Cáitlin Zampieron Professor Sillo Composition and Rhetoric 101 25 April 2014 Ban Keystone XL The Earth’s climate has changed significantly in recent years for the worst. Human’s reliance on fossil fuels has become almost uncontrollable and shows no signs of stopping. The United States continues to make poor decisions concerning the environment, most recently pertaining to the construction of the Keystone XL pipeline. The Keystone XL pipeline would take the world’s most toxic tar sands from Canada through the heartland United States to oil refineries on the gulf coast. The building the XL pipeline would cut though many thousands of miles of wildlife and will threaten vast pristine landscapes and rivers. To further endanger wildlife and human life, spills and leaks are inevitably going to occur. Additionally, the XL pipeline will dramatically deepen the addiction to climate-killing fossil fuels. The Keystone XL pipeline should not be built because it poses an imminent threat to the environment. First, building the XL pipeline would cut though many thousands of miles of wildlife and will threaten vast pristine landscapes and rivers. Much of this land is kept intact by its private owners, but that will not stop the XL pipeline from being built. The U.S. Department of State clearly stated in their EIS draft that, “For the proposed Keystone XL Project, approximately 88% of the land affected by pipeline construction and operation would be privately owned, with the remaining 12% primarily state and federal land.”(U.S. Department of State, 4.9-2) The government would being buying or seizing citizen’s private land in order to build this pipeline. Not only is that undemocratic but the government would be plowing down the natural forests a... ... middle of paper ... ...ands of miles of wildlife will cause deforestation to pristine American land. It would cheat ranchers out of their land unjustly and destroy their property. The inevitable leaks will occur judging on the past record of TransCanada, which will have unprecedented effects on the environment. It will destroy the water supply of thousands, kill vegetation, and slaughter innocent animals, all of which will destroy the ecosystem. Finally, the XL pipeline will dramatically deepen the world’s addiction to climate-killing fossil fuels. Not only is it adding to needing fossil fuels in order to survive, but it’s using the dirtiest, most destructive tar sands to get it. The Keystone XL Pipeline is the wrong direction for the United States to towards. In order to step in the right direction for the environment and independent from oil, the pipeline proposal must be struck down.
“Urge the Senate to Stop the Risky Keystone XL Pipeline”. Letter. League of Conservation of Voters. Change.org. Web. 10 December 2013
The Dakota Access Pipeline and the Keystone XL Pipeline are two pipeline projects that were suspended in the past. These pipelines were stopped because they could have a big impact of people and the environment. The making of these pipelines would cause a great amount of carbon pollution. Recently, President Trump signed the orders to approve the pipeline project. The projects have pros and cons, the people in favor of the pipelines think we would be able to rely less on foreign oil. The people against the pipeline believe that the pipelines would cause the release of gases into the air that could be harmful for other people.
“Pipeline debate heats up EthicalOil & Sierra Club CBC January 11, 2012.” Online video clip.
A little back ground about the Keystone XL Pipeline. TransCanada located in Calgary, Alberta, Canada is proposing to build the Keystone XL Pipeline to carry primarily oil extracted from tar sands. The pipeline is a 36” wide and will be approximately 1,661 miles in length (Palliser 8). The proposed pipeline “will run from Hardisty, Alberta, to Nederland, Texas, and traverse Montana, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas” (Palliser 8). The Keystone XL pipeline will carry up to 900,000 barrels a day of synthetic crude oil or diluted bitumen (Palliser 8).
The oil companies, the customers, and the average employee will not benefit from the construction of this pipeline. If the pipeline does its job, it will take the whole load of oil from Canada to the United States. The other companies which are already responsible for transporting oil will not be required to do their jobs, as it is being done for them. All of these companies will go out of business. With 3 more pipeline plans in place for Canada, people are wondering whether they will ever need to build a new one again. With all of these companies going out of business, many employees will have to be laid off. This will cause insufficient manual labor, thereafter causing a lack of jobs. All the former employees are going to have to find another job. Since they won't have time to prepare in advance, for that time being, they also won’t have any source of income. "In our view, Trans Mountain plus the Keystone pipeline would make the Energy East pipeline less needed," said Divya Reddy, a global energy analyst with the Eurasia Group. "In terms of the production outlook for the oil sands over the next 10 years, it doesn't seem like that extra capacity is actually needed." Nothing is going to happen right away or very fast. So, in the instance that the pipeline doesn’t work, the other companies will still be running. This means both things will still be used. This will cause competition for attention and/or tasks between the pipeline and existing companies. This may draw attention away from the task at hand. “While we forecast continued growth in Canadian oil production, there might be too much pipe if Trans Mountain expansion and Line 3 replacement and Keystone XL all start up by 2020” said Afolbi Ogunnaike, a senior analyst at Wood Mackenzie, in a note. Because of this pipeline, people are going to lose their
From the arguments, it is evident that the negative effects of the construction of Keystone XL Pipeline supersede its positive impacts, both on the United States of America’s economy and environment. Therefore, it is important that the country takes into consideration the negative effects that might be associated with the pipeline before embarking on its construction.
