Trump Team Has Ties to Atlantic Coast Pipeline Now Being Pushed by White House

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On January 25, President Donald Trumpโ€™s team listed the Atlantic Coast pipeline among the White Houseโ€™sย top priorities for infrastructure projects, an attempt to deliverย on his campaign promise to invest in U.S infrastructureย programs.

Of the 50 on the list, Atlantic Coast is surprisingly the only pipeline project named. Some had suspected Trumpโ€™s infrastructure promise would serve as a massive pipeline giveaway. So, why prioritize thisย one?

A possible answer: Several members of Trumpโ€™s transition team, landing team, and current White House operation have connections to companies behind the project or to firms lobbying for it.ย ย 

The Atlantic Coast pipeline has been proposed by a partnership among Dominion Resources, Duke Energy,ย and Southern Gasย Company.

The natural gasย pipeline, currently under review by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), has faced staunch opposition from environmental activists and residents along its 550-mile-long pathย stretching from West Virginiaย through Virginia to North Carolina. It will carry natural gas obtained via hydraulic fracturing (โ€œfrackingโ€).

Among other things, detractors argue that the pipeline will have adverse effects on sensitive habitats, reduce property values, and introduce dangerous precedents for the seizure of private property through eminentย domain.

The pipelineย is included in a document listing the Trump White Houseโ€™s highest priorityย infrastructure projects. The document, which was leaked recently to the Kansas City Star, had reportedly been sent by Trump transition team members to the National Governorโ€™s Association for review andย comment.

Titled, โ€œPriority List: Energy and National Security Projects,โ€ the list includes various highway and rail expansions, airport upgrades, hydro and wind power projects, new transmission lines, and a sole natural gas pipeline: the Atlanticย Coast.ย ย 

Presentation slide of Atlantic Coast pipeline project description from leaked document
Among Trump’s 50 top priority infrastructure projects, Atlantic Coast was the only pipeline that made the cut; Image Credit:ย โ€œPriority List: Energy and National Security Projects,โ€ Whiteย House

โ€œThe projects are among a total investment of $137.5 billion described in the document,โ€ reported the Star. โ€œHalf that amount is supposed to represent private investment. The document does not specify how any of the projects, including KCI [Kansas City Airport], would be funded, how the federal government prioritized these projects or any timeline forย completion.โ€

Trumpย also recentlyย signed an executive order calling for expedited permitting and construction of all pipelineย projects.ย 

Trumpย Beneficiaries

DeSmog research has revealed that a few Trump associates could benefit financially if this prioritized pipeline opens forย business.

One isย Dan DiMicco, who served as a Senior Economic Adviser to Trumpโ€™s campaign and led the new administrationโ€™s U.S. Trade Representative transition team. He alsoย sits on the Board of Directors of Duke Energy, one of the pipeline projectย co-owners.

DiMicco, the former CEO of steel giant Nucor, met with Trump in Trump Tower in mid-December, when he was considering DiMicco for the position of U.S. Trade Representative. Eventually, former Deputy U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer got theย job.

Another tie can be seen between Trump presidential campaign adviser,ย U.S. Rep. Richard Hudson (R-NC), and his former chief-of-staffย Pepper Natonski. Since the fourth quarter of 2015, Natonski hasย been lobbyingย on behalf of Duke and its stake in โ€œnatural gas utilities regarding pipeline safety legislation and any regulatory regime affecting natural gas utilitiesโ€ and serves as Director of Federal Affairs for the company, according to Politico Influence.

In its Resource Report submitted to FERC, Atlantic Coast pipeline lists Natonskiย among the stakeholdersย it contactedย to educate about the project. The company says it met with Hudson or his staff on five different instances and also had six different pipeline-centric email interactions. Today, this rising influencer among D.C. political circlesย is lobbying Congress on behalf of one of the project’sย owners.

Atlantic Coast Pipeline Trump

Image Credit: U.S. Federal Energy Regulatoryย Commission

Yet another connection between the Atlantic Coast projectย and the Trump White House isย Rosario Palmieri, who lobbies on behalf of the pipeline for the National Association of Manufacturers. Heย formerly worked as a staffer for Vice President Mike Pence when he served in the House ofย Representatives.

โ€œVeryย Encouragedโ€

Dominion appears excited to have been included on the list of Trump’s top infrastructureย projects.ย 

โ€œWe’re very encouraged by the Trump administration’s strong commitment to rebuilding the nation’s energy infrastructure,” Aaron Ruby, a spokesperson for Dominion Resources, said of his companyโ€™s inclusion on the list for Atlantic Coast. โ€œThis administration has taken some important first steps to clear the path for critically important projects, and we’re eager to work with the president to ensure that projects like the Atlantic Coast Pipeline are approved and built in a timelyย manner.โ€

On the list of priorityย infrastructure projects, the Trump team claims Atlantic Coast could create 10,000 jobs. By way of comparison, Keystone XLย โ€” which is about twice the length as Atlantic Coastย โ€” will create 2,500โ€“4,650 construction jobs, according to a report published by Cornell Unversity’s Global Labor Institute. As the Kansas City Star pointed out, there is little information to back up the claims made in the leaked document at thisย point.

Main image: Donald Trump’s young presidency has already been plagued with accusations of cronyism and potential conflicts of interest. Credit: White House, publicย domain

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