Infrastructure Key to Strengthening U.S. Energy Security

A new report produced by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Institute for 21st Century Energy finds that America’s energy security is as its strongest point in two decades thanks to domestic oil and gas production.

The 2016 edition of the Index of U.S. Energy Security Risk, which examined an array of geopolitical, economic, reliability, and environmental risk factors, shows that total energy security risk in 2015 dropped to its lowest level since 1996. “The outlook for U.S. energy security is as bright as it has been since we started measuring it back in 2011,” wrote Karen Harbert, president and CEO of Institute for 21st Century Energy.

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Not surprisingly, key infrastructure investments like the Dakota Access Pipeline are critical to domestic energy security and newly-defined role as the world’s leader in oil and gas production. In her opening remarks, Harbert makes clear that the benefits of America’s revolution “are contingent on the ability to move these resources to domestic and global markets” and cautions against the politicization of infrastructure needed to sustain continued growth.

On Dakota Access, the report notes the thorough review the project underwent:

The Dakota Access pipeline will link North Dakota’s oil fields with refineries in the Midwest and Gulf Coast. The project has undergone extensive stakeholder consultation and environmental review, received its national permits, and would run along existing rights of way for a natural gas pipeline and transmissions line. As of this writing, Dakota Access is awaiting a final Army Corp of Engineers easement and is being held up by Keep it in the Ground activists, which means that most North Dakota crude oil will continue to travel by rail.

This is not the first time Dakota Access has been discussed in the context of national security. Earlier this fall, former U.S. Ambassador Richard Kauzlarich called the Dakota Access Pipeline, “a critical step forward in shoring up U.S. energy security by providing safe and efficient transportation of oil inside the United States.” Kauzlarich, who served as ambassador to Bosnia and Azerbaijan under President Bill Clinton, added that Dakota Access will reduce America’s reliance on foreign oil and mitigate market volatility.

Whether it be strengthening the nation’s energy security or providing a safer, more efficient way to move domestic energy resources, the Dakota Access Pipeline has demonstrated its merit to the region and the country.

Image courtesy of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Institute for 21st Century Energy.

President Obama Just Made the Dakota Access Pipeline Situation Worse

With a few words to a reporter, President Barack Obama just took the rule of law, crumpled it up, and tossed along a riverbank in North Dakota.

Here’s what he told NowThis about the recent actions by his administration and the protests over the Dakota Access Pipeline:

I think, right now the Army Corps is examining whether there are ways to reroute this pipeline. So we are going to let it play out for several more weeks and determine whether or not this can be resolved.

This was “resolved” months ago, after state and federal agencies signed off on the project.

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Business and Labor Groups Sign Letter to Obama Administration Urging DAPL Completion

A coalition of 22 groups representing business associations and workers including the National Association of Manufacturers and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce among others, authored a letter to the Obama Administration that expresses deep concerns over the actions taking place to slow construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline. The letter received coverage in the Washington DC-based political publications The Hill, Politico, Washington Examiner and E&E.

The letter states details the extensive process and permits received by Dakota Access, and criticizes the Administration for upending the regulatory process and ignoring a federal judge’s opinion. According to the letter, these actions by the Obama Administration will do harm far beyond delaying the construction of the project;

“When your agencies upend or modify the results of a full and fair regulatory process for an infrastructure project, these actions do not merely impact a single company. The industries that manufacture and develop the infrastructure, the labor that builds it, and the American consumers that depend on it all suffer.”

The groups urge the Administration to follow the letter of the law, which was met by the company throughout the review and permitting process, and allow construction to continue so that the infrastructure needs of a 21st century economy can move forward.