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Trump Resurrects Keystone XL Lies

Donald Trump at window
Trump’s view of Keystone XL is as blurry as his current Twitter banner pic…

It only makes sense that resurrecting the Keystone XL tar sands oil pipeline would make Donald Trump’s Top Ten To-Do List. Keystone XL is shovel-ready—as in shoveling-hogwash-ready, which is right up our pathologically lying President’s alley.

  1. As he signed his Keystone XL executive order, Trump said the Commerce Department will maximize the use of U.S. steel in the pipeline. “We will build our own pipeline. We will build our own pipes, like we used to in the old days,” said Trump. Um, Donald? TransCanada spent over a billion dollars on Keystone XL steel and has had its big pipes milled and stockpiled here on the prairie for years. Half the steel was made outside the United States; the half made here was produced by Welspun, an Indian company.
  2. Trump says (in typical unprepared, used-car-salesman cant) Keystone XL will mean “a lot of jobs, 28,000 construction jobs, great construction jobs.” I have never heard 28,000 as a jobs projection for Keystone XL. 35, yes, 127, 1,8002,000, 10,000, 20,000,  42,000, 130,000… all over the place. But I cannot find any reference online to 28,000 jobs from Keystone XL. As usual, Trump is just pulling numbers out of thin air.
  3. Trump blamed permitting and regulatory requirements for blocking pipelines and other projects. But the business case for Keystone XL collapsed with the 2014 oil price slide and remains unclear.

But hey: even if TransCanada never takes Trump up on the offer to remill a billion dollars of steel and lay a pipeline America doesn’t need, Trump has another great oil plan. Today he casually threatened to wage war on our ally Iraq to take their oil.

These are not the actions of an honest, intelligent President. These are the actions of a delusional buffoon who doesn’t realize he has graduated from cheap TV to leading the free world.

49 Comments

  1. Robert McTaggart 2017-01-24 15:07

    A good amount of steel would go into making all of the electric cars that would displace the oil from such a pipeline, if not the infrastructure to deliver the electricity to recharge said cars.

  2. Don Coyote 2017-01-24 15:53

    BooYah!

  3. Mike Boswell 2017-01-24 15:53

    Go Pipelines

  4. SDBlue 2017-01-24 16:03

    It appears he is just signing whatever executive orders the greedy Republicans are putting in front of him. I doubt he even grasps the consequences. He is way too busy bitching about the size of crowds and imaginary voter fraud. I hear he gets bored easily and watches a lot of TV. We are so screwed…

  5. Roger Cornelius 2017-01-24 16:04

    If tRump insist that Keystone XL use only American made pipe, what does he want Keystone XL to do with existing foreign manufactured pipe laying around?

    About those job numbers tRump is throwing around, those are simply more of the GOP ‘alternative facts’.

    The drums started beating in Cannonball with tRumps announcement.

  6. Roger Cornelius 2017-01-24 16:19

    Excellent Darin, way good.

  7. Ed 2017-01-24 16:22

    Mr. Boswell, I wonder if you would be as excited as you are if the oil pipeline was going through your home or property? The use of eminent domain for private, for-profit corporations is a blatant abuse of its original purpose. Our aquifers and Missouri River are too important for our clean water use to let greedy oil barons and corrupt politicians like Trump and his Republican cohorts get their way.

  8. Jana 2017-01-24 16:23

    Trump, Thune and Rounds own the first inevitable leak! It would be nice to have a historic market put in place after the eco-damage.

  9. Mike Boswell 2017-01-24 16:28

    Oh Ed heck yeah pay me the going rate for access fees. I will take em.

  10. Nick Nemec 2017-01-24 16:37

    I’ll take a few of those foreign made pipes off their hands. They look like they would make good culverts.

  11. Jana 2017-01-24 16:41

    The jobs, the All-American steel and that it is still Canadian (foreign) oil to be shipped to China are all just ‘Alternative Facts.’

