Washington, D.C. – Consumer Energy Alliance (CEA), the leading voice for sensible energy and environmental policies for families and businesses, expressed serious concerns with a ruling from a U.S. District Court judge ordering a shutdown by Aug. 5 on the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) which is federally permitted and has been in operation for three years. David Holt, CEA’s president said:
“Today’s outrageous ruling creates a very dangerous precedent for our nation. In essence, a judge can shutdown and issue a ‘do-over’ on the permitting for any federally permitted or approved project even if its operation and safely in service. This will invite chaos for millions of families, seniors, businesses, and countless other impacted communities and stakeholders who need dependable energy supplies and critical infrastructure like pipelines.”
“The Dakota Access Pipeline has been safely operating for nearly three years and it went through years of legally required public review, multi-agency input, permitting, Tribal consultations, and environmental analysis. Now, in less than a month, over 500,000 barrels per day of fuel in the Midwest will be gone – all based on the whims of one judge and activist groups who didn’t like the outcome of a permitting process. This action cannot stand – we need Congress and our nation’s leaders to act now and prevent the continued kangaroo court assault on our nation’s energy infrastructure.”
“With ruling like this, we must ask ourselves – where are we going to get the available, reliable energy to meet our most basic demand; and at what cost?”
In April 2020, CEA filed a “friend of the court” amicus curiae brief that urged the U.S. District Court not to revoke the DAPL’s operating easement while the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers corrects the judge’s perceived errors in the Corps’ National Environmental Policy Act review. CEA’s arguments demonstrated the immediate, disruptive, and unnecessary economic impacts to American jobs, goods, and families that will result from a Court-ordered shutdown of an operating infrastructure project.
