Steyer knocks Trump after Keystone pipeline spill

Billionaire Democratic donor Tom Steyer sharply criticized President Trump on Thursday after news reports that the Keystone XL pipeline leaked hundreds of thousands of gallons of oil in South Dakota.

In a statement Thursday, Steyer ripped the Trump administration for the decision to revive the pipeline, which he said would “endanger people and wildlife” living around it.

“It’s simple — more pipelines means more oil spills. Obtaining our energy from fossil fuels is dangerous, and everyday Americans suffer the consequences,” Steyer said.

{mosads}”Trump’s revival of the Keystone XL pipeline will continue to endanger the people and wildlife that live around it.”

A TransCanada crew shut down the pipeline at 6 a.m. Thursday, but not before the controversial project leaked around 210,000 gallons of oil about 35 miles south of a pumping station in Marshall County, S.D.

Trump this year signed a presidential permit allowing TransCanada to build the project, which would transport as much as 830,000 barrels of crude oil a day from Alberta, Canada, to Nebraska, where it would join existing pipelines in the United States.

Steyer, who recently added $10 million to his ad campaign urging Democrats to impeach Trump, called on Americans to fight Trump’s everyday decisions that he says “put Americans directly in harm’s way.”

“It’s up to all of us to stop Trump, not just from impeachable offenses, but decisions, like reviving the Keystone XL pipeline, that put Americans directly in harm’s way,” he said.

Earlier this month, Steyer told The Hill that he is trying to be an “effective” source of opposition to Trump and the GOP, which currently holds both houses of Congress.

“I’m just trying to figure out what way I can do it that is most effective,” Steyer said. “Right now, honestly, it’s the campaign for impeachment, because it struck a real nerve and because it seems to be galvanizing people to think critically about what’s going on right now.”