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The Controversy Of The Dakota Access Pipeline

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The Dakota Access Pipeline has been the main focus of attention within the last year. To understand how and why this pipeline is at the heart of such heated debate, it is important to explain what the pipeline is for. The Dakota Access Pipeline is an underground pipe that is funded and paid for with TAXPAYERS MONEY and carries crude oil from North Dakota to Illinois. Crude oil is currently transported by way of railroads and trucks, which in recent times is noticeably becoming more problem some. The debate centers over how productive this pipeline will be and are the risks worth it. The suggested answer to this question is the benefits of this pipeline will not out way the risk. There are many factors that are given to support this point …show more content…

It is important to note over time metal rust, and the constant pumping of crude oil through the pipelines will eventually overtime causes the pipes to rupture and break apart. Anything made by man is able to be destroyed, whether by man themselves or by nature. Now there are supporters of the Dakota Access Pipeline that believe the environmental risks are just possibilities that warrant a close watch on the pipeline and not the total halt of its construction. However, there is a prime example that shows what could happen with the Dakota Access Pipeline, case in point, the Keystone XL Pipeline. The Keystone XL Pipeline was commissioned in 2010 and runs from Canada all the way to Texas. The previous pipeline, Keystone, faced some of the same opposition and problems. It was being said at the time that the Keystone Pipeline would increase greenhouse gas emission and that will further affect and advance global warming issues that our planet already faces, which it did. According to usanews, “After being commissioned in 2010, it reportedly recorded 35 leaks in its first year alone, including a spill of 21,000 gallons of oil in North Dakota” (Neuhauser, 2016). Another example would be the BP Oil spill that still to this day, affecting marine and mammal life. It becomes clear that these risk become eminent and the construction of any future pipeline warrants great consideration. In addition, there has to be some

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