Trump touts administration’s moves in Pittsburgh
Speaking to a mixed crowd of natural gas industry representatives and rank-and-file western Pennsylvania supporters on Wednesday, President Donald Trump said he is bringing an end to “the war on American energy.”
He made the comment during the annual Shale Insight convention inside Pittsburgh’s David L. Lawrence Convention Center.
Trump, a Republican, recalled when he addressed the same conference during his 2016 campaign. Since then, Trump’s administration has issued permits for the Keystone XL Pipeline and Dakota Access Pipeline, rolled back the Clean Power Plan, opposed participation in the Paris Agreement, repealed the Stream Protection Rule, revoked Waters of the United States, and opened offshore federal lands and the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge for oil and gas exploration.
“Today, I’m proud to declare that I delivered on every single promise I made to this conference three years ago and much, much more,” Trump said.
He called 2016 a time when “American energy was under relentless assault from the previous administration.”
Trump continued: “Federal regulations and bureaucrats were working around the clock to shut down vital infrastructure projects, bankrupt producers and keep America’s vast energies and treasures buried deep under ground. They didn’t want to let you go get them. So, good for the American people in so many ways. I promised that as president I’d unleash American energy like never before because our natural resources do not belong to the government, they belong to the people of this country.”
He focused on several specific issues, including the 2015 Paris Agreement — a plan, adopted by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, to deal with greenhouse gas emissions — that has the support of more than 180 nations. President Barack Obama, a Democrat, backed the accord.
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Trump opposed what he considered to be a “terrible, one-sided” plan. The administration can submit notice on Nov. 4 to begin the one-year clock to formally withdraw from the climate pact.
“What we won’t do is punish the American people, while enriching foreign polluters,” Trump said. “Because, I can say it, right now, and I’m proud to say it, it’s called ‘America first’ — finally. My job is to represent the people of Pittsburgh, not the people of Paris.”
The president focused almost exclusively on energy, jobs and infrastructure during his hourlong remarks — not going into current issues, such as the ongoing impeachment investigation against him or Turkey’s invasion of Syria.
But he did criticize Democrats on economic and energy policies, which he claims will hurt growth if enacted.
“They’re viscous and they stick together, but they’re lousy politicians,” Trump said.
