Trump signs executive orders backing Keystone XL and Dakota access pipelines

Donald Trump, the president of the United States, has signed two executive orders supporting the controversial Keystone XL and Dakota Access pipelines. The Keystone XL pipeline would run from the oil sands in Alberta, Canada, to Steele City, Nebraska; while the Dakota Access pipeline would run from Stanely, North Dakota to Pakota, Illinois.

The two projects have reportedly been backed on the condition American steel is used.

In November 2015, the Obama administration had decided to reject an application for the construction of the Keystone XL pipeline, which in recent years has pitted environmentalists against oil companies and the Republican party.

Speaking at the time Obama said that the application had been rejected because it would not have lowered petrol prices, would not have created jobs and would negatively impact the environment, in particular because of its contribution to climate change.

Upon signing the Keystone XL pipeline order, the president said that it would be subject to a renegotiation of terms by his administration, adding that the pipeline would create 28,000 “great construction jobs”

Environmental groups have expressed their anger at the decision.

Greenpeace executive director Annie Leonard said that a broad coalition of opponents would not give up and that “indigenous communities, ranchers, farmers, and climate activists” had successfully managed to block the projects in the past.