Keystone Pipeline Essay

As a way to directly link the unrefined tar-sands oil from Alberta, Canada to the refineries in Texas, there is no doubt that the Keystone XL Pipeline remains a topic of controversy. As with many large projects, there are both positive and negative consequences that result from its construction. While there are potential economic benefits like the creation of infrastructure-related jobs and a potential shift from energy dependence, there are many dangers to the building of the pipeline. The notion of building a pipeline that connects Canada and the United States for economic reasons is neither completely unjustifiable nor unreasonable, but given the current circumstances, in which ecological damage and neglect on the part of TransCanada are likely, I cannot support the building of the Keystone XL pipeline.

The Dakota Access Pipeline is controversial topic among people as to whether its installment is a good thing or a bad thing. This is comparable to the Keystone XL oil pipeline, whose construction, after seven years of protest, was finally canceled. But before any conclusions on the Dakota pipeline's fate can be made, one must take a look at both side or the story.

The Keystone XL Pipeline is an oil pipeline system that runs in parts of Canada and the United States. The pipeline runs from the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin in Alberta, Canada, to refineries in Illinois and Texas with a distribution center in Cushing, Oklahoma. The pipeline has provided several jobs throughout the two countries. Many people have concerns about spills, emission, and the amount of oil left. This paper explains the location of the pipeline, the problems and concerns that surround it, and the positive outcomes it has created.

One of the most controversial issues faced nowadays is the way we deal with the transport of oil. One of the proposed methods is The Keystone XL Pipeline. Although there are some pros associated with building the pipeline, the risk outweighs the benefits by far. Building the Keystone XL pipeline would negatively affect the environment, jeopardize the public health and is to no benefit to the American people.

The Keystone Pipeline system was first operational in the year 2010. And since then it has caused much controversy. Of the different phases in the Keystone Pipeline system, phase one, two, and three are complete. Phase four, also known as Keystone XL, has been put off due to the large amount of controversy it has caused. The Keystone XL pipeline segments will be used to allow American crude oil to enter the pipeline system in Montana, on their way to the storage and distribution plants located in Oklahoma. In 2015, the Obama administration rejected the building of Keystone XL, but with the election of Donald Trump as president, an executive order was signed to advance the project. The reason for such controversy with the Keystone XL pipeline is the effects it will have on native people, land located around the proposed pipeline course, and the wild life, as well as the many complexities due to the economic, social and political issues.

The Keystone XL Pipeline Project has many pros and cons just as any project does, but this project has way bigger cons than most projects this country will face today. “The Keystone XL Pipeline is an environmental crime in progress.” “It’s also been called the most destructive project on the planet.” The major issues with the Keystone XL Pipeline are “the dirty tar sands oil, the water waste, indigenous populations, refining tar sands oil and don’t forget the inevitable; pipeline spills.” And these are just some of the environmental issues, not too mention how building this thing from Canada to Texas; 2,100 miles to be exact, is affecting the people and their land, as stated “this isn’t a little tiny pipeline,

Native Americans tend to experience a majority of the corruption. More often than those of which are not considered a minority. For example, Native Americans should have an inherent right to protection within the country in which they live. Construction of the North Dakota Access Pipeline that started in September of 2016, has given supreme notice to the corruption that still surrounds Native Americans today. Natives of Dakota followed the European laws that were forced upon them and in turn were punished. The Army corps of engineers permitted the project, violating the National Historic Preservation Act and the National Environmental Policy Act along the way. These were created to stop Europeans from destroying Native American historical artifacts, culture and the livelihood of the innocent. Native Americans do not have citizen protection that was promised to them time and time again by the United Sates.

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.

