With an increasing global population and ever industrializing society 's, environmental concern is rarely given priority over economic incentive. But what people fail to realize is that our environmental failures, and relative apathy about it set up a plethora of problems for future generations to deal with. One of the most important decisions president Obama will face in the next year will be whether or not to approve the building of the Keystone XL pipeline, a massively sized, and massively controversial oil pipeline that would stretch all the way from Alberta Canada, to American oil refineries along the Gulf Of Mexico. Despite the economic incentive present, the building of the Keystone XL pipeline should not happen because of the …show more content…
This year we have seen more electric and hybrid vehicle startups than ever before.” (Morrison) Nearly everyone recognizes the benefits of the shift, both in terms of how it would help our environment in the long term, but also the economic impact it would have, (reduced gas costs, lower electric and other utilities bills... etc.) But still, many large companies work to impede the progress in favor of maintaining our dependence on fossil fuels. The American Petroleum institute has worked with many oil industry protection companies to stymie the renewable energy movement, even in some cases, “posing as environmentalist groups in order to attract the support of environmentalists while simultaneously pushing their anti-renewable agenda.” (Blankenhorn) Many of these companies striving against renewable energy also support the building of the Keystone pipeline, using the justification that the building of the pipeline would lower gas prices. But what they fail to acknowledge is the basic economic fallacy of this, “Fossil energy prices are not going to fall. The more you remove carbon-based resources from the ground, the more it costs to get more.”
The Keystone XL is a controversial oil pipeline extension that would travel from Alberta, Canada, to the United States Gulf Coast. The Keystone XL should not be built because of the damage it would cause to the environment. The oil would be found within tar sands that contain bitumen. The process of extracting the crude oil uses a lot of energy and causes a large amount of greenhouse gases. Many citizens, in Canada and the United States, are outraged because it can be detrimental to the surrounding land and wildlife. TransCanada, the company building the oil pipeline, has to receive permission from the United States government to begin construction. If the United States does not have the pipeline built and chooses to not use Canada’s oil, then TransCanada will have the pipeline built elsewhere and exported to other countries. There has been a divide between those in favor of the Keystone XL and those who are not. The Keystone XL would be able to provide the United States with a reliable source of oil, but it would also take the risk of faults in the oil pipeline and ruining parts of America’s resourceful soil. The Keystone XL will cause a negative effect on the environment and damage resourceful land; therefore, the oil pipeline should not be constructed.
One of the most controversial issues faced nowadays is the way we deal with the transport of oil. One of the proposed methods is The Keystone XL Pipeline. Although there are some pros associated with building the pipeline, the risk outweighs the benefits by far. Building the Keystone XL pipeline would negatively affect the environment, jeopardize the public health and is to no benefit to the American people.
Almost 95 million barrels of oil and fuel are produced each day in order to provide energy and fuel to people the world over. A major component of the oil industry is the transportation of oil through various means including oil pipelines. These pipelines are capable of transporting thousands of barrels of oil thousands of miles per day. In the United States one possible pipeline has caused a lot of controversy and discussion on the impact it will have on the United States. The difficulty in deciding if the Keystone XL Pipeline should be built is in whether the possibility of economic growth outweighs the possibility of environmental destruction. In order to make a decision, one must first look into the history of oil pipelines. It is crucial
“In a few decades, the relationship between the environment, resources, and conflict may seem almost as obvious as the connection we see today between human rights, democracy, and peace (Nobel Peace Prize Medalist Maathai 2004).” A Canadian oil company that goes by TransCanada hopes to build an oil pipeline that would extend an enormous 1,200 miles onto an already gargantuan 2,600 mile long pipeline. Keystone XL represents just under a third of the entire Keystone project, and every other piece of pipe has been built and laid out. In fact, TransCanada 's pipeline system is already shipping hundreds of thousands of barrels of crude oil from the Canadian oil sands across the U.S. border -- and into Illinois (Diamond). The current proposal would take the pipeline on a journey all the way through to Texas. Extracting crude oil from oil sands would be enormously problematic for the environment as it causes the pumping of about 17% more greenhouse gases into the atmosphere than standard crude oil extraction. Tar sand oil has levels of carbon dioxide emissions that are three to four times higher than those of conventional oil, due to more energy-intensive removal and refining processes (Friends of the Earth). The construction of the Keystone XL pipeline would stimulate employment, the effects would be temporary and the whole scheme would produce a negative long term outcome. The construction of the Keystone XL pipeline has caused
The Keystone XL Pipeline Project has many pros and cons just as any project does, but this project has way bigger cons than most projects this country will face today. “The Keystone XL Pipeline is an environmental crime in progress.” “It’s also been called the most destructive project on the planet.” The major issues with the Keystone XL Pipeline are “the dirty tar sands oil, the water waste, indigenous populations, refining tar sands oil and don’t forget the inevitable; pipeline spills.” And these are just some of the environmental issues, not too mention how building this thing from Canada to Texas; 2,100 miles to be exact, is affecting the people and their land, as stated “this isn’t a little tiny pipeline,
The Keystone Pipeline is an oil system that when fully constructed will be the biggest oil pipeline system in North America. The Keystone Pipeline has many benefits and many disadvantages. There are several issues facing the Keystone Pipeline such as environmental concerns by environmentalists. The Keystone Pipeline not only benefits Canada’s economy but is doing a good job for the American economy as well. With all these issues facing the Keystone Pipeline, there are many solutions that TransCanada is putting into the Pipeline. Is the Keystone Pipeline beneficial or is it a waste of money?
