Introduction (Hook…. need to think this through better) The Keystone Pipeline has been debated for sometime now. Why is it so controversial? Many worry that it will intrude on property rights, while others believe that it will be a danger to the environment. Others believe that it’ll benefit the economy and will not have major impact on the environment. There is a lot of background information about the Keystone as well that it has an environmental and economic impacts. Body Main Point: (description and status) Subpoint: To start off, did anybody know that there was already a major, but smaller, pipeline going from Canada to the United States? The Keystone Pipeline that everyone is talking about is actually just a proposed project that will …show more content…
Many Canadians will be losing their jobs as well. Subpoint: property Maint Point: (environmental impact) There is a lot of controversy about the environmental effects of the pipeline. Many believe that it will not have a big change and others believe that it’ll be a disaster to the environment. Subpoint: Spills. On Environmental Analysis by Congressional Digest, The U.S. Department of State determined that the Keystone Pipeline would not have genuine difference on the environment. “Spill potential and response— spills could result from many causes, including corrosion (external or internal), excavation equipment, defects in materials or in construction, over pressuring the pipeline, and geologic hazards, such as ground movement, washouts, and flooding”. The pipeline will still be likely to have small leaks. However, they would be easier to clean up after they are discovered. They can be found during regular pipeline inspections. Patrols, staff and landowners will be able to identify any problems with leaks. There is a greater concern for sensitive areas such as wetlands and flowing stream and river. Also in shallow …show more content…
Like what is said above there is a risk for oil to get into the water and there is a lot of concern in the parts of the aquifers that are just below the Sand Hills and certain areas of the aquifer the water is near on at the surface Subpoint: Wildlife— There are two primary types of impacts that occur with a spill of crude oil Physical impacts— soil, sediments, plants, and animals can become coated with oil. When animals are covered in oil they can have difficulty feeding or obtaining oxygen toxicological impacts— crude oil may be toxic when ingested… “ingestion occurs typically when an oiled animal attempts to clean its fur or feathers
The Time article “A High-Plains Showdown Over the Dakota Access Pipeline” by Justin Worland talks about a controversy over a 1,200-mile pipeline stretching from North Dakota to Illinois. The pipeline is called the Dakota Access Pipeline project and is being built by the Energy Transfer Partners company. Some people are outraged by the pipeline because it contributes to man-made climate change. Others are mainly outraged because the Standing Rock Sioux tribe never agreed to the construction of the pipeline. The leaders of the tribe say that “Washington never considered their concerns, as required by the federal law” (Worland).
This documents includes over 30,000 pages. They must receive approval from the regulator in order to start their Pipeline project. “Federal Regulation Interprovincial pipelines are federally regulated and fall under the jurisdiction of Canada’s National Energy Board (NEB). Specific areas of NEB oversight include: Construction and operation of interprovincial and international pipelines and power lines Pipeline traffic, tolls and tariffs Export/import of natural gas Export of oil and electricity Frontier oil and gas activities Approvals To obtain approval for the Energy East Pipeline TransCanada must apply to the NEB for: Sale of pipeline assets from Canadian Mainline to Energy East Conversion of gas pipeline to oil service Construction of new oil pipeline facilities Certificate to own and operate new and converted facilities Approval of tariff and tolling methodology”. (TransCanada,
Today there are increasing reports of natural gas depletion. Across the United States a new type of natural gas extraction called hydraulic fracturing is taking ground. Hydraulic fracturing or “fracking” for short is a process, which extracts natural gas deep from within the Earth’s surface. A well first needs to be constructed. After that is complete, the materials needed are chemicals, sand, and water.
1. The title of the article is “On the Keystone Pipeline, President Obama Missed an Opportunity” the article was published November 11, 2015 at 12:31 pm by Greg IP. 2. In the article, “On the Keystone Pipeline, President Obama Missed an Opportunity”, it is discussing President Obama’s decision on vetoing the Keystone XL Pipeline and the thought process behind it. In a recent statement President Obama explained his reason for vetoing the pipeline by stating that in order to prevent the climate from warming up we must leave some fossil fuels in the ground.
The environmental argument is coming from a clash over the fact they are basically stripping the canadian boreal forest, the path of the pipeline extends across major aquifers, and pipelines tend to leak and destroy surrounding environments. In addition ccording to The Center for Climate and Energy Solutions State, “epartment’s draft SEIS found that oil from the Canadian oil sands is 17 percent more carbon-intensive than the average oil consumed in the United States... It is estimated that the U.S. greenhouse gas footprint would increase by 3 million to 21 million metric tons per year, or around 0.04 percent to 0.3 percent of the 2010 levels, if Keystone is built. Fortunately on November 6, 2015, President Barack Obama’s administration rejected the Keystone Pipeline XL after 7 years of dispute. As mentioned in the Wall Street Journal, Obama stated “the project would not have lowered gas prices, improved energy security or made a meaningful long-term contribution to the economy
The new jobs will help many people in the country come out of poverty, which interests not only our country, but the economy also. While building the pipeline, the demand for metals, pipes, valves, pumps and anything else needed, will increase. Cities can also make hotels, restaurants, and other facilities to help the pipeline workers, therefore creating more jobs. This will help local cities economy.
