Infrastructure Expansion Boosts National Security

Washington, D.C.—Today, President Trump issued two executive orders which move major hurdles to much-needed energy infrastructure, including a laborious federal approval process for pipeline expansion.

In a statement Wednesday, USEA Executive Director Barry Worthington said:

“I applaud President Trump’s executive orders. He clearly understands the importance of infrastructure expansion to our energy and national security.

“Infrastructure expansion allows us to continue to produce energy and deliver that energy to Americans and our allies. President Trump’s policies have already helped expand exploration and production of oil and natural gas. This has boosted our economy, improved our environment, and put the U.S. in a position of strength in the world. Because of exploration and production, America is now the largest oil and gas producer in the world. But we need infrastructure to transport this oil and gas.

“Today’s orders reflect the President’s consistent and strong commitment to ensure Americans have access to clean, affordable electricity and energy for transportation.

“For eight years, before President Trump took office, the energy industry was constrained by redundant regulations, a painfully slow permitting process for all energy development, and uncertainty. This hurt American energy consumers and our allies who rely on our resources.

“The executive orders also task several members of the President’s cabinet with assessing the deleterious effect regulatory barriers to pipeline expansion have had on getting critical natural gas supplies to New England and other states. This is superb and long awaited.

“The residents of New England, in particular, have had to suffer some of the highest electricity prices in the country because they couldn’t receive natural gas because they didn’t have adequate pipeline capacity. It’s a crisis when families can’t afford heat in the winter because of pipeline constraints.

“President Trump’s executive orders and the administration’s policies expand our energy resources, keep our energy prices low, and allow us to share our resources with a world in which energy demand is growing exponentially.

“The International Energy Agency’s 2018 data shows the U.S. electricity demand alone rose nearly four percent to a record level of almost 4,000 TWh, 17 percent of global electricity demand. We need to continue production and delivery of all energy resources, and that requires infrastructure.”