Keystone Pipeline

I am sure you have heard of the Keystone Pipeline because it has been a topic of debate since before the elections. Supposedly, 14 Democrats joined the GOP in voting in the Keystone pipeline. There has been a pipeline going from Canada to Gulf Coast Texas already, so what is really being voted on? What is being voted on is the Keystone XL pipeline, which is an extension of the pipeline that will cut through Montana, South Dakota and Nebraska. 

Financially it will be cheaper to send the oil through the pipeline than on a train, but environmentally, the process in which to make it crude oil is volatile. "Producing crude from oil sands emits an estimated 17 percent more greenhouse gases than traditional oil drilling in the U.S. In part, that's because it has to be heated to separate the crude from the sand." The pipeline will create some 4,000 temporary jobs but that will be cut all the way down to 35 permanent jobs in the end though. 

The idea that if the pipeline is defeated the oil will not be extracted is wrong. The oil is going to come out of that ground either way but President Obama summed it up nicely when he said "Understand what this project is: It is providing the ability of Canada to pump their oil, send it through our land, down to the Gulf, where it will be sold everywhere else. It doesn't have an impact on U.S. gas prices." Americans will not see this oil, it goes on a pipeline, straight through America. Maybe around the Gulf Coast would the see a little bit of the oil but for the most part the oil is getting shipped straight out of the Gulf Coast. 

The last controversy surrounding the pipeline is that it will past through Sioux territory. The Rosebud tribe has called it an "act of war" if the pipeline would be put through their territory. They are stating that the pipeline infringes on past treaties. They had this say on the matter, “We feel it is imperative that we provide safe and responsible alternative energy resources not only to tribal members but to non-tribal members as well." Which sums up the conclusion on the pipeline. Instead of environmentalist combating this battle, which they are going to lose. Environmentalist should be looking towards a carbon tax or another one of their major battles instead. The oil is going to get shipped either way, renewable energy is not winning this one.