§20 —
On the resurrection
Democrat
TRESPASS
Here's the part I had to read three times. Trespass is a finding of fact now: the Seventh Circuit affirmed in July that Line 5 is trespassing on the Bad River Band's reservation — then erased the shutdown deadline and told the lower court to schedule the removal "as soon as possible" while the oil keeps moving 1. Standing Rock formally rejected the pipeline's court-ordered environmental review and is still in court 2; the Apache filed again in April to unwind the Oak Flat transfer 3.
And the other end of the resurrection — I like to know where a pipe ends — is unresolved on the record: the company that owns the Keystone corridor has said twice, most recently in August, that it has "moved on," and Canada's one signed pipeline commitment points at the Pacific, away from here 4. So we've got a pipeline found trespassing, still flowing, and a resurrection with nothing at the other end. I made two notes. I'll come back for both.
Sources
- Seventh Circuit: Line 5 is trespassing on Bad River land; the deadline is erased — Civic Media on the opinion, 30 July 2026 ↑
- Standing Rock rejects the final environmental review; litigation continues — Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, 15 January 2026 ↑
- Apache Stronghold moves to unwind the Oak Flat land transfer — KJZZ, 24 April 2026 ↑
- South Bow: "moved on" from Keystone XL; Canada's committed line points west — CP via BOE Report, 19 August 2026 ↑
Republican
EMERGENCY
So the permit engine is a declared energy emergency — renewed for a second year in January, I have the notice 1. Under it the Army Corps posted, then took down, a list of 600-plus projects that could skip normal environmental review 2. In May the Corps granted Dakota Access its easement nine years after the oil started flowing 3, and in August it approved the Line 5 tunnel on the same emergency basis; the Bay Mills president called the consultation "pushed past... under the manufactured excuse of an 'energy emergency'" 4. I'm just reading what people said. That's the job.
Then the week of August 18: the president posted an AI image of himself hauling Keystone XL "from the grave," days before his 50 percent tariffs on Canada took effect 5. The State Department's own analysis of that pipeline counted 35 permanent jobs. Thirty-five. I don't know why that number stuck with me. Probably nothing.
Sources
- The national energy emergency, renewed for a second year — Federal Register, 14 January 2026 ↑
- Army Corps posts, then removes, 600+ projects flagged for emergency review — Reuters via Kitco, 19 February 2025 ↑
- Dakota Access granted its easement nine years after oil began flowing — CBS News/AP, 21 May 2026 ↑
- Tribes condemn the Line 5 tunnel approval under the "energy emergency" — Earthjustice, 12 August 2026 ↑
- The Keystone "from the grave" post, the tariff pause, and the collapse — CP24, 19 August 2026 ↑
“You said emergency — it's on the renewal, second year, January. I've got it. And then this picture, the pipeline coming out of the grave, on a Tuesday. And by Saturday, a fifty percent tariff on the country at the other end of the pipe. And here — a court says the existing line is trespassing. Now, I'm not a lawyer; my wife says I should have been. Just one more thing, and I'm out of your way. What does an emergency look like on the day it stops being one?”— Lou
“Like a renewal notice. An emergency ends the day the permits are done, which is why it got renewed in January, again, by the same office that needs it. An emergency with a calendar isn't an emergency. It's a season pass.”
“An emergency ends when the crisis is resolved, and the crisis is that permits take too long, and the permits are moving, so the emergency is working, so it has to continue. I'm going to stop explaining that before it explains itself.”