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

Henry Thoreau is convinced that “unjust laws exist” (Thoreau 07), but it’s the people's choice whether to stand up to them or hide behind the law. The Dakota Access pipeline gave rise to the “Standing rock” (Smith/Medina 09) protest. Camps were set up next to the Cannonball River, and hundreds of Native Americans came and stood by the Standing Rock Sioux to have peaceful protest for their Native rights. All the protesters stood there raising signs, trying to have their voice heard by the government. This protest became widely known that many people around the globe stood out and raised their voices as well. Both, Vince and Medina, stated that “tribal governments have sent letters” (Smith/Medina 09) to Standing Rock, supporting their protest,

It decides which topics are pivotal, from overseas conflicts to natural disasters on the home front. Within the last decades, environmental concerns have arisen as state and federal governments see the impact of pollution. The Keystone Pipeline system is a new transportation method for oil from the Northwest of the US down to the South for oil production (“Keystone XL Pipeline: Why Is It so Disputed?”). Alongside environmentalists, Native Americans whose land the pipeline would pass through joined the movement to redirect the system (McKenna). Organized protests in front of the White House and deliberate occupation of future construction sites garnered little attention for the media. Many occupiers were arrested for trespassing charges, but there are no publications of violent protests against the authorities (“Keystone XL Pipeline: Why Is It so Disputed?”). From conception until the presidential veto, the demonstrators kept their resolve to peaceful civil disobedience and its consequences. Even though the Keystone Pipeline project has the potential resurrect itself, the fortitude of the indigenous tribes and environmentalists displayed inspired the nation to reconsider its love affair with oil (“Keystone XL Pipeline: Why Is It so Disputed?”). The prospect of change through peace resonates with America’s conscience, while lawless violence reminds the people of the order and security

Native Americans are being disrespected, harmed, and their homeland is being taken from them. Am I talking about events taken place centuries ago? No, because these unfortunate circumstances yet again are occurring right here, now, in the present. This horrid affair has a name: The Dakota Access Pipeline. This Pipeline is an oil transporting pipeline, which is funded by the U.S Army Corps of Engineers, who have devised a plan for the pipeline to run through the states of North Dakota, South Dakota, Iowa, and Illinois. However, unfortunately, this pipeline will run straight through the reservation of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe. The Standing Rock Sioux tribe, expressing their distress for the pipeline have said, that the pipeline will be “Destroying our burial sites, prayer sites, and culturally significant artifacts,” Arguments for the pipeline however have tried to counter this claim, trying to emphasize that “The pipeline wouldn 't just be an economic boon, it would also significantly decrease U.S. reliance on foreign oil”, and that the pipeline is estimated to produce “374.3 million gallons of gasoline per day.”, which could help the sinking oil economy. (Yan, 2016) However, despite the economical growth it could achieve, the Dakota Access Pipeline could have damaging environmental effects on the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and the areas surrounding.

Ever since Christopher Columbus first arrived in the Americas, Native Americans have been given no respect or equal rights. They were the first to live in the U.S., but have been forcefully and often brutally put into small reservations outside of normal civilization. Many Americans might not think of this as a big deal since this affects only a minimal part of the population. Little do many people know, in 2010 there were 5.2 million people in the United States who identified themselves as American Indian. (1) Twenty-two percent of whom, live on the government bounded reservations. While, most Native Americans that don’t live on the reservation are located very close by (1). The fact that they are subjected to such small plots of lands on its own is cruel, but now the government is digging up their sacred lands and farms to build a pipeline.

On the 23rd of March 1989 under the command of captain Joe Hazelwood Exxon Valdez departed the Trans Alaska Pipeline Terminal. What happened the following day was a real tragedy that has lead to years of research and heated debates on how to accurately measure the monetary value of damage done not only to the environment, but also to those who could have come into contact with it.

"Freedom of the press is guaranteed only to those who own one." This quote by A.J. Liebling illustrates the reality of where the media stands in today's society. Over the past twenty years there has been an increase in power throughout the media with regard to politics. The media's original purpose was to inform the public of the relevant events that occurred around the world. The job of the media is to search out the truth and relay that news to the people. The media has the power to inform the people but often times the stories given to the public are distorted for one reason or another. Using slant and sensationalism, the media has begun to shape our views in society and the process by which