Wednesday, January 27, 2021
GMO test
  • Politics
    • American Politics
    • Canadian Politics
    • International Politics
  • Investing
  • Business
    • Corporate Culture
    • Leadership
    • Marketing
    • Supply Chains
  • Economy
    • Jobs
    • The Green Economy
    • GDP
  • Energy
    • Solar
    • Wind
    • Fossil Fuels
    • Renewables
  • Environment
    • Emissions
    • Wildfires
    • Biodiversity
    • Extreme Weather
  • Technology
    • Food
    • Health
    • Buildings
    • Renewables
    • Carbon Capture
    • Transportation
    • Climate Change
  • Social Change
    • Activism
    • Education
    • Psychology
No Result
View All Result
  • Politics
    • American Politics
    • Canadian Politics
    • International Politics
  • Investing
  • Business
    • Corporate Culture
    • Leadership
    • Marketing
    • Supply Chains
  • Economy
    • Jobs
    • The Green Economy
    • GDP
  • Energy
    • Solar
    • Wind
    • Fossil Fuels
    • Renewables
  • Environment
    • Emissions
    • Wildfires
    • Biodiversity
    • Extreme Weather
  • Technology
    • Food
    • Health
    • Buildings
    • Renewables
    • Carbon Capture
    • Transportation
    • Climate Change
  • Social Change
    • Activism
    • Education
    • Psychology
No Result
View All Result
GMO test
No Result
View All Result
Home Uncategorized

The Fate of the Keystone XL: The Ball is in Your Court Mr President

by Richard Matthews
February 3, 2014
in Uncategorized
0

After a seemingly endless round of back and forth between the State Department and the President, an important new report sends mixed messages about the environmental impacts of the proposed Keystone XL pipeline. The Friday January 31 State Department report is intended to assess whether the pipeline project serves the national interest. Rather than coming down decisively one way or another, The final draft appears to lob the the ball back into President Obama’s court. 

A key finding in the report concludes that the Alberta tar sands will be
developed whether or not the pipeline is constructed. This is
significant because President Obama has previously vowed to kill the
pipeline if it is found to increase global warming causing emissions
(in June he said that he would base his decision on the project’s “carbon pollution impacts”).

“Approval or denial of any one crude oil transport project, including the proposed project, is unlikely to significantly impact the rate of extraction in the oil sands or the continued demand for heavy crude at refineries in the United States,” the review said.

The document included models suggesting that
transporting oil by rail would generate even more greenhouse gas
emissions than a pipeline, and it also discussed measures to reduce
greenhouse gas emissions from the pipeline.

At first glance the document appears to give the green light to the project by suggesting that there will be minimal environmental impact from the pipeline. However, the report also states that the tar sands are dirtier than conventional oil and it further suggests that the project will contribute to climate change.

A previous State Department report is being investigated by the State Department’s inspector general for conflict of interest after contractors who worked on the pipeline report were discovered to have worked with TransCanada Corp. the builders of the Keystone.

Predictably, the project is supported by Republicans in Congress and some Democrats in conservative or oil-producing states. In Canada the pipeline enjoys support from the federal government and the provincial government of Alberta.

They say that the pipeline will create tens of thousands of jobs, however, the numbers of jobs from the project are highly suspect and have been downplayed by President Obama himself. At best the project will create a few dozen permanent jobs at worst it will lead to a spill that contaminates America’s water supplies and
contributes to runaway climate change.

Rep. Henry Waxman said, “While still flawed, this environmental review recognizes that the Keystone
XL tar sands pipeline could have a significant effect on carbon pollution.” Canada’s official opposition called the pipeline a “short-sighted” project.

The report acknowledged that the tar sands are 17 percent more carbon intensive than conventional oil. Due to the aggressive exploitation of the tar sand, the Canadian government, announced that its carbon emissions will climb 38 percent by 2030.

