Many of you know that Congress recently passed a bill that would allow the Keystone XL pipeline to ship dangerous dirty tar sands oil across the heartland of America, to benefit the oil producers devastating the environment in Canada.
Today, the Environmental Protection Agency issued comments on the State Department’s Environmental Impact Report and I want to highlight the comments Bold Nebraska‘s Jane Kleeb made about the EPA’s report:
“It is reassuring the EPA stands with farmers and ranchers who know the Sandhills are still crossed by this risky pipeline and that alternative routes were not given enough serious consideration. America is diversifying our energy sources with renewables and Keystone XL continues to be a step backwards and simply does not make sense given low oil prices and the high carbon content of tarsands.”
The EPA comments criticized the State Department’s environmental analysis for not looking at alternatives that would have avoided environmentally sensitive areas including the Nebraska Sandhills and the Ogallala aquifer.
The EPA’s letter also said that the proposed pipeline would significantly increase greenhouse gas emissions to the level of “5.7 million passenger vehicles or 7.8 coal fired power plants per year.”
In addition to the EPA’s comments today, yesterday the Harvard Business Review published an article questioning the economics behind the proposed pipeline:
“In the short run, with oil at $50 per barrel, Keystone will connect refineries to oil that may be unprofitable to extract. In the long run, as the world turns away from fossil fuels aggressively, the pipeline will be moot — a relic of the past. Either way it’s a poor investment.”
The Keystone XL pipeline proposal boils down to using the infrastucture of the past to move the wasteful energy of the past.
Tar sands oil is the dirtiest and most environmentally destructive form of oil extraction. Shipping it across pristine areas of the great plains is foolhardy because of the danger to the natural environment and the Ogallala aquifer.
And it really doesn’t make much business sense, as our nation and the world moves to alternative energy sources, which become more and more economical with each passing day.
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Spoken like a true environmentalist and “tree hugger.” That pipeline is no more dangerous than numerous others running across the country including one in Irvine. The pipeline will additionally increase jobs at the oil refineries where the oil will be turned into petroleum. Perhaps you don’t mind paying the high pricesfor a gallon of gasoline but I do so, give it a rest. We already know Obama will not sign the legislation and it is doubtful enough Democrats will grow a pair of male body parts to overturn his veto. When oil prices go back up again and they will, you people can take the blame.
another uninformed commentary Pat. It will only create 50 permanent jobs and just imagine what happens if the water supply in America’s breadbasket gets hit with a leak….
Dan, just imagine what happens if a large asteroid from space crashes into California? I’d say the odds are about the same.
Another comment made of ignorance
And this has to do with Orange County how…?
Jim, forget Orange County, since King Larry’s demise Dan is now focused on saving the environment and the world. If the bird watchers and tree huggers don’t like something that is happening Dan will be johnny on the spot to speak for them. Such is life in the liberal fast lane of life?
While Cakifornia is America’s salad bowl, the Plains is our nation’s breadbasket. Imagine the devastation to our food supply if there’s a major leak. And they happen. Just ask British Petroleum
Leaks happen more often than people realize.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_pipeline_accidents_in_the_United_States_in_the_21st_century