The Keystone XL pipeline continues dividing the opinion of the people and being a controversial issue. The precious “black gold”, represents one of the main factors that moves the economy, nationally and globally. This extra-long pipeline will transport oil all the way from Canada to Texas. Some experts and the private oil corporation, who is the one in charge of this project, point to the benefits of this project, for example, will make the USA more independent from foreign oil, will create thousands of jobs and improve the economy. Nevertheless, are experts revealing how the pipeline is an unnecessary risk and will be negative for the environment, dangerous for the population living close to the big pipes, and long-term negative for the
The Keystone Pipeline started construction in 2008 for the main purpose of connecting Canadian and American oil refineries to transport crude oil from the oil sands of Canada faster and more efficient. So far the first three phases of the pipeline have been completed but the proposed and most controversial is Phase IV. It connects Hardisty, Alberta to Steele City, Oklahoma which requires a presidential permit and it also connects the 485-mile southern leg known as the Gulf Coast Project between Steele City and Port Arthur, Texas, which is now operating (Eilperin). The benefits of the pipeline include an increase in jobs, contribute $3.4 billion to the U.S economy and also save time and money from transporting the oil by pipeline instead of tanks and rails. At the same time it would be a great harm to the environment, making the climate unstable, and could cause possible future oil spills. The articles covering the Keystone Pipeline generally list out the same points, covering the same benefits and consequences of building the pipeline. Sources like Fox News and CNS have more of an opposition towards the pipeline and narrow in on the risks and of the effects it would have on the people. Whereas news stations such as CNN and The Washington Post address both sides of the controversy but are subtle about being in favor of the pipeline. The international sources such as Al Jazeera and Reuters oppose the pipeline and are more open with supporting the environmentalists.
Projects like the Keystone Pipeline are important as they will allow us to transport more oil than we would be able to in train cars, and grants larger access to oil reserves in the United States and Canada. The Keystone Pipeline itself is an oil pipe line which runs from the western Canadian sedimentary basin in Alberta, Canada to refineries in the United States. These refineries are located in three different main locations: Steele City, Nebraska, Wood River and Patoka, Illinois and refineries located in the gulf coast of Texas.
Recently, TransCanada’s Keystone XL pipeline has become a hot debate topic. Those who oppose the Western United States oil pipeline are misled and uniformed. The US Government should authorize the Keystone XL Pipeline that would import tar sand oil from Canada. The pipeline would generate jobs and help to remove foreign oil dependency, is the safest transportation option being considered and finally will not harm or affect the environment as opponents claim.
A new northern leg, the Keystone XL pipeline, was proposed in 2008 by TransCanada, the company that will own and operate the pipeline. The Keystone XL pipeline was vetoed by President Obama in November, 2015. TransCanada is suing the Obama administration to recover damages. Opponents of the pipeline state the reasons against it include increased global warming with a calculated financial impact of -2.5% to the U.S. GDP from events due to global warming. Tar oil has been described as the “dirtiest fuel” so environmental impacts include air and land pollution and impact to species in the pipeline’s path. Mining of the tar oil has negative impacts on flora and fauna due to waste. Possible damage to drinking water and the cleanup problems associated with tar oil due to its characteristics are a concern. Finally the acidic nature of the tar oils makes spills more likely and approval of the pipeline will hinder more environmentally friendly energy sources. Landowners in the path of the pipeline do not wish to be forced to acquiesce by eminent domain. Proponents of the pipeline state positives, including job creation to the tune of 42,000 jobs, U. S. energy security and North American energy independence. Supporters suggest The Keystone XL pipeline will increase U.S. GDP by $3 million. Studies have discounted the added pollution threat because there is no
By now, many Americans have been made aware of the construction of the Keystone Pipeline XL. It has been seven years since the pipeline was first proposed by the TransCanada Corporation with the intent to “allow crude oil from Canadian oil sands to reach U.S. refineries on the Gulf Coast” (Mantel par. 2 on Chronology timeline). Some Americans are in favor of the construction of the Keystone Pipeline XL and others are strongly opposed to it. On Feb. 17, 2013, thousands of protestors gathered at the National Mall in Washington, D.C. in the hopes that President Barack Obama would reject the construction of the $53 billion oil pipeline (Snyder par. 1). The rally attracted 35,000 people making it the largest climate-change protest in U.S. history,
In most ways people think that the pipeline industry is all for itself,and in its process it destroys the enviroment.In fact there are protests and riots happening often, to say the least.People also hop on the bandwagon saying that the industry should be protested for its safety hazards.In this paper I will explain how the industry takes every precaution to prevent environmental and personal harm and what they can actually do for you if the right of way runs through your land.
Putting in the pipeline in the underground would be,” … designed to transport 470,000 barrels of crude oil per day (with a growth potential up to 570,000 barrels per day) “ (Energy Transfer) Companies makes more money by that but that leaves out the issues where they are going to put these pipelines. Of course these companies decided a place where a Native American’s reservation lies, destroying homes and historical places. “ The Dakota pipeline will create over 8,000 immediate jobs in the construction sector,’ (Blakeman) shows that going on with this plan will get people out of a job can go into this work field. Although creating jobs for thousands of people, but think about what the people who are living in the land feels. They’re going to be out of a job, house, and sense of security. The companies are picking up hundreds of families and making them move because they are destroying their drinking water.
"This war was brought upon us by the children of the Great Father who came to take our land from us without price.". This is a quote said by Lakota Tribal chief, Spotted Tail. Regarding the treaty that agreed a promise between the White men and the Native Americans, stating that they would have the right to their land. Although, overtime this treaty was broken by the government. As of today, history repeats itself as the Native Americans fight for their land and water. Dakota Access Pipeline plans to build a new pipeline that will ship over 470,000 barrels of crude oil a day. Moreover, pipelines and the oil itself, are known to be dangerous to the environment are factors to Global Warming. Be that as it may, the US Army Corps approved this