The Pros And Cons Of The Keystone Pipeline

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The Keystone pipeline has been a very controversial subject since the idea of it started. This argument has a very big impact on my life style because one of the biggest controversies is that it will be going through one of the biggest fresh water aquifers in America. Also there might be environmental damage done to the soil and other rivers if the pipeline passes through the land, because potential oil spills on a minor and major scale. A good side to having the pipeline built is that jobs will be made, oil will be able to be moved from Alaska to oil refinery’s it Texas in a quick and manageable manor, causing the price for fossil fuels to go down in price.

The Keystone pipeline is going to pass over the Oglala Aquifer, one of the biggest aquifers in America, and according to the congressional digest Vol.90 issue 10, this aquifer supplies seventy eight percent of public water supply and eighty three percent of irrigation water in Nebraska. If there were to be a spill in the aria around the aquifer hundreds of people, livestock, and irrigation pivots would be out of water and would devastate Nebraska’s economy. Also according to the Congressional digest Vol.90 issue 10 there were studies done that if there was a oil spill the oil would only affect a limited aria and the rest of the aquifer would be left unharmed, but these were only tests done on a simulator in a lab and the real world affects on what could happen to Nebraska’s water could be much more devastating.

The Congressional digest Vol.90 issue 10 states that “Due to public concern regarding the Ogallala aquifer and the sand hills region five of the alternative routes were developed to either minimize the pipeline length over those areas or avoid the areas entirely. Thes...

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...s people would run out of water and be forced to bring in fresh supplies of it or move out. Animal tanks, like windmills and pumps would be no more than worthless causing animals to die of dehydration. Also if there are no pivots to water crops, then ranchers will have to buy feed for cattle from other states and have it trucked in, and that would take money some ranchers just don’t have.

The Keystone pipeline would bring in jobs and cheep fossil fuels, causing the flow of money in America, but is it worth the risks that it would also bring? It would only bring in about thirty-five germinate jobs, leaving just as many people with out jobs back where they started. There are too many what ifs about it that could cause major problems. Lastly it could in the end cause a major ecological disaster. For the sake of the people in Nebraska please stop the Keystone pipeline.

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