The Keystone XL Pipeline is dangerous, dirty, and destructive -- and the latest Environmental Impact Statement was both flawed and incomplete. It ignores the pipelines significant risk for toxic spills, ignores its catastrophic impacts on our climate, and ignores the consensus among financial analysts and oil executives who agree the pipeline will be a conduit for oil and refined products to be exported, making the United States less energy secure and driving domestic gas prices higher. Pipeline Spills: This pipeline poses an unacceptable risk to water. Trans Canada’s first Keystone pipeline spilled 14 times in the U.S. in its first year of operation, and Enbridge, another pipeline operator, suffered a spill of more than one million gallons in the Kalamazoo River in 2010. The pipeline will cross more than 1,000 water bodies across 3 states and 875 miles threatening drinking water for people, farms, and ranches with a devastating tar sands spill. Climate Change: Keystone XL will contribute dramatically to climate change. The State Department confirmed that tar sands fuel is up to 19% more greenhouse gas intensive than conventional fuel, and the tar sands industry admits that Keystone XL will lead to more tar sands production. Building a new pipeline now will lock us in to higher carbon emissions when we should be rapidly investing in renewable energy that cannot be exported and will provide a secure energy future. Impact on Consumers: Rather than providing the U.S. with more Canadian oil, the Keystone XL pipeline will increase the amount of gasoline exported, raising prices for American consumers. The firms involved have asked the U.S. State Department to approve this project, even as they’ve told Canadian government officials how the pipeline can be used to add at least $4 billion to the U.S. fuel bill. US farmers who spent $12.4 billion on fuel in 2009 could see those costs rise to $15 billion or higher if the pipeline goes through and millions of Americans will spend 10 to 20 cents more per gallon for gasoline and diesel fuel. For the future of our country and our planet, I urge you, provide a comprehensive review of the Keystone XL pipeline. A complete review will conclude that this project is not in our national interest. The oil pipe lines are not a big priority by the oil companies, to save them the expense of properly maintaining the pipes, they consider a few leaks with a few homes destroyed and a little damage to the Eco system along with the loss of animals dying long slow deaths acceptable, it saves them money. Last month, we saw a tar sands pipeline in Mayflower, Arkansas spill nearly 10,000 barrels of tar sands oil into a residential neighborhood. This spill is yet one more indication that we are not prepared to transport or clean up this dirtier, heavier, toxic form of oil. The Arkansas spill also highlighted numerous unanswered questions that must be addressed before we allow a tar sands pipeline nearly 10 times the size of the Pegasus line to bisect our country and run through one of our most important aquifers. just one more indication that we are experiencing the increasingly devastating impacts of climate change and need to alter our course immediately. It is impossible to fight climate change while simultaneously investing in the dirtiest, most carbon-intensive fossil fuels on the planet. Many of the administrations bold advances in clean energy and vehicle efficiency have been critical, but much of that progress -- and the credit that comes with it -- will be erased if we also develop the tar sands.
Posted on: Wed, 22 Jan 2014 20:06:56 +0000
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