UPDATE 10:36 a.m.: President Donald Trump has signed executive actions to advance the construction of the Keystone XL and Dakota Access oil pipelines.
Trump tells reporters in the Oval Office that the moves on the pipelines will be subject to the terms and conditions being renegotiated by the U.S.
Former President Obama killed the proposed pipeline that would run through Nebraska because it would have undercut U.S. efforts to clinch a global climate change deal. The pipeline would run from Canada to refineries in the Gulf Coast. The federal government needed to approve the pipeline because it crossed the border.
President Trump also signed an executive order regarding the Dakota Access pipeline. That project has triggered dozens of protests in North Dakota after the Standing Rock Sioux tribe and pipeline opponents claimed it threatened drinking water and Native American cultural sites.
Keystone XL pipeline opponents in Nebraska were swift to react to President Trump's executive action. Jane Kleeb, President of Bold Alliance, said: "Nebraska farmers and ranchers need a President standing up for property rights and our clean water to produce American food. Foreign tarsands pipelines headed to the export market have no place in the Heartland. There is no application for Keystone XL and there never has been an approved route in Nebraska. The President should focus on American energy independence rather than taking land away from farmers using eminent domain for private gain."
Nebraska landowner Randy Thompson said: "The political power of big oil is once again on full display today with the resurrection of the Keystone XL pipeline. Trump and the GOP are using the same old worn out and debunked theories to justify this project going forward. It is obvious to me that America's landscape, the environment, and the property rights of thousands of American landowners are now in jeopardy of being sacrificed to serve as a dividend on the oil industry's investment in the political system."
Nebraska Governor Pete Ricketts issued the following statement: "Keystone XL will create good-paying jobs for Nebraska workers and bring property tax relief to counties along the route. Today's decision represents years of extensive environmental reviews that confirm Keystone XL complies with federal safety and environmental standards. With the federal approval process complete, state regulators must now work through the process in Nebraska to conduct their own thorough consideration of the project."
