Energy Infrastructure for a Secure America

April 11, 2017

By Rear Admiral Donald P. Loren, U.S. Navy (retired), former deputy assistant secretary of Defense and national liaison for Vets4Energy.

President Trump's recent approval of both the Keystone XL and the Dakota Access pipelines was an impressive start in his plan to rebuild American infrastructure, boost our economy and invigorate job growth. These approvals, along with other encouraging signs, offer a positive glimpse of where the administration is headed and what the next four years will bring. Projects such as Keystone XL and Dakota Access are good starts to infrastructure development, but both of these projects are only a down payment on a larger, more crucial investment.

Infrastructure improvement and job generation are visible and immediate benefits of energy investments, but there are other tangible factors that make the president's energy focus attractive.

As an example, take the case of New York state and the significant and measurable cost of "doing nothing." New York's ban on all fracking and pipeline construction can arguably be cited as a cause for the increased energy costs for New Yorkers and for New Englanders as well. These restrictive policies result in northeastern consumers paying the highest energy prices in the country, affect construction jobs, and impede the growth of manufacturing business. Is that something we want for the rest of America?

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