Trump brushes aside environmental concerns, signs 2 executive orders to speed up gas, oil projects

April 11, 2019

Aiming to streamline oil and gas pipeline projects, President Donald Trump on Wednesday signed two executive orders making it harder for states to block construction because of environmental concerns.

The orders were prompted by fossil fuel industry pressure after officials in New York and Washington state had stopped new projects with permitting processes in recent years.

“Too often, badly needed energy infrastructure is being held back by special interest groups, entrenched bureaucracies and radical activists,” Trump said before signing the orders in Texas at the International Union of Operating Engineers International Training and Education Center.

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