If approved, the project would carry Alberta’s tar sands to refineries on the Texas Gulf coast. The pipeline would double the amount of crude oil being shipped from Canada’s tar sands, something which climate scientist James Hansen said would mean “game over” for the planet.

By saying that the project will not increase greenhouse gas emissions while at the same time saying that it will exacerbate climate change, the report is as contradictory as President’s all of the above energy policy. However being of two minds does give the President ample grounds to go either way on the fate of the pipeline.

The fate of the Keystone XL is now up to the President. Although he is under no deadline, it is expected that he will make a decision in the next 90 days. If the project is approved by the President it will take two years to get the dirty oil flowing from Alberta down to Texas.

The report may be used as a pretext to move forward with the pipeline. However, it is also possible that in the next 90 days a massive public outcry or action from any one of eight US departments (including the US Environmental Protection Agency) could scuttle the $7-billion project.

The choice is really between US energy independence that contributes to runaway climate change or letting market forces including declining supply and increasing energy demand wean America off of
fossil fuels and auger an even more aggressive clean energy drive.

Efforts to stop the pipeline are far from exhausted with a number of groups and residents opposed to Keystone XL claiming they will resort to legal action to stall the pipeline. Landowners in the state of Nebraska are already pursuing legal challenges against the state government.

Many others are mobilizing to protect their farms, communities, water and climate. Nation wide protests are planned for today (February 3, 2014), while another campaign asks people to to tell the Chief Executive to say “no” to the pipeline. Nearly 100,000 people have already signed up to commit civil disobedience to stop approval of the pipeline,

This is perhaps the most decisive test yet of the President’s commitment to climate action. Like it or not he will have to choose between advancing a national climate change strategy and expanding
fossil fuel development.

Now the ball has come to rest at the President’s feet as he is the only one who has the authority to make the final decision.

© 2014, Richard Matthews. All rights reserved.

Related Articles
Protests Greet the Keystone XL South as it Makes its First Deliveries of Oil
Video – This is What a Corroded Underwater Tar Sands Pipeline Looks Like
Taxpayers Money to Promote Fossil Fuel Pipeline Brought to you by Canada’s Ruling Federal Conservatives
Keystone XL on the Ropes: Conflict of Interest Revealed in the State’s EIS
Obama Says the Number of Keystone XL Jobs are “Negligible
Obama Rebuffs the Keystone XL’s Economic and Jobs Benefits
New Tar Sands Pipeline Goes East to Follow the Path of Least Resistance
The Fate of the Keystone XL Pipeline in the Wake of President Obama’s Georgetown University Speech
Unions Oppose the Keystone XL in the Jobs vs. Environment Debate
EPA Slams State Department on the Keystone XL
Cornell University Questions the Economic Benefits of the Keystone XL Pipeline
American Employment: Keystone XL vs Green Jobs
A New State Department Environmental Impact Assessment Clears the Keystone XL Pipeline
The DoD’s Climate Change Adaptation Roadmap (CCAR) Excludes Keystone XL
Obama to Expedite the Keystone XL Pipeline
The Center for Biological Diversity CREDO and Friends of the Earth Slam Keystone Reversal
Bill McKibben on Obama’s Keystone XL Reversal
Republicans Vow to Continue Push for Keystone
Obama to Expedite the Keystone XL Pipeline
The Center for Biological Diversity CREDO and Friends of the Earth Slam Keystone Reversal
Bill McKibben on Obama’s Keystone XL Reversal
Indigenous People and Students Protest Obama’s Reversal on Keystone XL
Republicans Vow to Continue Push for Keystone
GOP’s Keystone XL Proposal Fails in Senate
Anti-Keystone XL Ad Campaign
The Keystone XL and Rising Fuel Prices
Video: Keystone XL will Raise Gas Prices
Republicans Refuse to Let the Keystone XL Die
Keystone XL Protest Message Campaign a Success
Resistance to Republican Efforts to Resurrect the Keystone XL Pipeline
Obama Cancels the Keystone XL Pipeline Project
Republicans Use Blackmail to Gain Support for the Keystone XL Pipeline
President Obama Stops Keystone XL Pipeline
Tar Sands Day of Action in Washington
President Obama and the Fate of the Keystone XL Pipeline
NRDC November 6 Protest Against the Keystone XL in Washington DC
Nebraska’s Special Session to Stop the Keystone XL Pipeline
South Dakota Wants Additional Protections Against Spills from the Keystone XL Pipeline
Safety Measures for the Keystone XL Rejected by Environmentalists in Nebraska
State Department Hearings for the Keystone XL Pipeline
Keystone XL Tar Sands Pipeline Protest
Cornell University Questions the Economic Benefits of the Keystone XL Pipeline
Keystone XL Protest Ends in Washington
Oil Spills Add to Concerns about the Keystone XL Pipeline
Nobel Prize Laureates Oppose Keystone XL Pipeline
Religious Leaders Join the Protest Against Keystone XL Pipeline
US Protests Against the Tar Sands Oil
Canada on Track to be a Dirty Energy Superpower
Bill McKibben and other Protestors Jailed for their Opposition to the Keystone XL Tar Sands Pipeline
Video: NASA’s Leading Climatologist Addresses Crowd Before he was Arrested at the Keystone XL Tar Sands Protest in Washington

