The Keystone XL Pipeline: A Tar Sands Folly?

[Renew Deal]

It's really worth reading the entire thing, but I can't post it all...

<snip>

Now, one would like to think that with all the precautions we take, oil and gas pipeline leaks and spills would be rare, quite small or quickly contained. In reality, they do occur without such qualifiers. Does the Yellowstone River ring a bell? And then there are these from the past year, not in any way an exhaustive list:
BP pipeline leak in Alaska,
Keystone pipeline leak in Kansas,

Marathon pipeline spill in Michigan,

a ruptured pipeline in Texas City, TX,

a pipeline failure near Vinton, LA, and

Enbridge oil pipeline spill in Kalamazoo River.

As for TransCanada's Keystone system, since May 2010, it's had 12 leaks — mostly from pumping stations and mostly minor except for the one that spilled hundreds of barrels (see here and here).

And sending bitumen down a pipeline is especially problematic and damaging — it's a more acidic form of petroleum that requires more heat and pressure than conventional oil (which increase pipeline stress)
to keep it moving.

So objections to the project are not without merit.
<snip>

http://www.nicholas.duke.edu/thegreengrok/keystoneXL

[Tx4obama]

1. And it is worth noting that President Obama has not weighed in on the issue as of yet. n/t

[Renew Deal]

2. Was anyone in popular life talking about this issue a few days ago?

I don't think it was on many people's radar. I wonder if Carney was ever asked about it. Either way, it's an issue now.

[Dragonfli]

3. What is he waiting for? The number of arrests in front of the White house to reach 10,000? /nt

[AdHocSolver]

4. K and R. More from article:

(snip)

Tar sand oil generally receives a low rating among environmentalists for energy sources.

It’s among the dirtiest of petroleum fuels when it comes to greenhouse gases; and

Bitumen extraction is energy- and water-intensive.

In fact, bitumen extraction has significantly degraded Canada’s boreal forests and created vast wastelands of tailing ponds that have been linked to river contamination.


(snip)

But Canada’s got lots of tar sands and we need lots of oil, so there's strong desire to move the stuff to American refineries and ultimately into our cars. How? In a word, Keystone.


(snip)
The Keystone XL represents the final two phases of a $13 billion, 3,800-mile pipeline system owned and operated by TransCanada. (See map and description.) Its proposed U.S. path would enter Montana and cut across South Dakota and Nebraska before joining with Phase II in Steel City, Kansas — crossing some of our wildest and most productive lands, including our agricultural heartland and the Ogallala Aquifer, which supports a huge part of our nation’s breadbasket.

[laundry_queen]

8. The pipeline isn't being built because Americans need oil

It's being built so the oil can be refined in the US and then shipped out to the highest bidder. Most Albertans here are against it too, because they figure we should keep the refining jobs here and sell the refined product. But the oil companies are greedy greedy greedy. It's cheaper to ship the raw materials out and have it refined near a port where they can ship it out quickly.

[SpiralHawk]

5. This is a Boondoggle up the Planetary Wazoo

The more one looks at this, the more one sees problems...

[MedicalAdmin]

6. The question is not whether or not this project is being done, it is.

The tar sands aren't going to happen, they've already happened.

The question is whether or not america gets this oil or someone else does. As for me I would rather buy from an ally who respects human rights rather than one that treats women like shit.

[AdHocSolver]

7. This oil will NOT be used to reduce gasoline prices in the U.S. nor lessen dependence on imports.

The stagnating U.S. economy is going to reduce demand for oil and therefore the price of gasoline in the United States. With a goal to maximize profits, the oil companies will look to export tar sands oil to a place where they can get top dollar from someone who can pay it.

That place is China, which is going to have increased demand for gasoline to power their brand new Buicks.

Reducing oil imports into the U.S. will occur as oil that was formerly imported into the U.S. will also be diverted to places such as China.

The result is that the supply of oil in the U.S. will drop to the new level of demand allowing the oil companies to maintain high prices of gasoline to Americans.

The only change will be the increased pollution in the U.S. to enable increased oil company profits.

[Bluebear]

9. America is not getting this oil. It is going on the world market