Rep. Ellison Statement on President Trump's Pipeline Executive Order

Statement

Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN) released the following statement after President Donald Trump signed an executive order paving the way for construction of the Keystone XL Pipeline and the Dakota Access Pipeline

"President Trump's executive order advances projects that fuel harmful global warming, and that face local opposition from communities whose land and water is put at risk.

President Obama was right to reject the Keystone XL pipeline, which faced protests stretching from Nebraska ranchers to tribal leaders in North and South Dakota. Building the Keystone XL pipeline wouldn't help working Americans at the pump as the tar sands would pass through the United States to be sold around the world. But it would put our communities at risk while leaving American taxpayers on the hook for spills by the foreign corporation TransCanada. Despite President Trump's bluster on being tough on trade, he's courting TransCanada when they sued the United States under NAFTA for $15 billion for rejecting Keystone XL.

"It is particularly outrageous that President Trump would try to force the Army Corps of Engineers to approve the Dakota Access Pipeline given the agency's call for further environmental review. The Standing Rock Sioux and Tribal Chairman Dave Archambault have stood strong against the risk of pollution less than a mile from their reservation, and the threat to sacred Tribal land. The Dakota Access Pipeline fails to address the tribe's legitimate concerns of sovereignty, cultural heritage, and environmental protection and should not be built.

"Today's actions are disappointing to the millions of Americans who have stood up against these projects. But it's important to remember there is a long way to go before they are built. This is not the end of our fight."

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