Biden stopped the Keystone Pipeline! Woo!
Except that he didn't.
This is the executive order "killing" Keystone XL, citing the reasons why Biden did it
He's Removing A Permit that Trump approved; That's all.
“Sec. 6. Revoking the March 2019 Permit for the Keystone XL Pipeline. (a) On March 29, 2019, the President granted to TransCanada Keystone Pipeline, L.P. a Presidential permit (the “Permit”) to construct, connect, operate, and maintain pipeline facilities at the international border of the United States and Canada (the “Keystone XL pipeline”), subject to express conditions and potential revocation in the President’s sole discretion. The Permit is hereby revoked in accordance with Article 1(1) of the Permit.
His "Executive Order" only removes one permit and does not "kill" the pipeline.
It references in 2015 that "(b) In 2015, following an exhaustive review, the Department of State and the President determined that approving the proposed Keystone XL pipeline would not serve the U.S. national interest."
What permit? Unclear. Here's a look at it. https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2019/04/03/2019-06654/authorizing-transcanada-keystone-pipeline-lp-to-construct-connect-operate-and-maintain-pipeline
This permit supersedes the Presidential permit issued to the permittee, dated March 23, 2017. For the avoidance of doubt, I hereby revoke that March 23, 2017, permit. Furthermore, this permit grants the permission described in the previous paragraph and revokes the March 23, 2017, permit notwithstanding Executive Order 13337 of April 30, 2004 (Issuance of Permits With Respect to Certain Energy-Related Facilities and Land Transportation Crossings on the International Boundaries of the United States) and the Presidential Memorandum of January 24, 2017 (Presidential Memorandum Regarding Construction of the Keystone XL Pipeline).
I don't see anything referring to the type of permit; only that it's a "Presidential Permit."
The whole "Biden's stopping the XL Pipeline" is merely providing cover for the dozens of new permits he's allowed. And XL is only one blip on this map.
https://www.americangeosciences.org/critical-issues/maps/interactive-map-pipelines-united-states
The media is trying to get you to believe Biden is going to do anything to help the environment. I guarantee that anything you can point to that the media is calling good... I can tell you why it's a lie. I can do this all day, but it won't make a difference. I only wrote this because I'm sick of the white moderates on my Facebook wall that have had their consent manufactured to benefit the oligarchy.
Before we start, let's look at some history.
Before you build a major project like the XL Pipeline, you are required by law to get an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) performed, so you can get a permit. From the Army Corp of Engineers.
This study can take YEARS. And it's very expensive. For a good reason.
Here's a tiny backgrounder on how the Army Corps of Engineers do things:
https://www.nwo.usace.army.mil/Missions/Dam-and-Lake-Projects/Oil-and-Gas-Development/Dakota-Access-Pipeline/
They even try to make that confusing. An EA is different than a EIS. Here's a place to go for more information: https://www.epa.gov/nepa/national-environmental-policy-act-review-process
On July 25, 2016, the Corps granted permission to applicant Dakota Access, LLC, under Section 14 of the Rivers and Harbors Act of 1899, 33 U.S.C. 408 (408 permission), for a proposed pipeline crossing under Lake Oahe approximately 0.5 miles upstream of the northern boundary of the Standing Rock Reservation. The approximately 1,172-mile pipeline connects the Bakken and Three Forks oil production areas in North Dakota to an existing crude oil market near Patoka, Illinois.
The 408 permission was supported by a Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) based on an Environmental Assessment (EA), as contemplated under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). This EA/FONSI was completed on July 25, 2016, the date that the Corps granted the 408 permission. On February 8, 2017, the Corps granted an easement, with conditions, to cross federal property administered by the Corps at Lake Oahe, North Dakota. The Corps granted the easement under the Mineral Leasing Act (MLA), 30 U.S.C. 185. The easement allowed for the installation, construction, operation, maintenance, repair, replacement and termination of a thirty-inch diameter horizontal directional drill buried oil pipeline for the purpose of transporting crude oil, and related facilities, at or under Lake Oahe Project in North Dakota, with a 50-foot wide width plus the ground occupied by the pipeline and related facilities. Operation of the pipeline began on June 1, 2017.
On March 25, 2020, the District Court for the District of Columbia ordered the Corps to prepare an EIS for this portion of the pipeline because the pipeline’s “effects on the quality of the human environment are likely to be highly controversial.”