  12. mike from iowa 2017-01-24 16:43

    State Department study in 2014 put the number of jobs at 3800. (according to Reuters)

    Since dilbit will be shipped overseas to China and Drumpf wants a trade war and tariffs, I wonder how little dilbit gets sold because it is too expensive?

    Red hats made for the inaugural were allegedly made in VietNam. Nice touch.

  13. Jana 2017-01-24 17:02

    Last I checked, Keystone is a foreign company using Chinese steel…well there goes that America First policy. Be sure and tell the American Steel Workers how much The Donald loves them.

  14. Donald Pay 2017-01-24 17:03

    He gets his job figures the same place he gets his “illegal voters” numbers, apparently.

  15. caheidelberger Post author | 2017-01-24 17:20

    Jana, Mike from Iowa, thank you for reminding us that Keystone XL will be shipping Canadian oil to China. Is there any chance that when Trump talks about renegotiating the deal (just what renegotiation does he think he gets to do? Keystone XL went through the State Department process, as well as state regulatory processes; does he think TransCanada will accept any extralegal conditions?), he plans to require selling all refined products of KXL oil in the U.S.?

  16. caheidelberger Post author | 2017-01-24 17:23

    Donald, let’s send ICE to the pipeline worksites, find out how many undocumented workers we find on the KXL and Dakota Access crews.

  17. jerry 2017-01-24 17:46

    Punkin head has purchased a terrific place in Okaton, South Dakota to build the new Trump Tower there. Russian businessmen are flocking to the area making sure that outside interests do not get into some kind of bidding war over the prime locations for commercial development there.

  18. Porter Lansing 2017-01-24 17:46

    Terrorists are sizing up our President and so far he looks beatable.
    As Cory states, we don’t need the tar sands oil. It was going to go to China but President Trump’s already tee’d them off. Let ’em sit on the surplus and spin. Thanks Obama for delaying this project into obscurity and saving a lot of environmental damages.

  19. jerry 2017-01-24 17:52

    When the glut happens, punkin head’s boss is gonna be upset that Russian oil is going to be devalued. I am not sure Vladimir will allow this to happen and will have to reign in his boy.

  20. Porter Lansing 2017-01-24 17:55

    On Tuesday morning, President Trump issued an executive order to revive the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) and promised to fast track approval of its construction. DAPL tramples on tribal sovereignty and threatens millions of citizens who depend on clean, fresh water from the Missouri River. We must act now to protect Indigenous rights and our natural environment!
    On December 4th, 2016, the Army Corps of Engineers halted drilling under Lake Oahe, the last phase of the pipeline’s construction. Now, the Army Corps is preparing an Environmental Impact Statement open to public comment. Use this form to add your own comment to the Army’s report and tell the engineers we want a thorough review of the environmental implications of the project!
    Submit Your Comment to the DAPL Environmental Report.
    http://lakotalaw.org/dapl-action

  21. mike from iowa 2017-01-24 17:56

    Not to hijack the thread. but, iowa’s dimdot 4th district nutjob ran the numbers himself. He extrapolated two counties in Virginia and came up with 2.4 million illegal voters, which he quickly rounded up to 3 million. I kid you not.

  22. Don Coyote 2017-01-24 18:07

    @cah: “Jana, Mike from Iowa, thank you for reminding us that Keystone XL will be shipping Canadian oil to China.”

    Canadian oil is already flowing through the southern leg of KeystoneXL from Cushing, OK to the Gulf. If China wanted to purchase that oil they probably would have by now but with the Chinese economy tanking and Chinese demand for oil remaining weak, don’t look for Chinese oil refineries, which are already running 70% below capacity, to buy much Canadian oil.

  23. Greg Deplorable 2017-01-24 18:27

    Has there ever been a president that had so much low hanging fruit to pick? I mean come on.
    I particularly enjoyed watching the auto union bosses after meeting with Trump and saying it was the best meeting of their life.