ShareTweetShare
Previous Post

Event – Ontario Forestry Association’s 65th annual conference

Next Post

World Wetlands Day 2014 Highlights Agriculture

Related Posts

Unprecedented Wildfires in 2020 are Connected to Climate Change

by Richard Matthews
December 29, 2020
0

The intense wildfires that raged across the Western U.S., South America, and Australia in 2020 are being attributed to climate change. What makes these fires unprecedented is their size and...

American Courts are Defending Democracy and the Environment

by Richard Matthews
December 14, 2020
0

Despite unprecedented challenges, America's legal system has held. In recent weeks the courts have repeatedly defended democracy and in the last four years they have overturned a wide range of environmental...

Boycott Culture and Brand Influence During Trump’s Presidency and Beyond

by Richard Matthews
December 8, 2020
0

Brands wield enormous influence over popular culture and whether they are pursuing core social values or trying to preempt boycotts, brands are finding it harder to ignore social, environmental and political...

Next Post

World Wetlands Day 2014 Highlights Agriculture

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Follow Us

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Email
  • LinkedIn
  • Reddit
  • SoundCloud

Subscribe to the Blog

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Energy

Economics Fuel Renewable Energy Growth

by Richard Matthews
January 25, 2021
0

Global renewable energy capacity set a record last year and 2021 is expected to be even better.  Renewables are already...

Read more

Biden Gets to Work on Climate Action

January 21, 2021

Taking Stock of Trump’s Dismal Legacy

January 19, 2021

Corporate America’s Break Up with Trump & the GOP

January 15, 2021

Climate Change is Fueling Deadly Extreme Weather and Costly Climate Disasters

January 13, 2021
  • Business
  • Economy
  • Energy
  • Environment
  • Investing
  • Politics
  • Technology
  • Social Change

© 2021 Copyright The Green Market Oracle.

No Result
View All Result
  • Business
    • Corporate Culture
    • Leadership
    • Marketing
    • Supply Chains
  • Economy
    • GDP
    • Jobs
    • The Green Economy
  • Energy
    • Fossil Fuels
    • Renewables
    • Solar
    • Wind
  • Environment
    • Emissions
    • Biodiversity
    • Extreme Weather
    • Wildfires
  • Investing
  • Politics
    • American Politics
    • Canadian Politics
    • International Politics
  • Technology
    • Buildings
    • Carbon Capture
    • Climate Change
    • Food
    • Transportation
    • Health
    • Renewables
  • Social Change
    • Education
    • Activism
    • Psychology
    • Marches

© 2021 Copyright The Green Market Oracle.

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Create New Account!

Fill the forms below to register

All fields are required. Log In

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In