Consistent with the Court’s decision, Dakota Access, LLC seeks an easement from the Corps for the original proposed project whose construction was completed on June 1, 2017. A decision on whether to authorize the pipeline to cross Lake Oahe at the proposed location would be based on: (1) the July 25, 2016, EA/FONSI; (2) the Corps’ August 31, 2018, analysis on remand from a decision by the District Court; and (3) additional analysis developed through this EIS.
Ask yourself, why was it allowed to be built at all? Because it was in full swing in 2015 and 2016.
Any casual observer can tell they had the entire line planned, but they got it all approved. Why? Because no one was watching. And they knew how to manipulate the system.
Maybe it's because they are financially powerful?
I think they might know a few loopholes.
Yep. Loopholes.
Energy Transfer Partners told the government (that knew better - how could they not?) that they were building separate pieces and got the smaller permits to build each one.
They used approvals of sections of the pipeline instead of getting the real EIS, and everyone KNEW IT. The Obama administration let them build. And build they did, destroying sacred sites and maiming peaceful water protectors, even in the freezing weather ON THANKSGIVING OF ALL DAYS.
Native American were being BRUTALIZED on Thanksgiving? Yep. That's America. https://popularresistance.org/deconstructing-thanksgiving-with-standing-rock/
Obama said "Let it play out for now."
That's just about when I decided I needed to see this for myself. So I went. I was there at the end and I saw the whole theater play out.
On December 4th, 2016, a SUNDAY afternoon, the easement was denied by the Army Corps of Engineers. A Sunday. Sunday? Why? What in the world could have caused the government to wake up early and work on this denial of the easement?
HOW COULD THEY EVEN BE BUILDING OR DIGGING OR GOING UNDER A RIVER OR DESTROYING SACRED SITES WITHOUT A PERMIT?
Energy Transfer Partners lied and cheated, and the government ran cover for them until the poor people stood up.
There were special circumstances the oligarchy didn't want anyone to see.
Bad Optics
On the day before the denial of the easement permit, thousands of veterans showed up to "put their lives in the line." They were ready to die to defend the water and our constitution. Maybe that would have gotten mainstream coverage. Maybe seeing veterans be murdered by our police state would be bad TV?
During the entire Standing Rock occupation by the Federal Government, Obama and Biden used federal troops to stop native Americans from protecting their own land and our environment. And so much more. They BRUTALIZED the peaceful protesters.
The level of surveillance was out of control. All under Obama and Biden.
It's where "environmental terrorism" entered the governmental lexicon.
"Let's Let Trump Approve it!"
So the permit was revoked under Obama. Yay!! Except that less than a month afterward, Trump did just like the oligarchy planned, and reinstated the pipeline, not requiring the EIS.
Progress still happened on that pipeline.
And now, we're back to Joe Biden denying a permit, that he can approve any time he wishes. According to the Executive Order: "subject to express conditions and potential revocation in the President’s sole discretion," which means that, just like Trump, Biden (or Harris, if she becomes president) can just approve it with the stroke of a pen.
Here are some other things to consider.
Fracking Is Not Profitable
Yeah. The profits aren't there right now. Believe whomever you want, but my bet is the rich people will win.
The Sioux tribe lawsuit
The Sioux tribe just won a lawsuit to force the government to do what it was supposed to do under the Obama regime.
Just look at this insanity: https://www.npr.org/2020/07/15/891276857/court-halts-dakota-access-pipeline-shutdown-as-legal-fight-goes-forward
On July 6, U.S. District Judge James Boasberg ordered Energy Transfer to halt oil flow and empty the pipeline within 30 days. Boasberg ruled in March that the Army Corps had failed to address concerns about the risk of oil spills and ordered it to conduct a full environmental impact study. That study could take another year to complete.
Supreme Court has Already Required the EIS to be completed
Here's another: the Supreme Court required the Environmental Impact Statement to be completed. Which SHOULD HAVE BEEN DONE UNDER OBAMA BEFORE ANY DIRT WAS MOVED.
"The Supreme Court on Monday cleared the way for several pipeline projects to proceed under a fast-track permitting process but excluded the controversial Keystone XL expansion from their ruling, forcing major delays."
https://www.cnn.com/2020/07/06/politics/keystone-xl-supreme-court-pipeline/index.html
The Supreme Court allowed many projects to go ahead while the environmental reviews are done, but excluded the Keystone XL. The Keystone XL pipeline must still abide by the arduous environmental review process, the justices ruled.
