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By Valerie Volcovici and Emily Stephenson
BISMARCK, N.D., May 26 (Reuters) - Donald Trump, the
presumptive Republican presidential nominee, promised on
Thursday to roll back some of America's most ambitious
environmental policies, actions that he said would revive the
ailing U.S. oil and coal industries and bolster national
security.
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"Any regulation that's outdated, unnecessary, bad for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.
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 TRP.TO 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.