Trump’s executive orders attempts to speed oil and gas pipeline projects
President Donald Trump signed a pair of executive orders aimed at speeding up oil and gas pipeline permitting, including limiting the ability of activists and states to block key energy projects.
Trump signed two executive orders at an International Union of Operating Engineers’ training center near Houston, garnering support from some labor unions who have pushed back against Democrats’ “anti-fossil fuel agenda,” particularly those plans introduced Green New Deal.
Trump ordered federal agencies to speed up permitting for pipeline projects, including asking the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to curtail state authority to block projects under the Clean Water Act (CWA).
The administration is responding to criticisms that some states have weaponized CWA permitting to block energy projects.
The NY Post writes that Trump “rescues NY from its self-inflicted natural-gas shortage” where Gov. Andrew Cuomo “has been rejecting plans for pipelines in a bid to suck up to eco-fanatics, who demand an immediate end to the use of all fossil fuels, despite the lack of realistic alternatives.”
“Con Ed stopped taking new gas customers, citing concerns about a supply shortage. Without new gas supplies, it says, adding new customers could make it tough to serve current subscribers, particularly on cold days,” writes the Post.
“Too often, badly needed energy infrastructure is being held back by special-interest groups, entrenched bureaucracies and radical activists,” said Trump.
“President Trump is doing some spring cleaning on regulations used by no-growth advocates to stop infrastructure in its tracks and deny Americans the benefits our energy dominance promises,” Dan Kish, a distinguished senior fellow at the free market Institute for Energy Research, said in an email.
“President [Barack] Obama lamented the lack of shovel-ready jobs; President Trump is going straight to the operating engineers who will build our infrastructure to show how he will clean out the stables and make America stronger,” Kish said.
Some other moves in the order include directing the Transportation Department to update rules for shipping natural gas by rail, asking the Labor Department whether or not climate activist shareholder resolutions violate the fiduciary duty of retirement funds.
Shareholders have approved resolutions at major companies, like ExxonMobil, to report on how global warming and climate regulations could impact future business operations. Likewise, some city and state pension systems have sought to divest themselves of fossil fuel assets over global warming concerns.