orders, Natural Resources Minister Jim Carr said the Keystone XL project would mean 4,500 construction jobs for Canada, adding that all approvals are in place on the Canadian side for the pipeline.
On the Dakota pipeline, the U.S. Army decided last year to explore alternate routes for it after the Standing Rock Sioux tribe and its supporters said the pipeline threatened drinking water and Native American cultural sites.
Article source: http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/trump-keystone-dakota-access-pipelines-1.3949629?cmp=rss