Donald Trump has just signed executive orders that will advance construction of two huge, controversial oil pipelines.

The Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) and Keystone XL pipelines have been focal points for environmental campaigners who argue that anything that increases America's dependency on fossil fuels is a terrible idea.

They also argue that transporting oil is a dirty and dangerous business and pipelines in the ground will inevitably compromise precious water supplies.

But supporters say that this kind of construction will create jobs, and help further exploit North America's ability to extract and sell fossil fuels, boosting local and national economies.

As it happens, both projects eventually stalled because after large-scale protests, neither got final approval for completion.


Is climate change a priority for Trump?

That is, until now.

We shouldn't be surprised.

During his campaign, Donald Trump promised to "unleash" America's energy industry.

He also appointed several members of cabinet to key environment and energy roles who have worked for or supported big oil, and who don't entirely believe in man-made climate change.

Mr Trump, it appears, is willing to gamble the long-term health of the planet on what may be a significant, though short-term, economic boost.

Climate change: Trump will have to accommodate facts

In the meantime, the new US President would do well to remember that it is almost always the most vulnerable people who are most vulnerable to the effects of fossil fuel exploitation.

Yes, there will be those in America's heartland who benefit from much needed jobs.

But in my travels to Nebraska, Alberta, North Dakota and Louisiana I was struck by the sheer number of people who felt that these pipelines and projects like them represent an existential threat.

At Standing Rock, a senior member of the Sioux Nation welcomed me into his tepee, sat down, and burst into tears when I asked him about what was at stake for his community.

Native Americans celebrate pipeline reprieve

"You can't drink oil", he said, over and over again.

I spoke to farmers in Nebraska's corn fields who had turned down hundreds of thousands of pounds offered by oil companies to let them tunnel a pipeline through their land.

They felt responsible, they said, to leave behind a viable planet for their grandchildren.

On the Isle de Jean Charles in the bayous of southern Louisiana, America's first climate change refugees lamented the loss of their ancestral homelands to a rising sea.

"We might be the first", said one woman as she showed me the salty swamp that used to be her vegetable garden, "but I don't think we'll be the last".

If Mr Trump gets his way, she will almost certainly be right.