Washington, DC – U.S. Senator Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.), member of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee and the Indian Affairs Committee, issued the following statement today after President Trump signed executive orders that seek to advance the controversial Keystone XL and Dakota Access oil pipelines:
“President Trump’s efforts to try to resurrect these two controversial pipeline projects won’t actually grow the economy or increase our energy independence – this is all about overruling local opposition to rush to the defense of Big Oil and their corporate profits. Despite the President’s justification for advancing the project, independent fact-checkers have been clear: building Keystone XL will not create thousands of permanent jobs. The Dakota Access pipeline is fully capable of seeking out alternate routes that do not jeopardize the Standing Rock Sioux tribe’s water supply and sacred ancestral sites. If President Trump continues down this path of blindly handcuffing our nation to dirty energy infrastructure projects that make no sense while ignoring the promise of clean energy, it will weaken America’s economy and harm our ability to tackle the increasing threat of climate change.”
According to a recent analysis released by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), Earth’s 2016 surface temperatures were the warmest since modern recordkeeping began for the third year in a row.