BISMARCK, N.D., May 26 (UPI) — Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump on Thursday outlined his vision for the United States’ energy future during a stop in North Dakota, where he lamented the Obama administration’s efforts and cautioned against electing Hillary Clinton.
The real estate magnate opened his speech Thursday by thanking the state for providing enough delegates to push him over the nomination threshold — and then set his sights on a plan for “complete energy independence” for the United States under a Trump administration.
Trump said if he’s elected, he will take steps to entirely remove the nation’s dependence on foreign fuel — something he said the current administration has failed to do.
“Obama has done everything he can to get in the way of American energy,” he told the crowd in Bismarck, while warning that Clinton would be even worse.
“It’s a choice between sharing in this great energy wealth or sharing in the poverty promised by Hillary Clinton,” he said.
The GOP nominee also pledged to support American workers in the domestic energy industry, including coal miners.
“The miners have been so badly treated and were gonna treat them really well. You’ll see,” he said. “Clinton can’t just shut down the mines, she could shut down the whole country.”
“If crooked Hillary Clinton is in charge, things will get much worse, believe me,” he continued. “All you have to do is follow her career.”
Among various points he established during the speech is a plan to invest in the coal industry and remove federal protections for oil-rich areas in the United States, such as Alaska.
“He’s taken [Alaska] completely off the table,” he said of Obama, also criticizing the commander in-chief of mistakenly tying the country to the recent climate change accord struck in Paris.
“Government misconduct goes on and on,” Trump lamented.
Another of the Obama administration’s faults is opposing the U.S.-Canada Keystone XL pipeline, which he said would boost the nation’s energy efficiency and would have no effect on the environment, whatsoever.
“Even as he rejected [Keystone], he made a deal that allows Iran to transport more oil through its pipeline than would have ever flowed through Keystone — with no environmental review,” he said. “How stupid is that?”
Led by a Trump White House, the billionaire promised to restore the United States as a world-leading energy producer.
“It’s gonna happen. If we win. Oh, we’re going to win,” he added.
Trump also took aim at Clinton, his presumptive Democratic rival in November’s election, for opposing American gun rights, alleging that she would abolish the Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.
For the people of North Dakota, Trump said, increasing foreign dependence on energy would rob them of the benefits of their own land.
“This is your treasure and you, the American people, are entitled to share in the riches,” he said.
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.