Insight and inspiration in turbulent times.
The U.S. State Department released its final environmental impact study of the proposed Keystone XL tar sands oil pipeline Friday, and although some scientists and advocates who have spent years making the case that it would be an environmental disaster don’t much like the results, other pipeline opponents have found it encouraging to their cause.
A long-awaited report from the State Department has dealt a potential major blow to efforts to stop the Keystone XL oil pipeline.
If anything illustrates the principle of artificial abundance, it’s Alberta tar sands oil and the level of government intervention required to make it profitable.
The trouble for Crawford started in 2008, when TransCanada offered her $7,000 for a lifetime easement across her pasture. This would give the company complete control over the land without owning it outright. She consulted with her father and siblings, all of whom have a stake in the farm. They decided to refuse.
As the battle over the Keystone XL pipeline has worn on — and it’s now well over two years old — it’s illuminated the Obama presidency like no other issue.
Much of the United States climate movement right now is structured like an archway, with all of its blocks resting on a keystone — President Obama’s decision on the Keystone XL pipeline.
A few weeks ago, Time magazine called the fight over the Keystone XL pipeline that will bring some of the dirtiest energy on the planet from Alberta, Canada, to the U.S. Gulf Coast the “Selma and Stonewall” of the climate movement. Which, if you think about it, may be both good news and bad news.
•Everything You Need to Know About the Exxon Pegasus Tar Sands Spill •Tar-sands oil spills in Arkansas and Minnesota •Oil spills disastrous for public relations •A train derailing, spilling 30,000 gallons of oil is still not a reason to build Keystone XL pipeline
Freeing America from its dependence on oil from unstable parts of the world is an admirable goal, but many of the proposed solutions—including the push for more home-grown biofuels and for the construction of the new Keystone XL pipeline to transport Canadian tar sands oil to refineries on the U.S. Gulf Coast—are harmful and simply unnecessary. Gasoline use in the United States is falling, and the trends already driving it down are likely to continue into the future, making both the mirage of beneficial biofuels and the construction of a new pipeline to import incredibly dirty oil seem ever more out of touch with reality.
•Critical Part of Keystone Report Done by Firms with Deep Oil Industry Ties •The spreading slick of blame for the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill •Statoil may abandon US Arctic drilling leases •Peak Oil, The Shale Boom and our Energy Future: Interview with Dave Summers
A weekly roundup, including:
-Oil and the global economy
-Middle East
-US Gasoline Prices
-The Keystone Decision
-Quotes of the week
-Briefs
On Sunday, February 17, I marched in the largest climate change protest in U.S. history. About 35,000 people gathered on the Washington Monument grounds for a rally and then marched past the White House, calling on President Obama to deny permission for the construction of the Keystone XL pipeline that would transport oil from Canada’s tar sands through the heart of the U.S. to the Gulf Coast.
