NATION/WORLD
Thursday, January 19, 2017
Federal study on
Dakota Access pipeline
to move forward
BISMARCK,
N.D.
(AP) — A federal judge
said Wednesday he won’t
keep the U.S. Army Corps
of Engineers from launching
a full environmental study
of the $3.8 billion Dakota
Access pipeline’s disputed
crossing under a Missouri
River reservoir in North
Dakota.
U.S.
District
Judge
James Boasberg denied
Texas-based Energy Transfer
Partners’ request to stop
the Corps from proceeding
until he rules on whether
the company already has the
necessary permission to lay
pipe under Lake Oahe, the
water source for the Standing
Rock Sioux tribe.
The Army published a
notice Wednesday of its
intent to prepare an envi-
ronmental impact statement
on the Lake Oahe crossing.
ETP won’t be able to lay pipe
under the reservoir while
the study is ongoing; it is
currently blocked from doing
so anyway.
A study could take up
to two years, but the study
notice can be withdrawn if
Boasberg were to eventually
rule that ETP has permission
for the crossing, Army
attorneys said. The notice
says public comments will
be accepted until Feb. 20 on
“potential issues, concerns
and reasonable alternatives”
that should be considered in
a study.
The stretch under Lake
Oahe is the last big chunk of
construction for the 1,200-
mile pipeline. ETP has said
in court documents there is
already oil in a portion of
the pipeline leading up to
the lake in anticipation of
finishing the project. But the
Corps wants to look at alter-
nate routes, the potential for a
pipeline leak and tribal treaty
rights in the wake of opposi-
tion by Standing Rock.
The Standing Rock Sioux
and its supporters believe the
four-state pipeline threatens
drinking water and cultural
sites. The tribe issued a
statement Wednesday saying
the study is “yet another
small victory on the path to
justice.”
ETP disputes the tribe’s
arguments and says the pipe-
line will be safe.
ETP said the Corps gave it
permission in July to proceed
with the Lake Oahe stretch,
but the Corps says all of the
necessary steps have not yet
been completed — including
an easement to work on
federal land and the notifica-
tion of Congress.
An
environmental
assessment conducted last
year determined the crossing
would not have a significant
impact on the environment.
However, Assistant Army
Secretary for Civil Works
Jo-Ellen Darcy said in
December that a broader
environmental impact state-
ment was warranted.
The
Standing
Rock
Sioux had urged people to
lobby the Corps to start the
study before President-elect
Donald Trump takes office
Friday. Trump, whose transi-
tion team said in a memo that
he supports the pipeline’s
completion, could seek to
reverse the Army’s decision
last month to not allow the
river crossing.
North Dakota’s U.S.
senators, Democrat Heidi
Heitkamp and Republican
John Hoeven, said they think
the federal government is
changing the rules in the
middle of the process and
that the study shouldn’t be
approved.
Opponents have camped
near the pipeline route in
North Dakota since the
summer. The number of
arrests surpassed 600 this
week, as 16 were arrested
Monday and Tuesday in
confrontations near the camp.
The
North
Dakota
Supreme Court agreed
Wednesday to allow lawyers
who aren’t licensed in North
Dakota to handle protest
cases on a temporary basis.
East Oregonian
Page 7A
So long: Obama aims final messages at Trump
WASHINGTON (AP) — Barack
Obama stepped behind the White
House podium for the last time
Wednesday, fielding questions from
the crush of journalists crammed in for
the occasion and offering assurances to
Americans watching on TV.
But at times, his answers seemed
aimed at an audience of one: The man
who will replace him at noon on Friday.
Obama gently chided Donald
Trump’s suggestion that the U.S.
might end its sanctions on Russia
over Ukraine in exchange for nuclear
stockpile reductions, saying it was in
America’s interest to make sure “we
don’t confuse why these sanctions
have been imposed with a whole set of
other issues.”
And, with Trump vowing to
move the U.S. Embassy in Israel to
Jerusalem, a move that could further
inflame tensions in the Middle East,
Obama warned that when “sudden
unilateral moves” are made in the
region, the results can be explosive.
Obama also defended his decision to
cut nearly three decades off convicted
leaker Chelsea Manning’s prison term,
a move Trump’s team has strongly
criticized. Obama said the former
Army intelligence analyst had served a
“tough prison sentence” already.
With no elections left to win or
legislative battles to fight, Obama used
his parting words to deliver one set of
messages to his successor, a man who
is his opposite both temperamentally
and politically. Obama said he expected
a new president, particularly one
from the opposing party, to “test old
assumptions,” but he also suggested it
would be important for the next admin-
istration to “understand that there are
going to be consequences, and actions
typically create reactions.”
The very fact that Obama was
holding the afternoon news conference
in the White House briefing room
served as a symbolic counter to Trump.
The president-elect’s aides have raised
the prospect of moving daily news
briefings out of their traditional West
Wing home, sparking fears of attempts
to eventually push reporters out of the
White House altogether.
Obama specifically addressed that
worry: “Having you in this building
has made this place work better,” he
declared.
“You’re not supposed to be syco-
phants, you’re supposed to be skep-
tics,” Obama said to the reporters he
has often criticized for hyping scandals
and jumping from story to story too
quickly.
“You’re not supposed to be compli-
mentary, but you’re supposed to cast
AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais
President Barack Obama waves at the conclusion of his final presidential
news conference, Wednesday, in the briefing room of the White House
in Washington.
Obama daughters don’t plan political careers
President Barack Obama says daughters do not intend to pursue a future in
politics — thanks to the influence of his wife, Michelle.
But he says the girls “could not help but be patriotic” given the environment
where they have grown up.
During Obama’s eight years in office, the first lady became one of the most
sought-after Democratic surrogates. But she detests politics and repeatedly has
said she will never run for public office.
Obama says his daughters — 18-year-old Malia and 15-year-old Sasha —
were disappointed in the outcome of the presidential election. Donald Trump
defeated Democrat Hillary Clinton, who had been Obama’s secretary of state.
He says he and his wife try to teach their daughters resilience.
The president says, “They don’t mope.”
a critical eye on folks who hold enor-
mous power and make sure that we are
accountable to the people who sent us
here.”
Even the reporters the president
called on seemed intended to send
a pointed message to his successor.
He kicked off the questioning with
the president of the White House
Correspondents’ Association, which
advocates for access on behalf of
journalists. Reporters from Arab, Span-
ish-language, African-American, and
gay and lesbian-focused publications
followed.
In a sense, Obama was taking a page
out of the playbook used by Trump
advisers, who often try to communicate
with their cable-news watching boss on
the airwaves.
The president’s press conference
earned him prime real estate on the
networks Trump keeps on his office
television throughout the day, with
most cable news outlets carrying the
entire hour-long event live.
For years, Trump’s only presence
in Obama’s orbit was as an irritant and
the chief promoter of the lie that the
president was born outside the United
States. When Trump challenged for
the presidency, Obama worked to
stop him and seemed all but certain
that Americans wouldn’t back the
Republican’s brash and divisive
politics.
Since Trump’s unexpected victory,
Obama has largely set aside that history
and sought to help ease his successor’s
transition into office. He’s spoken
with Trump by phone numerous
times, sometimes at length, he said
Wednesday.
After eight years in office, the presi-
dent suggested he’s eager to step away
from the political spotlight for a time.
“I want to be quiet a little bit and not
hear myself talk so darn much,” he said
Wednesday. But he also served notice
that as an ex-president, he would speak
out if Trump violates America’s “core
values.”
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