  24. mike from iowa 2017-01-24 18:31

    Ryan Lizza ✔ @RyanLizza
    Trump, who announced a new America First policy, has awarded the first major US infrastructure project (Keystone XL) to a Canadian company.
    12:33 PM – 24 Jan 2017

  25. Don Coyote 2017-01-24 18:35

    mia: “Red hats made for the inaugural were allegedly made in VietNam. Nice touch.”

    If you purchased it from a street vendor, probably but Trump didn’t have control over those hats. The hats on his campaign website are Made in America.

  26. Darin Larson 2017-01-24 18:38

    Greg, all must bow before his Trumpness or he will drive them out of business or existence. Come kiss his ring and tell him how great he is.

  27. Barbara 2017-01-24 18:44

    Canada has been selling oil to the US but the point of KeystoneXL and other Canadian pipelines approved recently is to get that oil to ports where they can sell it to anyone, because it can now be shipped anywhere. It is not for the US, unless they want to pay for the privilege.

    From the president of Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers who is concerned about US protectionism and border taxes: McMillan says he expects changes to U.S. policies could affect the Canadian industry, adding that that prospect makes it more important than ever that Canadian pipelines to tidewater such as the Trans Mountain expansion and the Energy East project are built to allow exports to other customers around the world. http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/capp-trump-protectionist-alberta-oilpatch-1.3945455

    By the way, it appears that the Badlands twitter feed has had its tweets about climate change scrubbed from the site tonight…

  28. mike from iowa 2017-01-24 18:59

    Don missing his left ear Coyote, Ivanka’s fabulously foppish clothing is made in sweatshops in VietNam and a couple other Asian countries.

  29. mike from iowa 2017-01-24 19:00

    Maybe the “made in america” tags for Drumpf’s imported hats are made in america.

  30. Roger Cornelius 2017-01-24 19:08

    Even if we concede that tRump caps are made in America, most of his products are manufactured in foreign countries.
    The question now remains if tRump is truly sincere with his “America First’ campaign, will he now immediately call for his products to manufactured in the U.S.A.?

  31. Don Coyote 2017-01-24 19:10

    @Barbara:”Canada has been selling oil to the US but the point of KeystoneXL and other Canadian pipelines approved recently is to get that oil to ports where they can sell it to anyone,..”

    Almost 75% of US oil already comes from the Americas (domestic and imported) with Canada providing over 15%. If the US has no further need for Canadian oil, isn’t it a good thing that they can sell it to other countries while helping to keep pressure on prices with increased supplies? Not building the northern leg of KeystoneXL is not stopping Canadian oil from flowing in the completed Keystone 1 or the southern part of KeystoneXL.

  32. Greg Deplorable 2017-01-24 19:10

    You had to be mentally challenged to believe that this wasn’t going to happen.

    Which one of these pipelines again is ruining the environment?
    http://www.pipeline101.com/where-are-pipelines-located

    I’m sure all you green loving hippies have ditched your cars and disconnected natural gas from your house in solidarity with NODAPL.

  33. mike from iowa 2017-01-24 19:12

    Those campaign hats made in california seem to have an inexplicable problem. One of five purchased and examined had a different fiber material in it that the company does not make, and could not explain. Hmmmmm?

  34. Roger Cornelius 2017-01-24 19:17

    Help me out here, who was it that recently said, “I am an environmentalist. I believe in it.”

  35. grudznick 2017-01-24 19:27

    It was not I who said that Mr. C. Although I am an environmentalist. An environmentalist with common sense.

  36. moses6 2017-01-24 19:52

    I can see russia. from the white house

  37. caheidelberger Post author | 2017-01-24 20:22

    Greg, why do you find it necessary to suggest anyone is mentally challenged? What does that gratuitous insult have to do with the situation at hand, in which #AmericaFirst means allowing a Canadian company to seize American land through eminent domain to build a pipeline with Indian and Russian steel to ship oil to China?

    And what does your cheap insult do to refute the utter sourcelessness of Trump’s fake job numbers claim?

  38. caheidelberger Post author | 2017-01-24 20:22

    (Moses, you should see the view Russia has of the White House now….)

