American Oil and Gas Reporter - October 2016 - 55

EIA estimates New England residents paid up to 69 percent more for electricity
and its industrial sector paid 90 percent more than the national average last
winter, largely because of infrastructure limitations that restricted their access to
inexpensive U.S. natural gas. Some argue this is a result of outdated policies and
anti-fossil-fuel ideology that discourage companies from investing in pipelines,
marine terminals and other energy infrastructure projects. What, if anything,
would you propose as president to speed permitting and hasten construction of
energy infrastructure?
Trump: A central feature of my America First
energy plan is timely review and approval of important
energy infrastructure projects, including oil and gas
pipelines.
I support the Keystone XL Pipeline. When I am
president, I will ask the applicant to re-apply for
approval of the Keystone Pipeline. It is outrageous that
the Obama-Clinton administration rejected this important
energy project, which will provide more than 42,000
jobs in the United States with no significant environmental
impact.
The Keystone application languished at the State
Department when Hillary Clinton was secretary of
state. She basically sat on it, without showing any leadership. She danced around the issue for years like a
true politician and, at times, suggested she would
support it. Now, she opposes Keystone and many other
energy projects like it.
There is no reason that any region in our country
should not have access to our abundant energy resources.
My administration will not only get out of the way of
the free market, but it will help expedite the role of
project reviews and approvals.

Clinton: Flipping a light switch, adjusting the
thermostat, or turning a car key in the ignition brings
predictable results: the light goes on, the temperature
changes, the car starts. But where the energy for
those everyday tasks comes from has changed dramatically in recent years as a result of massive gains
in renewable energy and a boom in domestic oil and
gas production. And the amount of energy required
to perform those tasks has fallen, thanks to historic
advances in efficiency.
Our policies and infrastructure have not kept pace
with changes to the American energy system. American
communities have endured toxic pipeline spills and
deadly rail explosions as the amount of oil produced
and transported across the country has expanded.
Our existing natural gas distribution network is increasingly antiquated and in need of repair, while
new networks must be built to serve parts of the
country still dependent on fuel oil.
Our electrical grid needs upgrading to harness
new technology that reduces energy costs and increases
consumer choice, and to address the growing threat
of cyber-attack. And we must invest in the new infrastructure that will make the transition to a clean
energy economy possible, keep energy affordable
and reliable, meet both base load and peak demand,
protect the health of our families and our climate, and
drive job creation and innovation.
That is why I have put forward a comprehensive
strategy for modernizing our energy infrastructure,
making our existing infrastructure safer and more secure, and building the new infrastructure required to
make America the world's clean energy superpower.

OCTOBER 2016 55

American Oil and Gas Reporter - October 2016

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