Essay On Keystone Pipeline

The Keystone Pipeline System has been a major source of crude oil import for the U.S. in recent years. According to The New York Times, the Keystone alone supplies about a half million barrels of oil per day, which is almost a quarter of the total amount that Canada sends; Canada is the largest exporter of crude oil to the United States, supplying over 2 million barrels every day (Kraus; Keystone 293). The Keystone XL is one of the extension projects to boost the output of the existing system by building a pipeline that stretches over a thousand mile from “Alberta, Canada to Steel City, Nebraska, [and it is estimated to supply] 830,000 barrels a day” by converging with delivery points at Cushing, Oklahoma and Texas, then finally reaching

oil industry by increasing supply and lowering the price, creating new jobs, developing pipeline infrastructure, etc., but most importantly, it will enhance U.S. energy security. Of course, there are many other pipeline systems around the country, including America’s own resources, which can take care of a considerable amount of its oil needs. The question is why only this Canadian pipeline construction would receive so much attention and criticisms, while the others didn’t, since building Keystone pipeline or extension pipeline is apparently not a new proposal. The answer could be that certain environmental externalities associated with the project needed to be addressed more carefully than other pipelines. However, there are several reasons why Keystone XL pipeline should be built, which essentially outweighs its projected environmental risks and spillovers to the nature and

has been the argument that the pipeline will be built relatively close to some of the environmentally sensitive areas in the United States. In its environmental analysis, the State Department states that the pipeline will cross the Ogallala Aquifer which is the major source of groundwater that supplies over three quarters of the Nebraska community water needs and about a quarter of the water used in agriculture for the whole country. It also reports that over “200 public water supply wells are within [one] mile of the … centerline” (Environmental 300). Although the risk of spills and possible contamination of the water is hard to quantify, they can occur. The National Resources Defense Council claimed the Keystone XL operations will more likely involve accidents because oil sands have greater potential to cause corrosions to pipelines compared to other crudes. However, the U.S. Department of State argues that the crude oils that are going to be delivered by the Keystone XL pipeline is essentially the same in make up as the ones being supplied to America’s Gulf Coast refineries right now. It also mentions about then Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s argument that either way, the U.S. will depend on “dirty oil from the Gulf or dirty oil from Canada ….” until the discovery of cleaner technologies becomes possible (Keystone 295). Furthermore, it is important to note that