Turning the key placed into the car, the machine suddenly grumbles, gasoline pumping throughout the system. It is understandable that the power needed to move from point A to B is generally provided by oil, but have you ever considered the importance of this substance to our country? Oil, is used by almost, if not every American daily. In fact, it is something that we as a nation can not live without. How we get this oil is just as important, and brings up heated debates about the options of transportation, one of which being the Keystone XL pipeline. Running from Alberta oil deposits to refineries in the Gulf of Mexico, the pipeline would be able to pump oil in a direct path, as an extension of the Keystone pipeline that already exists. Competing …show more content…
New materials are manufactured and implemented throughout construction to ensure the safety and strength of the pipeline, limiting the environmental impacts and providing a sense of security to the people it quietly flows past. Compared to other methods of oil transportation, the pipeline is a much better option for the environment, consumers, and populations around it. In the article “Keystone XL: Safest Pipeline Ever Built” by the Consumer Energy Alliance, it is said that “according to U.S. Department of Transportation Statistics, pipelines are 451 times safer than rail on a per mile basis.” Keystone XL is to be created to protect the land where it travels through as well as complete its purpose of providing oil to the Gulf of Mexico refineries. 830,000 barrels of oil would be transported daily along the pipeline, taking nearly 5,000 trucks and rail cars away from heavily populated areas, virtually eliminating the chance for deadly oil explosions. Safety for the people close to the pathway should be of utmost importance, and it is provided with the steps and materials placed into the pipeline. Furthermore, the ecosystems around the tested Keystone XL are protected with advanced detection systems that search for the slightest drop in pressure and shut off the pipeline immediately. Richard Gonzales from NPR explains that a spill that had occurred on the less advanced Keystone pipeline was “completely isolated with 15 minutes and emergency procedures were activated.” Previous spills from pipelines have been relatively small in size, especially in comparison with other means of transportation. Leaks are now detected much faster than before, and with new advances in cleaning up the oil, cause small damage to the land that previously would have been in danger. Extracting the oil has also been improved