Keystone XL rejection a safety concern for all Americans

President Barack Obama clearly never understood the impact the Keystone XL pipeline would have on the United States. “This will raise prices for America, not lower prices, and it will have a bigger environmental impact, a negative impact”.

Re: “Obama quashes Keystone XL in bid to boost climate leverage”, November 7 news story.

About Green America Green America commends President Obama’s decision to halt the Keystone XL pipeline, urges a cessation of new natural gas pipelines, and calls on the President to continue to exert the leadership required to move our nation towards a clean energy future.

In his decision, Obama said the Keystone Pipeline had an overinflated role in the country’s political discourse -becoming a symbol often used as a weapon by parties rather than a serious policy matter.

Nenshi is right to suggest, as he did on CNBC that “Not having Keystone is not going to end the carbon necessity, or it’s not going to change climate change, but somehow that one pipeline is bearing all of this”.

Obama has become far more assertive on environmental issues in his second term and the decision will be a key part of his legacy as he prepares to leave office after next year’s presidential election.

“Instead of doubling down on foreign oil, the United States needs a forward-thinking energy strategy that will maximize our energy potential while strengthening our economy and our energy security”. As the State Department report predicted, the oil is making its way to market by rail and truck, which the review also points out is more unsafe and actually increases emissions because trains and trucks burn diesel fuel. Have we forgotten how quickly gas and heating oil prices can spike due to terrorist attacks and other worldwide incidents?

The proposal led to a wave of environmental activism, with the pipeline seen as a litmus test for environmentalists’ ability to block fossil fuel extraction in Canada’s oil sands.

The Sandpiper pipeline would run from Tioga, N.D., through Minnesota to Wisconsin and would take as much as 250,000 barrels per day.

That said, TransCanada chief executive Russ Girling, said that the rejection would be bad for jobs and the Canadian economy.

The main fight against Keystone XL didn’t center on the pipeline itself, but on the crude it might transport from western Canada to refineries along the Gulf Coast in Texas. After seven years of waiting for a decision on this permit application, this decision is a clear signal that the US isn’t open for business for everyone.

Even though Gov. Chris Christie has come out in support of the Keystone XL and other pipelines, the tide is turning against these damaging and unnecessary projects. There would only be 35 permanent jobs created from the pipeline, according to The NY Times.