Henry Thoreau is convinced that “unjust laws exist” (Thoreau 07), but it’s the people's choice whether to stand up to them or hide behind the law. The Dakota Access pipeline gave rise to the “Standing rock” (Smith/Medina 09) protest. Camps were set up next to the Cannonball River, and hundreds of Native Americans came and stood by the Standing Rock Sioux to have peaceful protest for their Native rights. All the protesters stood there raising signs, trying to have their voice heard by the government. This protest became widely known that many people around the globe stood out and raised their voices as well. Both, Vince and Medina, stated that “tribal governments have sent letters” (Smith/Medina 09) to Standing Rock, supporting their protest,
Freedom of the press is one of the most important aspects of democracy. In many countries including Canada and the USA it is at the forefront of their civil rights. Yet often when ideals are not in congruency with the government this right is tested. There has not been a great deal of media coverage on the protests taking place in North Dakota against the Keystone Pipeline. Documentary filmmakers are now facing decades in prison over their filming of the protests. Deia Schlosberg and Lindsay Grayzel are facing felony charges and advocates are stating that this is a direct attack on their first amendment rights. It is important to hear about cases like this because we need to maintain media democracy to protect our own democratic society. Furthermore, the agenda setting theory seems to
Proposed in the mid-2000’s, the Enbridge Northern Gateway Pipeline would send crude oil from just outside of Edmonton, Alberta to ports in Kitimat, British Columbia. From there it would be loaded onto tankers and shipped to countries in Asia. The Energy East Pipeline was proposed in 2013 and would send the oil towards New Brunswick and possibly Quebec. While theoretically this seems like an ideal way to quickly and efficiently ship large amounts of crude oil across the country to facilitate large amounts of trade and boost the economy, these pipelines have been the subject of massive controversy from a large number of groups. In this essay, I will briefly highlight the regional and national controversies, as well as backlash from interest groups and party politicians, who have opposed the pipelines for unique, broad, and irrefutable reasons.
Will the Keystone XL Pipeline undercut the United States efforts to be a leader in climate change and environmental initiatives?
Conservation is getting nowhere because it is incompatible with our Abrahamic concept of land. We abuse land because we regard it as a commodity belonging to us. When we see land as a community to which we belong, we may begin to use it with love and respect.”(1) The Keystone pipeline project is an excellent example of our entitled view regarding the environment. The last phase of the Keystone pipeline has finally been approved by President Trump after nine years of governmental delay. The first three phase have been completed, however this phase named the XL is the final phase of the Keystone pipeline project and it is the most important. Spanning two
The Keystone XL proposal is fascinating in both its complexity and controversy. As the pipeline would go through Canada and the United States, approval from the government of each country is required for the project to proceed. Political, economic, and environmental issues in both countries have put pressure on the governments with advocates and opponents for the proposal vying to have their voices heard. Even the Canadian federal political parties do not all agree on whether or not the pipeline should be built. The Conservatives, for instance support the proposal, citing its potential economic benefits while the Greens are against the project, arguing that the environmental impact is far greater than the economic gains it might produce. First Nations groups also have an important stake in the outcome of the project. The approaches taken towards aboriginal issues by the two parties have differed greatly from one another, further dividing the Greens and the Conservatives. Indeed, both parties seem so firmly entrenched in their own stances that it seems highly unlikely that they will ever reach an agreement on the project. Unless the Green Party and the Conservative Party can come to a consensus on the Keystone XL proposal’s effects on the economy, environment, and First Nations, they will be unable to reconcile their positions.
In fact, in addition to being environmentally friendly, the renewable energy industry is actually a much larger factor in the United States economy than the oil industry. The job growth in the solar industry alone has been six times more than the overall job market. A solar foundation study found that there has been a thirteen percent growth in higher skilled solar jobs including development and manufacturing that brings the total direct jobs up to 119,000 in the solar energy industry alone – a much higher number than the incorrect figure of 42,000 indirect jobs from the Keystone XL Pipeline (Smith 3). In addition, the pipeline would employ mostly low-wage construction jobs, whereas the renewable resource industry utilizes advanced engineering and marketing skills that pay higher salaries (Kessler 2). If the evidence that Keystone does not in fact create 42,000 jobs has not deterred many people from supporting the project, than the fact that the renewable energy industry creates thousands more most definitely will. An industry that is growing, successful, and environmentally friendly should be invested in substantially more than a pipeline that offers minimal benefits and a long list of negative
The former president of the United States, Barak Obama and his administration went through one of the biggest environmental controversies. The issue was related to the construction of oil pipeline called the keystone XL pipeline. The purpose of this project is to transport thousands of tons of crude oil a day from Canada to the United States. The United States is an industrialized country that consumes more than 15 million barrels of oil every day. More than half of this oil is imported from foreign countries including Venezuela and Saudi Arabia (Lee, 2015). The keystone XL pipeline project will basically allow the United States to reduce its oil importation and become more independent. The president refused to give his
Opposition against the formation of these pipelines seem clear when taken note of the complications to which it can cause, like environmental risk, inessential expenditures, and the ruination of ancestral lands. “In 2010, an Enbridge Energy pipeline dumped more than 843,000 gallons of oil into the Kalamazoo River in Michigan, resulting in a cleanup that lasted years and cost more than a billion dollars,” which incites the thought that these disasters and accidents can disrupt economic stability more than it would assist, given the gamble of safety is lost. The circumstance isn’t worthy of such an insecurity. Oil spills are already an economic destitution and environmental hazard worldwide, there is no need to add on to it with such an uncertain