It is no secret that our country has a need for oil and that need increases everyday. We will do anything to feed this habit, including allowing big oil companies to ruin land by running oil pipelines. According to a report done by the United States Department of Transportation, there are currently more than 2.4 million miles of pipeline already in operation within the United States. Of that, 72,563 miles carries crude oil to a various number of refineries across the land ("PHMSA"). According to Jeff Brady, a NPR correspondent, and Scott Horsley, a White House Correspondent, if the Keystone XL pipeline were fully completed, “The Keystone XL pipeline would be able to move up to 830,000 barrels a day of crude oil” (par. 6). TransCanada commissioned the Keystone pipeline in 2010, and since then their record on oil spill is less than perfect. According to Janna Palliser, Assistant Editor of Science Scope, during the first year of the Keystone pipeline being commissioned; it “Has had 14 spills since operations began. Of these spills, seven were 10 gallons or less, four were 100 gallons or less, two were between 400 and 500 gallons, and one was 21,000 …show more content…
The Keystone XL Pipeline would be carrying oil from the Tar-sands, which emits 17 percent more carbon than other oil extractions (Brady and Horsley, par. 8). A report from the Sierra Club founded that, “an increase in tar-sands development could increase U.S. green- house gas emissions from 27 to 125 million tons by 2015” (Palliser, par. 8). The National Resources Defense Council reported that, “tar-sands oil also creates emissions of sulfur dioxide and nitrous oxide, which contribute to acid rain (Palliser, par. 8). Allowing the construction of the Keystone pipeline would help increase production of dangerous oil, by giving a new pathway for increased
Should our president approve this harmful pipeline, he could unite his decision with requirements to reduce the carbon intensity of extracting the tar-sands and processing it.
The Keystone XL is a controversial oil pipeline extension that would travel from Alberta, Canada, to the United States Gulf Coast. The Keystone XL should not be built because of the damage it would cause to the environment. The oil would be found within tar sands that contain bitumen. The process of extracting the crude oil uses a lot of energy and causes a large amount of greenhouse gases. Many citizens, in Canada and the United States, are outraged because it can be detrimental to the surrounding land and wildlife. TransCanada, the company building the oil pipeline, has to receive permission from the United States government to begin construction. If the United States does not have the pipeline built and chooses to not use Canada’s oil, then TransCanada will have the pipeline built elsewhere and exported to other countries. There has been a divide between those in favor of the Keystone XL and those who are not. The Keystone XL would be able to provide the United States with a reliable source of oil, but it would also take the risk of faults in the oil pipeline and ruining parts of America’s resourceful soil. The Keystone XL will cause a negative effect on the environment and damage resourceful land; therefore, the oil pipeline should not be constructed.
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 extraction of the bitumen rich tar sands usually entails heating the oil while in the ground so that it may be pumped up to the surface which can be dangerous and cause harm to the surrounding area. The refining of the oil can be even more dangerous to the environment because the tar sands requires a special process of refining that would create copious amounts of greenhouse gases. Many opposing the pipeline also believe that the pipeline would not be as safe as supporters say it would be. Looking at the Keystone 1 Pipeline, the “previous pipeline was said to be safe but leaked much more than anyone anticipated. ‘In its first year, the pipeline leaked 14 times, with the largest spill exceeding 21,000 gallons’” (Swift). TransCanada claimed that the first pipeline would be safe and that it would not leak for many years, yet the pipe still leaked and caused major damage to the surrounding area. This left those affected, as well as other concerned Americans, to wonder why they should trust the company with building another pipeline and why the company’s promises should be trusted again. Environmentalists and those against the Keystone XL Pipeline “also object
Have you ever imagined a world without oil because almost everything around you is made with it like plastic, food, gas etc. For example plastic is absolutely everywhere about 4-5% of the total us petroleum consumption is dedicated to the manufacture of plastic products. If we do not build the keystone pipeline how will we get our oil? Even though rails are slightly faster at transporting oil does not mean they are safer. Transporting oil by rails is more likely to explode or spill and if we continue to do so we will be wasting a ton of oil that could be used for our community. This brings me to my last
TransCanada, when asked about possible benefits of construction, stated on their website that, “Keystone XL is the definition of shovel-ready infrastructure project”. TransCanada went on to say that over 9000 hard-working Americans could be put directly to work with good-paying jobs because of the construction of the KeyStone XL Pipeline. Furthermore, while the pipeline is being created, it was estimated by TransCanada that “Over Seven million hours of labor and more than 13,000 new jobs for American workers will be created”. TransCanada goes on further, stating that “Pipelines are safe and environmentally favorable” and that they are committed to minimizing its environmental impact along the proposed route. But, TransCanada is only making these tantalizing promises in order to keep currently neutral noses out of the matter in an effort to reduce the number of naysayers of the project. In truth, the creation of the XL Pipeline is terrible damaging the environment while also hurting the proposed workers of the project.
