Keystone Xl, Dakota Access Pipeline Construction To Continue Under Executive Order

WASHINGTON (AP) — The latest on President Donald Trump signing executive actions to advance the construction of the Keystone XL and Dakota Access oil pipelines:

12:50 p.m.

Groups representing manufacturers and laborers are praising President Donald Trump’s executive actions to advance construction of the Keystone XL and Dakota Access oil pipelines.

Groups including the MAIN Coalition, National Manufacturers Association, The Building Trades and the Laborers’ International Union of North America are calling Tuesday’s orders a victory for workers and consumers.

National Manufacturers Association CEO Jay Timmons says it’s decisive leadership by Trump “to get American energy infrastructure moving forward.” Building Trades President James Callahan says it helps fulfill a Trump campaign promise to create middle-class jobs.

Association of Oil Pipe Lines CEO Andrew Black says the two pipelines also will help the goal of “plentiful, affordable energy” for consumers.

North Dakota Petroleum Council President Ron Ness also touts “energy and economic security.”

Trump signed the executive orders on Tuesday, drawing strong backlash from environmentalists and other opponents.

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12:35 p.m.

Environmental groups are promising to fight executive actions by President Donald Trump to advance construction of the Keystone XL and Dakota Access oil pipelines.

The groups speaking out include the Sierra Club, Indigenous Environmental Network, Bold Alliance, Environmental Defense Canada and Natural Resources Defense Council.

Dallas Goldtooth is an organizer with Indigenous Environmental Network. He calls Trump’s actions “nothing short of attacks on our ancestral homelands.” He says it could again ignite protests against the Dakota Access pipeline, though he says to what degree isn’t known.

Sierra Club Executive Director Michael Brune says Trump’s actions will create “a wall of resistance and defiance the likes of which the president has never imagined.”

Bill McKibben with the group 350.org calls Trump “a con man” and says his actions will be fought “in the courts and in the streets.”

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12:20 p.m.

A man who says he’s been in North Dakota protesting the Dakota Access oil pipeline for more than four months says he’s not surprised that President Donald Trump has signed an executive order aimed at finishing it.

Dan Hein tells The Associated Press that he knew the move was coming. Hein says the government “is part of the pipeline.”

The 43-year-old Hein was breaking down his camp Tuesday to go back home to Columbus, Ohio. He says he was honoring the Standing Rock Sioux tribe’s wishes that protesters depart.

Fewer than 300 people remained at the protest site on Tuesday. Protest encampments swelled to thousands of people over the summer.

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11:55 p.m.

The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe says President Donald Trump is breaking the law with an executive order aimed at moving the Dakota Access oil pipeline forward.

The tribe has fought for months against the pipeline that passes near its reservation on the North Dakota-South Dakota border. Tribal leaders argue that it risks contaminating water, and they’re promising to fight Trump’s action in court.

Tribal Chairman Dave Archambault (AR’-sham-bo) says Trump must honor treaty rights and “provide a fair and reasonable pipeline process.”

He says Trump’s decision is payback to wealthy contributors at the risk of the tribe’s water.

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11:35 p.m.

President Donald Trump’s decision to restart the Keystone XL pipeline approval process is disheartening but not surprising to a central Nebraska farmer whose property is slated to be bisected by the project.

Jim Tarnick told The Associated Press on Tuesday that he and other landowners who oppose the pipeline will continue to fight. But he says he hopes he doesn’t have to do so “for the rest of my life.”

Tarnick says he’s confident landowners in Nebraska will continue to block the pipeline through lawsuits and other procedural challenges.

Tarnick has previously rejected at least six financial offers from TransCanada for access to his land, ranging from $30,000 to $58,000. He says he’s concerned about the pipeline’s possible effects on groundwater and soil.

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10:30 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 construction of the pipelines will be subject to the terms and conditions being renegotiated by the U.S.

Former President Barack Obama killed the proposed Keystone XL pipeline in late 2015, saying it would hurt American efforts to reach a global climate change deal.

The pipeline would run from Canada to U.S. refineries in the Gulf Coast. The U.S. government needs to approve the pipeline because it crossed the border.

The Army decided last year to explore alternate routes for the Dakota pipeline after the Standing Rock Sioux tribe and its supporters said the pipeline threatened drinking water and Native American cultural sites.

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9 a.m.

President Donald Trump is expected to take executive action to advance construction of the Dakota Access and Keystone XL oil pipelines.

That’s according to a person with knowledge of the action. The president is scheduled to sign orders at the White House late Tuesday morning.

The Army decided last year to explore alternate routes for the Dakota Access pipeline after the Standing Rock Sioux tribe and its supporters said the pipeline threatened drinking water and Native American cultural sites. The pipeline is to carry North Dakota oil through South Dakota and Iowa to a shipping point in Illinois.

Former President Barack Obama killed the proposed Keystone XL pipeline in late 2015, declaring it would have undercut U.S. efforts to clinch a global climate change deal. The pipeline would run from Canada to U.S. refineries in the Gulf Coast. The U.S. government needed to approve the pipeline because it crossed U.S. border.

The person with knowledge of the decisions insisted on anonymity because they were not authorized to confirm the moves ahead of a formal announcement.

(Associated Press writer Julie Pace contributed to this report.)

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8:45 a.m.

President Donald Trump says he’s an environmentalist.

The president made the comments Tuesday at a breakfast with auto industry executives.

He didn’t elaborate on why he sees himself as an environmentalist, but the comments came after urging companies from the auto industry and beyond to bring jobs back to the U.S.

On Monday, he made similar comments at a business breakfast, stating, again without elaborating, “I’m a very big person when it comes to the environment. I have received awards on the environment.”