CLAIM: Musicians Willie Nelson and Paul Simon recently co-signed an opinion column in the Houston Chronicle expressing opposition to Kinder Morgan’s Permian Highway (PHP) natural gas pipeline. The following day, Kinder Morgan CEO Steve Kean announced the company had been working with the Texas Railroad Commission and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to reroute the pipeline around the Blanco River.

Shortly thereafter, several Texas media outlets including the Abilene Reporter News and Austin American Statesman reported the news, publishing headlines like “After Willie Nelson and Paul Simon complained, CEO agrees to reroute Hill Country pipeline.”

Did an op-ed from Willie …

CLAIM: In light of a recent appeals court ruling allowing the Dakota Access Pipeline to continue operations while an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) is completed, a recent opinion column in the Des Moines Register authored by activist Jonas Magram argued the Dakota Access Pipeline should be shuttered as it does “not offer a safe way to transport oil because, however it was transported, its eventual combustion would contribute to growing climate chaos.” The author also argues “the pipeline would result in increased oil production from the Dakotas, which in turn would result in more climate-disrupting carbon dioxide.”

RATING: False

FACT …