Notice that other pipelines are being built and being built before their EISs are complete.
That's what's up. And why you need to look past the headlines.
Wait... Is the Pipeline running or not?
https://www.jdsupra.com/legalnews/the-hits-keep-coming-dc-circuit-vacates-6466348/
Summary:
This claim that Biden "shut down" the XL Pipeline is PERFORMATIVE on the part of POLITICS and the MEDIA, and meant to give you the impression that Biden is actually doing something to help the environment.
Why didn't he stop the fracking that generates the oil?
How about we believe in science and end fracking altogether?
Maybe it's because that's only ONE pipeline.
Don't worry, we'll be saying that it's our of Biden's hands and the Army Corps says that a pipeline running across America and underneath a river where 20 million Americans get their drinking water just approved it, so it must be all good.
My Skepticism
The price of oil has driven that pipeline out of business and that Energy Transfer Partners wants to find some way, some loophole, to declare some sort of bankruptcy or other economic plea to someone due to the government shutting it down so they can make more money.
SOMEONE IS GETTING PAID FOR THIS. WHO IS IT?
Update!
Just found this... It's a pretty good overview. And if it shows ANYTHING, it's that the pipeline will be opened soon. https://www.jdsupra.com/legalnews/the-hits-keep-coming-dc-circuit-vacates-6466348/
It’s been a difficult several days for the oil industry. First, the Biden administration revoked the border-crossing permit for the Keystone XL pipeline on January 20. Another executive order, among other things, directed the secretary of the US Department of the Interior to pause oil and natural gas leases on public lands and offshore waters pending a review of leasing practices. And on January 26, the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit affirmed a district court’s decision to vacate an easement vital to the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL or the pipeline) that had been granted by the Army Corps of Engineers (Corps). But the court, however, reversed the lower court’s order that required the pipeline to cease operations. Accordingly, the pipeline may continue to operate while the Corps decides what to do about Dakota Access’s trespass. Separately, however, local Native American tribes have sought an injunction before the district court, the briefing for which ended earlier this month.
The conclusion of this article is garbage.
After the district court’s March order, the Corps started to prepare an EIS.
The time to prepare an EIS ranged from 51 days to 6,708 days (18.4 years). The average time for all federal entities was 3.4 years. Average times differed significantly by year and by entity. - Source: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1017/S146604660808037X#:~:text=The%20time%20to%20prepare%20an,by%20year%20and%20by%20entity.
An EIS is expected this summer, after which the Corps could regrant the easement.
As this is one of the larger EIS that need to be completed, 51 days is hardly enough time. Please. I bet if you look what speeds up an EIS is how much money your project is worth, not how much land needs to be assessed.
But it could deny the easement too. And while we're throwing out this "Expected this summer," let's read back from above: "Boasberg ruled in March that the Army Corps had failed to address concerns about the risk of oil spills and ordered it to conduct a full environmental impact study. That study could take another year to complete."
What does that mean? Of course it could.
And at present, DAPL is trespassing on government property.
If trespassing is the problem, DAPL and the American government are trespassing on Native American land. See Ft. Laramie Treaty for one example. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-institution/1868-two-nations-made-treaty-us-broke-it-and-plains-indian-tribes-are-still-seeking-justice-180970741/
The Corps has been investigating its legal options, but has yet to decide how to respond, and had indicated it was waiting for the DC Circuit’s ruling before making a decision.
Legal mumbo jumbo.
And separately, the tribes’ petition for injunctive relief remains pending before the district court.
Legal mumbo jumbo.
The issue has been briefed fully, and the district court may issue its ruling any day.
More legal mumbo jumbo. I seriously doubt anyone is fully briefed.
That is, there are two avenues by which the pipeline may be ordered to cease, and Dakota Access must prevail before both the Corps and the district court to keep the oil flowing.
All it takes is the right amount of money or stocks moving to the right person, and that pipeline will continue to flow.
So, if you were guessing, based upon what the media told you about the XL Pipeline... Do you think it's transporting oil right now? Post in the comments!
Last thing: 10,000 Jobs lost
Please, someone tell me how many of those are Union Jobs? How many are full time jobs? How many are contract?
See if you can guess how many employees work on completed oil lines.
Energy Transfer Partner Employees (est.) (Dec 2019) 12,812
Some things to read:
What do you think? Is it possible there could be 10,000 full time employees that lost their jobs on a pipeline that wasn't even legal?
Sounds like propaganda to me.
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