  39. finz2r 2017-01-24 20:46

    Thune is worthless. Accepts Trumps alternative facts on 3 million fraudulent votes as the reason why he lost the popular vote.

    And the No. 3 Senate Republican, John Thune of South Dakota, said he didn’t know whether 3 million to 5 million votes were cast fraudulently, which would be larger than the population of all but the biggest U.S. cities, and did not happen.

    “There’s always a certain amount of irregularity that goes on in elections, some places perhaps more so than others. How you quantify that I’m not sure, but he must have his methodology,” Thune said.

    Grow a pair John, but you know that’s never going to happen.

  40. caheidelberger Post author | 2017-01-24 22:20

    Roger, you mention that environmentalist statement. Listen to that line, and the bits above, and the other comments we’ve heard from him since Inauguration, even the address at CIA HQ at Langley, which has been called “strange and rambling in the press.

    Have we heard President Trump utter anything close to a Presidential paragraph yet?

  41. Roger Cornelius 2017-01-24 23:00

    Most agree Cory that the CIA speech was nothing more than a self-service pile of ….
    ‘that president’s’ own White House staff is reporting he took is own paid cheering squad along to boost his ego.
    If that president is an environmentalist, I’m an old white guy from Aberdeen.

  42. caheidelberger Post author | 2017-01-25 07:15

    Roger C—wow:

    Authorities are also pushing back against the perception that the CIA workforce was cheering for the president. They say the first three rows in front of the president were largely made up of supporters of Mr. Trump’s campaign.

    An official with knowledge of the make-up of the crowd says that there were about 40 people who’d been invited by the Trump, Mike Pence and Rep. Mike Pompeo teams. The Trump team originally expected Rep. Pompeo, R-Kansas, to be sworn in during the event as the next CIA director, but the vote to confirm him was delayed on Friday by Senate Democrats. Also sitting in the first several rows in front of the president was the CIA’s senior leadership, which was not cheering the remarks.

    White House press secretary Sean Spicer on Monday denied that there were “Trump or White House folks” in the first rows.

    “There were no Trump or White House folks sitting down. They were all CIA (unintelligible). So, not in rows one-through-anything, from what I’m told.” Spicer said at the White House briefing Monday. He did not address whether Pompeo invitees were in the first rows [Jeff Pegues, “Sources say Trump’s CIA visit made relations with intel community worse,” CBS News, 2017.01.23].

    Wow. The Trump White House is all about lies and autocratic theater, a cult of personality, Il Duce surrounded by adoring, cheering crowds wherever he goes.

    Native friends, time to occupy the Dakota Access and Keystone XL routes. Democrats, time to filibuster the Senate, every day. Patriots, time to attend every Trump event and boo.

  43. John W. 2017-01-25 10:53

    Anybody remember Noem bloviating about the thousands of permanent jobs that would come to South Dakota when KXL was built and how much cheaper fuel would be as a result. After so much of that hip shooting trash talk, she finally admitted that there would only be less than 30 permanent jobs in the midwest and it wouldn’t necessarily affect the price of fuel. Now she and Rounds are at it again with the same old debunked “alternative facts” that we heard the first time around. Nobody has said anything about the reasonable price of fuel without that monster and nobody has said one thing about the number of jobs that will be lost when that oil starts flowing to the gulf and other countries in the global pool. Anyone think we can retrain truckers, railroad employees etc. to do something else??? Nobody has said anything about the enormous costs of spill clean up and who is actually paying for those costs over the long term. Hopefully, KXL will have to go through the process of securing easements from private landowners again and the Nebraska experience will have taught the majority something about political deception.

  44. Rorschach 2017-01-25 11:19

    “If the US has no further need for Canadian oil, isn’t it a good thing that they can sell it to other countries while helping to keep pressure on prices with increased supplies?” Don Coyote

    You need to go back to economics 101, Mr. Coyote. If those oil supplies stay in North America the excess supply keeps downward pressure on prices in North America. If the excess supply is able to be exported, there is less downward pressure on prices in North America.

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