Rachele Liba
Professor Whitehead
POSC 100
22 July 2016
Placing a Price on a Green Nation
Having lived a nomadic lifestyle across the United States, I have had the opportunity to witness the wonders of our flourishing society and the everyday turmoils that we face. Rigorous innovation has helped Americans fulfill countless dreams, however with every gift there is a usually a price-tag or opportunity cost. Now in the midst of the general presidential election, platforms that represent our beliefs can undergo much needed reform to address the opportunity costs that were surpassed in the process of success. Among the various problems found in our society, a key movement that has raised necessary controversy has to do with environmental policy.
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While Hillary Clinton’s proposal would be a huge step forward in modernizing America’s energy infrastructure, her refusal to acknowledge a carbon tax is unsettling if one references her background and affiliations as Secretary of State. One of the most controversial issues posed by Hillary Clinton is the Keystone XL scandal. Keystone XL pipeline project is the extension of TransCanada 's Keystone pipeline, that would have transported 830,000 barrels of dirty oil from Canada to refineries in Texas. The project sparked enormous environmental controversy due to various factors. Citizens who live in the path of the pipeline are experiencing eminent domain lawsuits being brought against them where TransCanada is forcefully confiscating land from homeowner and farmers. The environmental argument is coming from a clash over the fact they are basically stripping the canadian boreal forest, the path of the pipeline extends across major aquifers, and pipelines tend to leak and destroy surrounding environments. In addition ccording to The Center for Climate and Energy Solutions State, “epartment’s draft SEIS found that oil from the Canadian oil sands is 17 percent more carbon-intensive than the average oil consumed in the United States... It is estimated that the U.S. greenhouse gas footprint would increase by 3 million to 21 million metric tons per year, or around 0.04 percent to 0.3 percent of the 2010 levels, if Keystone is built. Fortunately on November 6, 2015, President Barack Obama’s administration rejected the Keystone Pipeline XL after 7 years of dispute. As mentioned in the Wall Street Journal, Obama stated “the project would not have lowered gas prices, improved energy security or made a meaningful long-term contribution to the economy