Keystone pipeline effect on Fires: Over the summer of 2015, the air quality has never been poorer. This poor air quality was due to one of the worst fire seasons in past memory. These fires that originated across the northwestern hemisphere, showed an increase length and danger of fire seasons for the United States. With climate change increasing the temperature of the country, the hot and dry season that comes with summer has been expanded. This lack of moisture and increase in temperature causes forests to become even more dry, and even more susceptible to fire. These dry forests in the summer are also aided by an increase in tree deaths cause by the death of trees from mountain pine beetle infestations in Montana. The increase in the beetles' …show more content…
These fires can also destroy homes and business in their paths of destruction that leads to the destruction of economic prosperity of citizens as well as the loss of jobs. The ash created by these fires can pollute water sources, leading to humans and other species having their source of clean water taken away from them. As seen this past summer, the fires also produce smoke that can travel with the wind for hundreds of miles across state borders. This smoke can be damaging to the health of citizens breathing it in and can even be life threatening to those who have respiratory issues. With the Keystone pipeline emphasizing an economy centered around the use of fossil fuels, Montanans and people across the United States should prepare for many more summers of unhealthy air and the destruction of land and homes. Effect of the Keystone Pipeline on Agriculture: One of most important contributors to Montana's economy is farmers and ranchers. With the effects of climate change apparent throughout the United States, how are the "28,000 farms and ranches across Montana"(montanafarmersunion.com) going to survive? With the average temperature …show more content…
These fires produce lots of smoke from the burned materials. This smoke, especially in high quantities, can be extremely damaging to a persons' health. People with such respiratory issues as asthma, are prone to asthma attacks that could lead to the possible hospitalization or death of the patient. People with respiratory diseases as well as the elderly, are susceptible to these harmful effects from this smoke. These people with respiratory illnesses are being robbed of their ability to go outside. In a state as beautiful as Montana, these citizens, and to some extent everyone, are being robbed of their ability to go outside and enjoy the natural activities that come with living in Montana. The Keystone pipeline also has a much more direct effect on public health as well. As previously mentioned, the Keystone pipeline has a chance of a spill occurring. This spill could lead to oil leaking into water sources that are heavily relied upon by humans. This polluted water could cause crops to be infected or malnourished from this water or a lack of clean water. Many citizens across the country rely on rivers and streams to purify and provide clean water for their communities. If these cleansing water sources are damaged by spills or pollutants from the pipeline, then communities will be without drinking water. Finally, the
“In a few decades, the relationship between the environment, resources, and conflict may seem almost as obvious as the connection we see today between human rights, democracy, and peace (Nobel Peace Prize Medalist Maathai 2004).” A Canadian oil company that goes by TransCanada hopes to build an oil pipeline that would extend an enormous 1,200 miles onto an already gargantuan 2,600 mile long pipeline. Keystone XL represents just under a third of the entire Keystone project, and every other piece of pipe has been built and laid out. In fact, TransCanada 's pipeline system is already shipping hundreds of thousands of barrels of crude oil from the Canadian oil sands across the U.S. border -- and into Illinois (Diamond). The current proposal would take the pipeline on a journey all the way through to Texas. Extracting crude oil from oil sands would be enormously problematic for the environment as it causes the pumping of about 17% more greenhouse gases into the atmosphere than standard crude oil extraction. Tar sand oil has levels of carbon dioxide emissions that are three to four times higher than those of conventional oil, due to more energy-intensive removal and refining processes (Friends of the Earth). The construction of the Keystone XL pipeline would stimulate employment, the effects would be temporary and the whole scheme would produce a negative long term outcome. The construction of the Keystone XL pipeline has caused
First of all, the Dakota Access Pipeline can threaten Native American health and welfare, especially if it is forced into their environment. According to the New Yorker,
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.
In the article, “A high-plains showdown over the Dakota Access Pipeline”, Justin Worland addresses the current situation the North Dakota Access Pipeline has brought upon America and its Native American tribes. In particular, the Standing Rock Sioux tribe has a conflict between the Energy Transfer Partners company. Energy Transfer Partners wants to build an oil pipeline near the Standing Rock Reservation. The Sioux tribe is against the project because the oil pipeline will destroy their historical ground and their water source of Lake Oahe.
