Almost 95 million barrels of oil and fuel are produced each day in order to provide energy and fuel to people the world over. A major component of the oil industry is the transportation of oil through various means including oil pipelines. These pipelines are capable of transporting thousands of barrels of oil thousands of miles per day. In the United States one possible pipeline has caused a lot of controversy and discussion on the impact it will have on the United States. The difficulty in deciding if the Keystone XL Pipeline should be built is in whether the possibility of economic growth outweighs the possibility of environmental destruction. In order to make a decision, one must first look into the history of oil pipelines. It is crucial
With an increasing global population and ever industrializing society 's, environmental concern is rarely given priority over economic incentive. But what people fail to realize is that our environmental failures, and relative apathy about it set up a plethora of problems for future generations to deal with. One of the most important decisions president Obama will face in the next year will be whether or not to approve the building of the Keystone XL pipeline, a massively sized, and massively controversial oil pipeline that would stretch all the way from Alberta Canada, to American oil refineries along the Gulf Of Mexico. Despite the economic incentive present, the building of the Keystone XL pipeline should not happen because of the
The Keystone XL Pipeline has divided North America because it is an enormous environmental issue. It has divided us due to our opinions. Many Americans see the potential it could bring to our country and economy, but there are several environmental problems to consider and health issues to think about before deciding which side to take. Not only do those factors matter but also how it could affect the lives of many Americans. There are two sides to this issue, to either approve or disapprove the Keystone Pipeline project, and by researching I will form an opinion.
Keystone XL is a oil pipeline system in Canada and the United States, this system was commissioned in 2010 and now owned by TransCanada Corporation. An increased amount of oil from Canada would mean a decreased dependency on Middle Eastern supplies. According to market principles, if availability of oil is increased, that means lower price for consumers. This will create almost 28,000 more construction jobs. The prospect of the Keystone XL pipeline being approved by the incoming Donald Trump administration will have little effect on Justin Trudeau's plans to get the oil to market. Keystone XL is a controversial issue because the different political parties have different opinions, the Conservatives and the Liberals both agree that yes, Keystone
The Keystone Pipeline is a crude oil pipeline that runs from Canada to the United States. The original pipeline goes through most of Canada before crossing over the border into the United States, running its way down into Illinois. The proposed Keystone XL pipeline extension provides a blueprint for the extension to go from the origin point in Alberta through the American prairie states into Nebraska connecting into the original pipeline and adding a new line going from the original pipeline in southern Nebraska into Texas and the Gulf of Mexico. Although the Keystone Pipeline provides a great service for the United States and Canada for the transportation of oil, there are some
On the 9th of February 2004 TransCanada Corporation, an energy company based in Alberta, Canada proposed a plan for the installation and use of a pipeline that would stretch from Alberta, Canada to oil refineries in the Gulf Coast of Texas in the United States. The pipeline, titled the Keystone Pipeline, would be installed in four separate phases and once completed would transport up to 1.1 million barrels of synthetic crude oil per day. Phases two through four of the pipeline encompass the parts of the pipeline that would be installed in the United States and would be located in the states of North and South Dakota, Nebraska, Missouri, and Illinois. TransCanada is currently awaiting approval from the US government in order to
The construction of the Keystone XL pipeline encourages the controversy over boosting the American economy or the safety of the environment. The process of building this major pipeline has millions of people in a heated debate. The issue of this pipeline has several environmental researchers and economists in an altercation that when climate change is already a major issue for the nation is trying to sway the construction of the pipeline to be approved or denied. Based on research about the Keystone XL Pipeline, it can be shown that America will face a net negative impact because of the lack of prominent economic gains, presence of environmental effects, and disadvantages of the oil extraction process.
