Clinton rolls out energy infrastructure plan

OREANDA-NEWS. September 24, 2015. Democratic presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton today unveiled a sweeping proposal to modernize North America's energy infrastructure and to forge a continent-wide climate pact.

But Republican candidate Jeb Bush has adopted a markedly different approach, calling for rolling back regulations such as the Clean Power Plan and the Dodd-Frank Wall Street reform law implemented under President Barack Obama.

With Democrats scheduled to face off for their first primary debate on 13 October, Clinton today tried to stake her ground in the energy sphere. While short on specifics, her proposal calls for upgrading the US' oil and gas pipeline networks, phasing out older rail cars and harmonizing vehicle efficiency and emissions standards across the continent.

"Our infrastructure has not kept pace with the changing energy sector," Clinton said.

Pointing to the boom in US oil and gas production, Clinton is pledging that by the end of her first term, in 2021, the US would repair or replace thousands of miles of pipelines to improve safety and reduce methane risks.

She would bolster pipeline safety by instituting the National Transportation Safety Board's recommendations on automatic or remote-controlled shut off valves and leak detection standards. And

she would close a "loophole" that allows companies to ship crude from Canada's oil sands via pipeline without be subject to the 8?/bl excise tax paid to the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund.

Yesterday, Clinton voiced her opposition to Canadian midstream company TransCanada's proposal to build the \\$8bn, 830,000 b/d Keystone XL crude pipeline, calling the project a "distraction" from the effort to combat climate change.

The State Department is charged with determining whether that pipeline project, which would cross the US-Canadian border to bring crude from Canada's oil sands and the Bakken formation to the US midcontinent, would be in the US' national interest. That application languished at the State Department during Clinton's tenure as secretary of state.

Clinton said she had refrained from commenting on the project after leaving office for fear of getting in front of President Barack Obama, since the "decision was and is his to meet." But Clinton said that although she "wanted to give the president space to make a decision, the process has taken far longer than I expected." Former Florida governor Jeb Bush's campaign chastised Clinton for favoring "environmental extremists over US jobs."

Noting the series of "devastating" accidents involving rail cars carrying crude, Clinton aims to help speed up the retirement of older, riskier rail cars. She wants to partner with the rail industry to repair track defects that cause derailments and to evaluate whether shale oil presents unique explosion risks.

To help fund such projects, Clinton has called for creation of a new national infrastructure bank. She would award competitive grants to states and cities that invest in ways to reduce carbon emissions and help local communities fix pipeline leaks.

More broadly, Clinton would open negotiations with Mexico and Canada with hopes of creating a new North American climate compact to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. This would include standardizing vehicle fuel efficiency standards, establishing continent-wide methane goals and targeting clean energy technologies and sources.

Bush, in contrast, aims to shrink the role of government. The one-time Florida governor would require that regulators identify \\$1 in regulatory relief for every \\$1 in regulatory costs proposed. And he would support a Republican bill that Congress have a chance to vote on any regulation that would cost \\$100mn/yr or more.

Bush would require regulators to complete federal permitting processes, including environmental reviews, for major infrastructure projects within two years.

"Think what America could be and the prosperity we could experience if we took off the shackles from government rules and rule makers," Bush said.