Another issue that has arose would include the pipeline rupturing leaving us with an oil spill on our hands. Tar sands is the most difficult type of oil to clean up in the event it were to spill. Mainly because it is so heavy it would sink straight to the bottom of the water. A perfect example of a tar sands spill happened in Michigan’s Kalamazoo River in 2010 when approximately thirty-five miles of the Kalamazoo River was closed for clean-up until June 2012, when they had portions of the river re-opened. We can still see the effects it has had on Michigan because they have not fully cleaned all of the oil out of the river. The US lost about 1,100,000 gallons due to this spill, resulting 30 to 50 households to excavate the area and were told not to drink any of their water supplies due to all the highly toxins released from the pipeline rupture. To clean up all the damage from the spill at first it was around $585 million and was expected to rise by 20 percent more. The
Oil is one resource America relies heavily on. Oil has a negative impact on the environment and has long lasting affects. The Dakota Access Pipeline is a major controversial topic in the news. The Dakota Access Pipeline is being used to transport oil from North Dakota to Illinois. The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe is located where the pipeline will be passing through. The pipeline disrupts the lives of the Native Americans who live there. I believe that the Dakota Access Pipeline should not be built because of the affects on the environment and goes against the rights of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe. Greider and Garkovich’s Landscapes: The Social Construction of Nature and the Environment discusses how the environment we live in is apart of our landscape. The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe sees their landscape as sacred and a place they need to protect.
“The developed of the pipeline estimate 8,000 to 12,000 construction jobs” (Yan). People fail to realize that these jobs are only temporary. Work like this will not last forever. The impact of losing a job is detrimental. Once the pipeline is completed, all those who were employed will lose their jobs and be put back into unemployment. This potentially negatively affects American home life. These temporary jobs are not sufficient for the American economy. While these people are working, they tend to have more money to buy things. When they lose their job, they are no longer be able to afford it. This causes prices to rise due to a number of people buying stuff, but once those people lose their jobs, they will not have enough money and the economy plummets. This is also known as inflation, which is deleterious to our economy. “‘We're not opposed to energy independence. We're not opposed to economic development,’ Standing Rock Sioux Chairman Archambault II said. ‘The problem we have -- and this is a long history of problems that evolved over time -- is where the federal government or corporations take advantage of indigenous lands and indigenous rights.’” (Yan). The government ignores the pleas of protesters and proceed to take land for economic achievement. Although, the Dakota Access Pipeline does not benefit the country in any
The construction of this pipeline has raised a lot of controversy regarding its necessity, but also in the potential impact on the environment. On the list of controversies, it is facing the established route for the pipeline because it runs half-mile near of the Standing Rock Sioux reservation, crossing beneath the Missouri River. The concern is the huge impact this would cause if the pipeline breaks near to the river spilling the crude oil into the river contaminating the drinking water. The other concern is that as this pipe passes very close to the Indian reservation, it also disturbs sacred land. In addition to all this, there is the controversy of the use of eminent domain by the government, to get the land for the construction of the pipeline.
What are these environmental issues exactly well it has to do with the water in the area nearby the site where they want to build their oil pipeline is the Missouri River and lake Oahe. The rivers and lakes are there main supply of water to the Native American reservation near by The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe. This drive has been protesting since April about the dangers of the corruption their water supply. If this water becomes corrupt the water will be contaminated
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 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.
Touching back on the temperature raising the number of wild brush fires are increasing. This is happening cause of the droughts that we are having. These droughts cause the plants to become so dry that they become a big a very big fire hazard. For example like here on the big island we have been getting some mean droughts that
The pipeline not only poses a threat to one of only 326 Native American reservations left in this country, but also to the environment as a whole. Regardless of where you stand, the wrongdoing on the part of the United States Government is undeniable. The Dakota Access Pipeline is corrupt at its core and the dangers surrounding its construction have the potential to be catastrophic to the dwindling Native population by threatening their only source of water. A significant saying within the Sioux tribe, especially in times of protest, is a simple one, but one that is clearly not understood by some, and that is “water is
Humans have been changing the Western forests' fire system since the settlement by the Europeans and now we are experiencing the consequences of those changes. During the summer of 2002, 6.9 million acres of forests was burnt up in the West (Wildland Fires, 1). This figure is two times the ten year annual average, and it does not look like next summer will be any better (Wildfire Season, 1).
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