Another issue among the Keystone pipeline is the health and safety issues that it provides through its existence. Thoreau mentions in his essay that, “If a plant cannot live according to its nature, it dies; and so a man,” (Thoreau, 956) which alludes to the fact that humans will die if they live with harmful effects over the years. The activists of the pipeline have mentioned multiple times to the government that the water supply will be contaminated. This is shown when an article writes, “The proposed pipeline route passes through the Ogallala Aquifer... A spill in this important body of water would contaminate drinking water and lead to serious health concerns and complications,” (All Risk, No Reward) which explains why so many activists are protesting this build.
This affects the surrounding area by turning the area around into roadways for the transport trucks(Pros and Cons of Fracking), it disrupts the locals(Pros and Cons of Fracking), and the soil in the surrounding area is being tainted with chemicals(Potential Health and Environmental Effects of Hydrofracking in the Williston Basin,
Because countries, especially the United States, rely immensely on a constant source of oil, maintaining that unceasing energy source is a form of national security (Slade 49). Instead of receiving oil from countries like Venezuela and Saudi Arabia, who are the second and third leading suppliers of oil for the U.S., the country would receive its major crude oil imports from their neighboring country (“Keystone” 1). The State Department concluded that it was in the interest of the country because it provided additional supplies which would make up for the decline of imports from the United States’ other key suppliers (Kalen 12). The building of the pipeline is also argued as extremely beneficial to economy. TransCanada stated that this project would create twenty thousand new jobs and seven billion dollars in economic incentive (“Keystone” 1).
According to Dean DePountis, “This pipeline is going through huge swaths of ancestral land. It would be like constructing a pipeline through Arlington Cemetery or under St. Patrick’s Cathedral.” People have been arrested for breaking down wire fences and trespassing into the pipeline construction sites, they were dispersed with dogs and pepper spray. It’s conflicts like this that give our government a bad name. Unfortunately, the resulting protests aren’t the only thing that makes this conflict a huge deal.
Millions of gallons, during the fracking process of a mixture of toxic chemicals, water and sand are injected into the ground to fracture the shale and release natural gas. Therefore the opinions on this vary in many ways, either believing that this is incredibly harmful
“Benefits of Governmental Compromise Regarding the Dakota Access Pipeline” Nations all have unique governments and differences necessary for demonstrating successful leadership. Every country needs different assistance from their leadership, such as Rio requiring infrastructure or Somalia lacking political power. Some governments concern themselves with their politicians’ well-being more so than the people they lead, which creates a relevant problem in America. The United States Government can easily forget about Native American Reservations, or even ignore the people living on them. Recently, the United States Army Corps of Engineers has worked on the Dakota Access Pipeline project, which would cross over Native American ancestral lands,
With the proposed Keystone XL pipeline there are many environmental and safety standards that would be enforced to ensure that concerns such as oil leaks are detected, fixed and cleaned up properly and quickly. If the US government fails to approve the Keystone XL pipeline then they will have no control over enforcing the environmental safety standards for the transportation of Canada’s oil to the other countries that want to purchase
Canadian company TransCanada hopes to build Keystone XL a pipeline that carries Canadian tar sand oil from Canadian border to the Golf Coast. According to Derber “the pipeline extracts some of the dirtiest oil on the planet, a process that sends many polluting chemicals into the ground waters and releases methane, the most potent greenhouse gas, into the air, creating one of the greatest climate threat” (p. 115). A leak from a pipeline carrying the tar sand oil could cause environmental damage and pollute our drinking water and agricultural irrigation. The builders of the Keystone XL Pipeline are wilders. According to Derber, “environmental wilding in the natural environment, such as reckless polluting that causes global warming” (p. 11).
Since its construction in 1977, the Trans Alaska Pipeline has transported almost 17 billion barrels of oil, and currently transports about 527,323 barrels a day. It celebrated its 40th Anniversary last year, and, even after all this time, is still facing controversy. The pipeline is highly debated as economically inclined citizens of Alaska are clashing with more environmental types. The Trans Alaska Pipeline Authorization Act, signed by President Nixon in 1973, protected the pipeline by banning all legal challenges against the construction of the pipeline. However, this law did not stop the critics of the pipeline from speaking out.