In 2015, the world will face a vast amount of dilemmas; these dilemmas range from how someone is going to get their food to how they are going to cook. But the biggest dilemma of them all, is how they are going to continue to get energy to do everyday tasks. The most efficient resources are those of the nonrenewable variety. These nonrenewable resources include fossil fuels, such as coal, natural gas, and petroleum. Someday these resources will run out and will not be replenished for thousands of years. As of now, an overwhelming majority of the energy used in the world today is non-renewable. We, as civilized people, are so dependent on fossil fuels that we go through extraneous efforts to retrieve these properties. The world needs energy to function and sites that once contained vital resources are on the verge of depletion. It is inevitable that the world looks elsewhere for another resource to absorb the depleting reservoirs. One reservoir capable of withstanding the demand for oil are the tar sands located near Alberta, Canada. These tar sands are the third largest reservoir of crude oil in the world and are conveniently located just north of the United States border (About the Project). There is a wide spread debate on whether or not the crude oil produced from these tar sands should be transported via pipeline. With critical analysis of all point of views, it is without a doubt that the United States should cease their delay on
In the October of 2015, oil prices have dropped to their lowest since 2008 and Canada has lost over 35,000 jobs, and the value of the loonie has dropped to a mere 77 cents compared to the U.S. Dollar. As Canada desperately clings onto the failing economy, it turns its attention to The Keystone Pipelines. The Keystone XL (KXL) pipeline was an idea proposed in 2008 by the TransCanada energy company, to deliver 830,000 barrels of oil each day beginning in Hardisty, Alberta, and extending south to Steele City, Nebraska. TransCanada claims to bring more jobs, energy security, and benefit to the Canadian and American economy. Yet, President Obama denied the proposal in 2015. Although it was a huge disappointment to Canada, the decision to deny permission for further construction of the pipeline was the right one. The future of Canada’s economy should not rely on the Keystone XL pipeline, because the devastating environmental risks, the instability of the oil industry, and Canada’s ability to expand other industries.
America is the largest oil consumer in the world followed by China. The building of the Keystone Pipeline is an opportunity to strengthen our nations economy and energy future. Wouldn’t it be nice if the petroleum obtained by the United States was cheaper and from a more secure part of the world rather than where America is buying it now? TransCanada has been pushing the building of the Keystone Pipeline XL project for six years, which is an eternity
If we do build the Keystone Pipeline XL it will cause environmental issues. Many environmentalist say that it could leak and damage our water supply and that the project would just expand the extraction of oil sands a heavy dirty hard to clean oil that is not at all good for our environment. Research has said that extracting oil from the tar sands generates more greenhouse gases than extracting oil through more conventional methods and therefore contributes to a greater amount of greenhouse gas emissions over time. Environmentalists also fear that a leak from a pipeline carrying the heavy oil-sands petroleum
In his speech before the Bloomberg Energy Conference in New York on April, last year, former Canadian Minister on Natural Resources Joe Oliver outlined the significance of the Keystone XL oil pipeline in meeting the growing demands of the United States for an environmentally safe and secure energy source and distribution. He argued that North America’s continued growth as a global superpower depends on how it can meet its energy demands without depending so much on offshore sources such as the Middle East which are mostly in conflict and are therefore unstable. Oliver seems to present a compelling argument in favor of Canada’s energy projects especially when he cites independent third party reports made by the International Energy Agency
The building of the Keystone Pipeline has become a rallying cry for it proponents as well as the opposition. Although the opposing side are able to agree on little else, I believe each see the importance of the outcome of the debate. I have followed the controversy closely for the six years it has been raging. The facts behind the storm point clearly to the problems associated with the project Building the proposed extension of the Keystone Pipeline would transport product that will place vital natural resources at risk in its transport, damage the environment with the mining process used to extract it, result in increased global warming by furthering our nation’s dependency on fossil fuels, and is not in the best interest of the country.
There has been much controversy over whether or not to build the Keystone XL pipeline that would connect Canadian Alberta oil fields to refineries in Texas. The proposed pipeline, which would be built by TransCanada, would connect two existing pipes, consisting total of around 1,700 miles of pipeline. The two sides of this argument can be roughly boiled down to two words: environment and economy. In such turbulent times can Americans afford to pass up a so-called shovel ready project that would create jobs and cut dependence on foreign oil from unfriendly places, or, as some would claim, is the risk of environmental mayhem too great? There is much dispute between both sides on the actual facts of the project, and a surprising amount of
Canada has the second largest oil reserves and is a major producer and exporter. This attribute comes with great demand for faster means to get the oil produced to different areas where it is needed. The Keystone Pipeline XL project is however one of such means, created to transport oil from Alberta, Canada and the Bakken Shale Formation in the United States to Steele City, Nebraska for onward delivery to Cushing, Oklahoma, and refineries in the Gulf Coast area. The United States is the world’s top crude oil consumer. According to U.S Energy Information Administration, in 2015, the United States consumed a total of 7.08 billion barrels of petroleum products, an average of about 19.4 million barrels per day. This essaying will portray what the Keystone Pipeline XL project is about, the potential benefits and who supports its construction, it will also look at the opposing side; the potential negatives and who is against its construction. Here, I will consider the steps that can be taken to minimize potential negative impacts and to ensure environmental sustainability of the project. After reviewing the potential benefits and costs of this project, I will then render my own decision and conclude.