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 Among the proposals, Trump said he would pull the United States out
of the U.N. global climate accord, approve the Keystone XL oil
pipeline from Canada and rescind measures by President Barack Obama
to cut U.S. emissions and protect waterways from industrial
pollution.
"Any regulation that's outdated, unnecessary, bad for workers or
contrary to the national interest will be scrapped and scrapped
completely," Trump told about 7,700 people at the Williston Basin
Petroleum Conference in Bismarck, the capital of oil-rich North
Dakota. "We're going to do all this while taking proper regard for
rational environmental concerns."
It was Trump's first speech detailing the energy policies he would
advance if elected president. He received loud applause from the
crowd of oil executives.
The comments painted a stark contrast between the New York
billionaire and his Democratic rivals for the White House, Hillary
Clinton and Bernie Sanders, who advocate a sharp turn away from
fossil fuels and toward renewable energy technologies to combat
climate change.
Trump slammed both rivals in his speech, saying their policies would
kill jobs and force the United States "to be begging for oil again"
from Middle East producers.
"It's not going to happen. Not with me," he said.
Trump's comments drew quick criticism from environmental advocates,
who called his proposals "frightening."
"Trump’s energy policies would accelerate climate change, protect
corporate polluters who profit from poisoning our air and water, and
block the transition to clean energy that is necessary to strengthen
our economy and protect our climate and health," said Tom Steyer, a
billionaire environmental activist.
But industry executives cheered the stance.
"It’s simple. If Trump wins, oil field workers will be happy. If
Clinton wins, oil workers will be unhappy," said Derrick Alexander,
an operations manager at oilfield services firm Integrated
Productions Services.
Trump hit Clinton hard in his speech, saying the former secretary of
state would be more aggressive than Obama on regulations. He
repeated several times Clinton’s March comments that her policies
would put coal miners out of work.
"Hillary Clinton's agenda is job destruction," Trump said.
CANCEL PARIS
Trump said slashing regulation would help the United States achieve
energy independence and reduce America's reliance on Middle Eastern
producers. "Imagine a world in which oil cartels will no longer use
energy as a weapon," he said.
The United States currently produces about 55 percent of the oil it
uses, with another quarter of the total coming from Canada and
Mexico, and less than 20 percent coming from OPEC, according to U.S.
Energy Department statistics.
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Trump's advisers, including U.S. Representative Kevin Cramer of North Dakota,
have said they suggested Trump examine the role of OPEC in the global oil price
slump since 2014, which has contributed to the demise of a handful of smaller
U.S. oil companies. Saudi Arabia and other OPEC members have declined to cut
production to support prices.
Until Thursday, Trump had been short on details of his energy policy. He has
said he believes global warming is a hoax, that his administration would revive
the U.S. coal industry, and that he supports hydraulic fracturing - an
environmentally controversial drilling technique that has triggered a boom in
U.S. production.
Earlier this month, he told Reuters in an interview that he would renegotiate
"at a minimum" the U.N. global climate accord agreed by 195 countries in Paris
last December, saying he viewed the deal as bad for U.S. business.
He took that a step further in North Dakota. "We're going to cancel the Paris
climate agreement," he said.
Trump also promised he would invite Canadian pipeline company TransCanada
to reapply to build the Keystone XL pipeline into the United States, reversing a
decision by Obama to block the project over environmental concerns.
"I want it built, but I want a piece of the profits," Trump said. "That's how
we're going to make our country rich again."
Trump's pledge briefly sent TransCanada's shares 29 Canadian cents higher to
C$54.13 on the Toronto Stock Exchange, but the stock quickly leveled back off
and close up 2 Canadian cents at C$53.86.
In response to Trump's promise that he would seek more profits from the
pipeline, TransCanada spokesman James Millar noted the project would create
jobs, offer major contracts to U.S. suppliers and provide tens of millions in
taxes for state coffers.
"The pipeline will benefit American workers longer term as the companies they
work for have signed contracts to ship and refine oil through Keystone XL,"
Millar said in an email.
(Additional reporting by Julie Gordon in Vancouver; Writing by Richard Valdmanis;
Editing by Andrew Hay and Tiffany Wu)
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