Dan K. Eberhart is CEO of Canary, an independent oilfield services company in the United States, and a frequent commentator on oil markets and US politics. Pipelines are by far the most efficient means of transporting oil and natural gas. Unfortunately, construction of new pipelines and other critical energy infrastructure is too often blocked by states, which have the power to reject pipelines under a little-understood provision of the federal Clean Water Act. Under the Clean Water Act, states must certify that projects, including pipelines, mines and bridges, comply with state water quality standards as well as federal. Unfortunately, this provision, known as Section 401, has too often been used by environmental activists and their political allies to block fossil fuel projects.

Source: CNN April 24, 2019 16:07 UTC