Michael Bastasch:
Small town North Dakotans were so thrilled President Donald Trump approved the Dakota Access oil pipeline, they “lit fireworks and rode trucks with American flags,” according to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg.
Zuckerberg visited Williston, N.D., to learn more about how hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, was shaping rural America. What he learned shed light on exactly why Trump won 80 percent of the vote in the 2016 election.
“When the Dakota Access Pipeline was approved, that removed $6-7 per barrel of cost from producing oil in the region, which brought more investment and jobs here,” Zuckerberg wrote of his visit on Facebook Wednesday.
Here’s the important part (bold is my own):
A number of people told me they had felt their livelihood was blocked by the government, but when Trump approved the pipeline they felt a sense of hope again. That word “hope” came up many times around this. One person told me the night the pipeline was approved, people lit fireworks and rode trucks with American flags down Main Street to celebrate.
…
Many people I talked to here acknowledged this, but also feel a sense of pride that their work contributes to serving real needs we all have every day — keeping our homes warm, getting to work, feeding us, and more. They believe competition from new sources of energy is good, but from their perspective, until renewables can provide most of our energy at scale, they are providing an important service we all rely on, and they wish they’d stop being demonized for it.
The Obama administration blocked the Dakota pipeline after it had initially been approved by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The reversal came after environmental activists and Native Americans clashed with police and pipeline security guards for months, trying to physically block the project.
And that came after eight years of environmentalists claiming fracking was poisoning people’s drinking water, causing cancer and harming infants all without strong evidence to back it up. One prominent activist even called fracking “rape.”
But to North Dakotans, fracking brought a flood of investment and jobs into the state, some of which left when the price collapsed in 2014. The state saw more economic opportunity and, as Zuckerberg noted, “these are good jobs where people with a high school diploma can make $100,000 a year.”
The huge increase in oil and natural gas production has brought down energy prices, including what we pay at the pump, and it’s enhanced the U.S.’s geopolitical standing. The U.S. is on its way to becoming a major exporter of oil and gas.
I would love to see the look on a liberal’s face when they gained enlightenment. However, like spotting a Bigfoot, I don’t think I’ll live to see it, their instinct towards willful ignorance being so strong.
We all know by now that the Demac-RATS are in the same boat with the Deep Ecoogists and after the huge mess the eco-wackos left behind they were pretty well tied of these nature freaks and granola bar munchers/tree huggers
Well Curt, as far as why Trump was elected, you’re actually all over it. People felt their work (those that had a job) weren’t providing them that “sense of pride” and achievements you mentioned. Pay has stagnated, benefits have dwindled, good jobs have gone overseas, union power has weakened, and the wealth has shifted toward the top rather than workers getting a fair shake.
Statistics show that Trump won with the help of blue collar workers, the unemployed, disabled veterans, drug addicts, etc- those desperate and in need. He promised infrastructure jobs and to bring back high paying jobs. Of course he lied as his most every appointment and Executive Order dictates but as I’ve said previously, Hillary snubbed the workers and Trump conned them.
Now much like your that cherry picked example you lifted tries to polish the trump turd, we’ll see this casino ploy of sounding bells and whistles go off every time the Trump job slot machine dishes out a few jobs while actually confiscating the resources from the fools who elected him.
@Andy42302:
Well, no, you are wrong again (batting 1.000). Trump is fulfilling his pledges and conned no one. Jobs are coming back, consumer confidence has grown and the economy is getting more healthy. Trump is going to use energy as a national security tool, something liberals are too stupid to figure out, placing ideology ahead of national security every time.
You leftists are going to need more wealthy elitists if you are going to win with your socialist leaders. Your policies of sh!tting all over anyone not elite enough to draw your attention has not been working out too well. Perhaps a Trump economy can help you out, since when you and your wealthy elitists have power, you DESTROY the economy and the opportunity for some to get as wealthy and stupid as they need to be to support your cause.
@Bill… Deplorable Me:
Trump turd polishers are so predictable. Trump conned no one because, well, as you presently backed up your cloned sockpuppet comrade, internet searches on this only yields question marks? Or something akin to such asinine gibberish.
Lock Hillary up? A lie.
Mexico paying for wall? Lie.
Infrastructure? Lie
Help for Vets? His proposed budget proves a lie.
Better cheaper health care where no one gets kicked off? He says he has pen in hand ready to sign.
Precondition conditions. He has pen in hand ready.
Preserving Medicaid? Pen in hand ready.
Return of coal miners? A lie.
Social Security? His budget shows he lied. His willingness to sign the 1st House Trumpcare bill says he lied.
His reversal of Executive Order 13673 weakens protection of workers.
His EOs for Wall Street allows them to steal from customers.
His first Dept of Labor Sect pick didn’t believe in MW, overtime pay, or workers rights and had multiple wage stealing suits against him. His 2nd wasn’t much better nor was his SCOTUS pick.
He has even said he doesn’t want any poor people to have any place or any voice in his administration.
etc etc etc.
Now I’m really not interested in whatever nonsensical, ignorant, and/or dishonest spewage comes from you or your lapdog redman et al because both (and/or most all) are abject liars (which I suppose is what makes you Trump turd polishers) that deny even what you yourselves argue.
.
@Andy42302:
Believe me, I am fully aware of how disinterested in facts you are. You underline that in every one of your lying posts. This one is no different. But, don’t worry; I expect nothing more from a sniveling, lying, cowardly little crybaby liberal.
@Deplorable Me:
And exactly like the lying, cowardly piece of shit that you are, you follow marching orders like the other lying, cowardly pieces of shit here and shove your head in the sand to the lies and dishonesty of the con man you genuflect to, covering your ears and singing “la la la” like a lying, cowardly piece of shit.
@HeyJay and HoJay42302: I see you’re still confused about who you are. You accidentally used the same ID twice in a row. I believe your services contract calls for you to alternate to try to cause confusion. Though it seems that the only one it confuses is YOU.
So far, Trump is right on track
Energy production up up up
Energy cost down down down
Coal production Up up up
By now you should be getting the drift.
@Andy42302: Oooo…. having the Hillary rug yanked out from under you has made you a nasty, bitter little lying coward. Pity. Why don’t you move to Canada where they reward terrorists? That’s what you loved about Obama and Hillary, you could get your fill up there and we wouldn’t have to smell your stinking, lying, cowardly crybaby carcass down here.
I have made you my bitch. Get used go it.