By Julian Braxton ’14, Contributor
Perhaps you’ve heard of the Keystone XL Pipeline. Perhaps you haven’t. Regardless, you’re about to. The proposed pipeline, which would stretch from the Athabasca oil sands of Canada, all the way to the Gulf of Mexico in Texas, is a 1,661 mile long, 36-inch pipe, designed to transport crude oil. The project will cost upwards of $7 billion, and is essentially a shortcut to an existing pipeline. (Superfluous, I know.) Because the pipeline will cut across several rivers essential to America’s water supply, much protest has been voiced about the environmental aspects of the project, but a study done shows no harm can come of it. Promoters of the project also say the pipeline will create 100,000 jobs, and lessen our dependence on oil from Saudi Arabia. We’ll see.
First off, you should know the environmental study was commissioned and paid for by TransCanada, the company who came up with the Keystone XL project in the first place. Now, doesn’t that seem a little suspicious to you? Perhaps a little conflict of
interest there? The environmental liabilities are HUGE, considering the pipeline is in fact, a pipeline. We all know what happened with the BP/Deepwater Horizon pipeline, which is still polluting the Gulf of Mexico to this day. Why would we want another accident? Despite activists protesting the project, with names as important as the Dalai Lama against it, the U.S. government has decided to turn a blind eye to the entire thing, purely for the sake of profit.
Some of you are driving, and those of you that are know how expensive gas is. No one likes high gas prices. But the shiny, new pipeline would transport hundreds of millions of tons of crude oil to refineries in Texas, where it could supposedly be sold cheaply to American citizens. Our foreign oil independence would basically be eradicated! Doesn’t that sound great!? Well, don’t get too excited. One, the last I heard, Canada isn’t part of the U.S, leaving them free to fluctuate prices for their oil at will. Two, most of the oil that would be refined would go to Europe or Asia, leaving little for us. Yet we are fine with the 1,700 mile pipe being put smack dab through the Midwest, potentially harming our environment, with little benefit to us.
It is said that the pipeline will create over 100,000 jobs in the United States alone. From a topical point of view, this sounds great, doesn’t it? The unemployment rate is higher than it has ever been, but while people say it is dropping, there are still millions of Americans collecting unemployment checks. Naturally, anyone in this position would leap at the Keystone XL project. But this is not so. The 100,000 figure, which funnily enough, was fabricated by the same company who said the project was environmentally sound, is referring to TEMPORARY JOBS ONLY. While the pipeline is being constructed, jobs would be bountiful and plenty. But after it’s finished, where is the need for labor? After all, it doesn’t take 100,000 people to maintain a 3-foot pipe. It is best to think of the job situation as someone giving you a whole cake, and then taking it away from you before you even take a bite. Would you want that done to you?
As I said before, the Keystone XL project has been met with massive protest, with riots even reaching the gates of the White House. If the cons (and there are many) of this project are blatantly obvious, and U.S. citizens are against it, why should it be built? Oh, right. IT SHOULDN’T.
Photo courtesy of newint.org
