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What are the effects the Keystone Pipeline has on the environment
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Keystone pipeline introduction
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On September 19, 2008, The TransCanada Corporation submitted an application to the U.S. State Department to begin building the Keystone XL (XL standing for eXport Limited) pipeline in the United States. More than six years later, the pipeline is still under debate. The project, though generating little controversy when first submitted, began receiving attention in 2011 after an environmental impact study was released by the State Department (Hansen). Major newspapers and online sites picked up the report. Numerous pro- and anti- pipeline groups and websites sprang up soon afterwards. Major news networks such as Fox and MSNBC began extensively reporting on the Keystone XL pipeline. Politicians also began speaking in favor of or against the project. On February 17, 2013, nearly 40,000 people descended on Washington, D.C. to protest the pipeline (Meyer and Burch). Why is the Keystone XL pipeline so controversial? The proposed Keystone XL pipeline will transport tar sands oil from Hardisty, Alberta to Baker, Montana, and finally to Steele City, Nebraska. It will be over 1,700 miles long when it is completed (that is, if it is ever even built). It will be able to carry nearly 830,000 barrels of oil a day when it becomes operational (Eilperin). However, the Keystone XL pipeline will not be the first pipeline TransCanada will build in the US. It is, in fact, the fourth and final phase of the Keystone Pipeline system, a $12.2 billion oil-transporting network. The Keystone XL pipeline is expected to be the most expensive part of the pipeline system, costing an estimated $7 billion (Mufson). Once the pipeline reaches Steele city, it will be connected to an existing oil pipeline, and that oil will then be transported to refineries near Hous... ... middle of paper ... ...t in January of 2013, but a judge ruled it is an overreach of his power (“Nebraska Judge”). President Obama rejected the permit for the Keystone XL pipeline in January of 2012, but Congressional Republicans and Democrats are pressuring Obama to approve it. A new State Department environmental impact study released on January 31, 2014 stated that the pipeline would be unlikely to alter global greenhouse emissions, which brought further pressure on Obama to approve the project (Eilperin and Mufson). A recent ABC news poll showed that 65 percent of Americans support the pipeline while 22 percent oppose it ("Keystone XL pipeline"). President Obama will have to make a final decision within the next few months on whether to accept or reject the pipeline. Whatever his decision, the debate over the Keystone XL pipeline will likely continue for many years to come.