Obama administration orders ND pipeline construction to stop
Source: The Hill
The Obama administration said it would not authorize construction on a critical stretch of the Dakota Access pipeline, handing a significant victory to the Indian tribe fighting the project the same day the group lost a court battle.
The administration said construction would halt until it can do more environmental assessments.The Department of Justice, the Army and the Interior Department jointly announced that construction would pause on the pipeline near North Dakota's Lake Oahe, a major water source on the Missouri River for the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe.
The agencies will now decide whether they need to reconsider permitting decisions for the pipeline under the National Environmental Policy Act. "The Army will move expeditiously to make this determination, as everyone involved including the pipeline company and its workers deserves a clear and timely resolution," the agencies said in a statement. "In the interim, we request that the pipeline company voluntarily pause all construction activity within 20 miles east or west of Lake Oahe."
The Lake Oahe crossing was a major concern for the tribe, which worries about the impact a leak in the pipeline would have on the lake. A federal judge Friday denied the tribe's request to halt construction on the 1,170-mile pipeline. The administration's decision came shortly after that decision.
-snip-
Read more: http://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/295223-obama-administration-orders-nd-pipeline-construction-to-stop
Bernardo de La Paz
(49,032 posts)yallerdawg
(16,104 posts)But really hard to explain to NAFTA ISDS arbitrators why one pipeline gets approved and another (Keystone XL) doesn't.
That would be a lot more money!
By the way - back to trucks and trains. It ain't stayin' in the ground.
Fast Walker 52
(7,723 posts)booksenkatz
(3,466 posts)yellerpup
(12,253 posts)This product (tar sands oil) is too filthy to refine in the US which is why they need a pipeline to send it offshore. They don't use it at all in the USA and it benefits no one but the Koch brothers.
yallerdawg
(16,104 posts)from the fields in North Dakota.
We need to be aware of the consequences - "infrastructure" projects are everywhere! Our energy independence can be at risk - our economic rebound can be at risk.
A smooth transition to renewable energy could be at risk.
Presidential elections could be at risk!
But the group then described the Obama administration's decision to intervene as "deeply troubling," warning that it could have a "long-lasting chilling effect" on infrastructure development.
"Should the Administration ultimately stop this construction, it would set a horrific precedent," said Craig Stevens, a spokesman for the coalition. "No sane American company would dare expend years of effort and billions of dollars weaving through an onerous regulatory process receiving all necessary permits and agreements, only to be faced with additional regulatory impediments and be shutdown halfway through completion of its project."
The Justice Department also suggested that the problems that have arisen during the pipeline's construction process highlight the need for consideration of "nationwide reform" on tribal approval of infrastructure projects.
http://www.dallasnews.com/business/energy/20160909-dallas-firm-s-dakota-access-pipeline-project-halted-by-obama-administration.ece
bluedigger
(17,087 posts)Odin2005
(53,521 posts)We need to quit using fossil fuels. Also, oil is usually never good long term for a region's economy, the oil industry deforms the local society and economy, filling it with low-functioning macho-douche workers prone to drinking, crime, and violence against women; and driving up the cost of housing. It also corrupts politics, Big Oil now OWNS North Dakota and the ND state legislature does whatever Big Oil wants
Fast Walker 52
(7,723 posts)geardaddy
(24,931 posts)My worry is that the construction company will go ahead anyway and say "Oops, my bad."
George II
(67,782 posts)geardaddy
(24,931 posts)But the damage to the Dakota land wiil be bad
awoke_in_2003
(34,582 posts)JudyM
(29,265 posts)DebJ
(7,699 posts)Hekate
(90,773 posts)...and I mean that in the best possible way.
truthisfreedom
(23,152 posts)We should not be burning it. We should be using renewable energy, primarily hydro, wind, solar and geothermal. There's no reason to burn up our oil resources when we need plastics and exotic chemicals for the foreseeable future.
Oil is a good thing. In the quantities we need for manufacturing, it can be safely transported overground. It's only when we burn it that we need these ridiculous pipelines and all of the rail cars and millions of semi tankers. Not to mention everything going across the oceans.
heaven05
(18,124 posts)is an answer to energy woes
annabanana
(52,791 posts)Mc Mike
(9,115 posts)Andy823
(11,495 posts)Now I am sure that all those who were bad mouthing the president last week on this issue will soon be posting their apologies, right?
Sunlei
(22,651 posts)Response to DonViejo (Original post)
Name removed Message auto-removed
hedda_foil
(16,375 posts)I absolutely our president today, and the following paragraph from yallerdawg's link from the Dallas Morning News makes me want to for joy!
http://www.dallasnews.com/business/energy/20160909-dallas-firm-s-dakota-access-pipeline-project-halted-by-obama-administration.ece
Taitertots
(7,745 posts)Or do you live in some fantasy world were the well being of hundreds of millions of people doesn't depend on easy access to oil/gas.
hedda_foil
(16,375 posts)prairierose
(2,145 posts)Lake Oahe is huge. It stretches for more than 100 miles from ND down into central SD where Oahe dam is. Can you imagine a lake that large with oil in it? And then the oil would just continue downstream all the way to the Gulf of Mexico.
The age of oil is over. It is past time to leave it behind and stop building infrastructure for a dead energy source that is killing us.
niyad
(113,526 posts)Odin2005
(53,521 posts)scscholar
(2,902 posts)That could really help.
lonestarnot
(77,097 posts)MichMan
(11,959 posts)Even if you don't personally approve of the pipeline, there were years of studies and review before permits were issued and construction was started. Now that the pipeline was allowed to be constructed, I don't understand how everyone here is cheering the government ruling it must be stopped.
Imagine getting financing and all the building permits to build a new house and once you have it 3/4 done being told that you local government had changed it's mind and now you had to stop.
Would everyone here be cheering that decision too?
ucrdem
(15,512 posts)Sounds like a rush job that didn't get the community support it would need t go forward on its own and the WH is in no mood to help it in an election season, so it gets shelved. It happens.
LanternWaste
(37,748 posts)This will bring out the concern trolls.