The next major environmental issue of the pipeline is the indigenous populations. “Northern Alberta’s, where the tar sands oil comes from, people are coming under attack because of their operation of the tar sands in their livelihoods and cultural traditions.”5 Other people affected by this project are the people who live in communities downstream from the tailing ponds, “they have seen spikes in rates of rare cancers, renal failure, lupus, and hyperthyroidism.” “In the lakeside village of Fort Chipewyan, for example, one hundred of the town’s one thousand-two hundred residents have died from cancer.”5 So not only will this pipeline affect the people living around it but it will also affect the people working on it and living around the tailing ponds, wherever those may be located. With it traversing six U.S. states that means a lot of people could get sick and even die from a project that has so many issues with it before it’s even began to be used for its intended purpose.
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
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
It is not secret that Keystone XL Pipeline has been a controversial issue that last few months, and for good reason. The United States and Canada are already connected by thousands of miles of oil pipelines, but none have risen as big of an issue as the Keystone XL pipeline. There are environmentalists who oppose this project because it would create a conduit to market for petroleum extracted from the Alberta oil sands, an unconventional energy source requiring far more fuel, water and carbon emissions to extract than conventional oil and gas.
Oil is imperative to the endurance of today’s society and plays a major role in the world’s economy. The Keystone XL Pipeline is a crude oil pipeline that is designed to run from “Hardisty, Alberta…to Steele City, Nebraska,” (About The Project). Citizens of Canada and the United States are debating the development of the pipeline. There are two sides to this issue, to either approve or disapprove the Keystone XL Pipeline, and by researching this topic I will form an opinion.
The pipeline is proposed to go from tar sands in Canada to refineries on the Gulf Coast of Texas, the project has taken so long to happen because environmental groups and Nebraska landowners raised serious concerns.The project is costing up to $8 billion and up to 2 years to construct, the 875 mile keystone XL would carry heavy crude oil mixture. The tar sands are being mined in a region home to many native people, native groups have organized and protested to stop the expansion of tar sands operations.The company Transcanada say it is going to be beneficial for unemployed citizens saying it will provide around 42,000 jobs over its two year
“The world is looking at us, you’ve gotta be lowering your greenhouse gas emissions, not increasing.” said Senator Ed Markey about the keystone pipelines. Keystone pipelines is an oil sand pipeline system, started in June 2010, that runs from Western Canadian Sedimentary Base in Alberta through refineries in Illinois and Texas and also to oil farms and pipelines in Cushing, Oklahoma. TransCanada Corporation first proposed the this project on February 9, 2005. However, this existing pipeline is expected to have 1,700 new miles of pipeline added to it, Keystone XL Pipeline, two new sections of expansion. This is called the Keystone XL Pipeline Extension and it was proposed on January 22, 2008. The first new section would connect Cushing,
Imagine you live in a world where you cannot breathe properly because of the carbon levels in the atmosphere. Some argue that this world will become a reality if the Keystone XL pipeline is built. The Keystone XL pipeline is 1179 mile pipeline that transports oil from Hardisty to Steele City, then connects back to the main pipeline. This pipeline will significantly impact the greenhouse gas levels by emitting even more carbon dioxide than that which is currently being output. But some argue that a pipeline is the most environmentally friendly way to transport crude oil.
The environment is a very important thing to take care of and can be very fragile. In the recent years humanity hasn’t been doing much to take care of the earth, and instead is destroying it in the name of progress. One of the harmful things that could really impact the environment is the North Dakota Pipeline. Some facts about the pipeline is that it is owned by Energy Transfer Partners who are the owners of Sunoco. Sunoco has had multiple onshore pipeline leaks and disasters that have devastated many environments. The planned pipeline is going to be 1,134 miles long and will cut through North Dakota, South Dakota, Iowa, and Illinois, by doing that it crosses fifty counties in total. Pipelines in general aren’t really the most reliable things