Trump's Energy Revolution Can't Come Soon Enough

Investor's Business Daily ^ | 12/6/2016 | Staff

[IBD editorial writer]

Politics: If you want to know why the economy has been struggling so much under President Obama, look no further than the arbitrary and capricious decision by his Army Corps of Engineers to block the Dakota Access pipeline it had already approved. How many days does he have left in office?

In July, the Corps said it had approved 200 water crossings and easements for the 1,172-mile pipeline to cross Lake Oahe, Lake Sakakawea and the Missouri River. When it's finished, the $3.8 billion project will transport 450,000 barrels of oil a day from western North Dakota to Patoka, Ill.

But then protests erupted, fueled by environmentalist and misguided Native Americans, who said the pipeline's crossing of Lake Oahe could pollute water of the Standing Rock Sioux reservation in North Dakota. In September, President Obama egged the protestors on and said the Corps would look for alternative routes. On Sunday, the Army Corps decided to overturn itself, and deny the Lake Oahe easement until it explores these alleged alternative routes.

Energy Transfer Partners, which is building the pipeline, called the decision "a purely political action," accusing the Obama administration of having "abandoned the rule of law in favor of currying favor with a narrow and extreme political constituency."

They've got that right.

[ari-freedom]

They call themselves progressives but they want us to go back to dancing around in loin clothes to Mother Gaia

[meyer]

They call themselves progressives but they want us to go back to dancing around in loin clothes to Mother Gaia.

And they can. In their own yards. We normal people will gather at the fence, point, and laugh at them though.

[Pearls Before Swine]

They call themselves progressives but they want us to go back to dancing around in loin clothes to Mother Gaia

Only in the summer. They'll complain once winter comes.

[bert]

——Army Corps of Engineers——

Somewhere there is an officer, a Colonel or perhaps a Brigadier that made the decision. He is at retirement and was promised a job after he retires before Trump can fire him. (or perhaps but not likely, her)

[hoosiermama]

They are holding out for money (Remember the Obama family trust is funded by one tenth of one percent of all profits from the mineral land leases his great grandfather negotiated during the depression. )

[Sacajaweau]

Trump will figure it out and it will happen.

But as usual, the Indians want some bucks up front and annually....just in case something happens.

In reality, the indians have no standing.

[ari-freedom]

It was never really about the Indians

[Don Corleone]

Buffet’s oil trains will run empty. Follow the money.

[Sequoyah101]

We just traveled the West and saw miles of coal cars in storage on sidings.

[yefragetuwrabrumuy]

Trump's energy campaign should focus on several key elements: Coal: a complete technological upgrade sponsored by the government in mining, transportation, and energy production with coal. A major flaw with coal before this was that it was using very old and dirty technology. As poor for its pollution as it was for its low efficiency. Huge room for improvement. Nuclear: also right at the cusp of improvement, seen with six different classes of new technology reactors that need R&D to get in operation. Called Generation IV reactors, at their current advancement they are expected from 2030-2040. But that timetable can be seriously accelerated. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Generation_IV_reactor Importantly, having smaller and less polluting reactors as part of the energy grid needs to be a major part of the grid upgrade that is also sorely needed. Even if one metro area gets a blackout, it should not cause a cascade that afflicts an entire region. Natural gas: There are ridiculously enormous reserves of natural gas in and around the Gulf of Mexico. These need to be exploited at a hundred times more than they are now.\ Current US NG pipeline infrastructure:

[DannyTN]

Looks like most of Oklahoma is one big intrastate pipeline.

[yefragetuwrabrumuy]

And President Trump scored again, nominating Scott Pruitt, Oklahoma attorney general suing EPA on climate change, to head the EPA.

Oh yass. Trump is giving conservatives what they want.

[Impy]

The Army corp of engineers approved it. An Obama political appointee blocked it, on his orders.