Pipelines provide significant contributions to the economy. Using the Keystone XL pipeline as an example of this benefit, an estimated $3 billion will be added to the American economy when this project is complete. It would create a similar amount of revenue each year in Canada as well.
Full Answer
Will the Keystone XL pipeline benefit the United States?
President Trump’s approval of the Keystone XL pipeline brought protests from opponents who say it will not benefit the U.S. Every day the equivalent of 830,000 barrels of oil will flow through 1,200 miles of pipeline from Canada to Nebraska.
What happened to Keystone XL?
Keystone XL, an expansion of an existing North American pipeline, would have carried 830,000 barrels of crude oil from Alberta, Canada, to Nebraska daily at its peak. At the time Mr. Biden halted its construction, the $8 billion expansion was only about 8% complete, according to Reuters.
How many people would it take to maintain Keystone XL?
As for Keystone XL, it would need a mere 50 people to maintain it -- 35 employees and 15 contractors -- according to TransCanada. During construction, towns along the pipeline’s path are likely to see local booms in business, as workers spend money on lodging, food and entertainment.
Is Keystone XL a symbiotic relationship with the US?
“ [Keystone XL] is a perfect symbiotic relationship,” says Phil Skolnick, New York-based analyst with Eight Capital. “This is a way better thing to have than to continue to be relying on Middle East oil. There’s very low political risk when it comes to barrels coming from Canada to the US.
What would the Keystone pipeline do for the US?
Keystone XL would have crossed agriculturally important and environmentally sensitive areas, including hundreds of rivers, streams, aquifers, and water bodies. One was Nebraska's Ogallala Aquifer, which provides drinking water for millions as well as 30 percent of America's irrigation water.
What are the pros of the Keystone pipeline?
Economic Advantages Keystone XL will contribute more than $3 billion towards U.S. GDP. Taxes paid by the project will mostly benefit the towns and counties it passes through. Tax revenues for counties along the pipeline route is expected to increase by at least 10% for more than half of these counties.
Does the US own the Keystone pipeline?
The Keystone Pipeline System is an oil pipeline system in Canada and the United States, commissioned in 2010 and owned by TC Energy and as of 31 March 2020 the Government of Alberta.
What are the negatives of the Keystone pipeline?
10 Reasons Why the Keystone XL Pipeline is a Terrible IdeaIt won't create more jobs. ... The pipeline will run dangerously close to drinking water. ... Bad Water. ... Gas prices will rise. ... There will inevitably be spills. ... The Keystone XL is in the United States, not for the United States. ... Greenhouse Gases and Climate Change.More items...
Who shut down the Keystone pipeline?
TransCanada shut down a portion of the Keystone XL Pipeline after they "reported a spill of about 187 gallons of crude oil" near the Freeman pump station in Hutchinson County, South Dakota.
What are the disadvantages of oil pipelines?
Disadvantages of Pipelines:It is not flexible, i.e., it can be used only for a few fixed points.Its capacity cannot be increased once it is laid. ADVERTISEMENTS:It is difficult to make security arrangements for pipelines.Underground pipelines cannot be easily repaired and detection of leakage is also difficult.
Why was the Keystone pipeline stopped?
Keystone XL was halted by owner TC Energy after U.S. President Joe Biden this year revoked a key permit needed for a U.S. stretch of the 1,200-mile project.
How long would it take to complete the Keystone pipeline?
When Biden revoked the permit on January 20, 2021, TC Energy completed just over 90 miles of a pipeline supposed to extend across 1,200 miles. Considering this construction history and the inevitable lawsuits the pipeline would have faced again, completion in three years might be wishful thinking.
What happened to the Keystone pipeline?
"The Keystone XL pipeline project was terminated in June 2021 and will not proceed," TC Energy said in an email. "TC Energy has now disposed of almost all of its project-related assets in South Dakota," the Canadian company said in a new report that lists the steps it's taken to exit the state.
Who benefits from Keystone XL pipeline?
Communities throughout Canada and the U.S., including Alberta, Saskatchewan, Montana, South Dakota and Nebraska, have shown their support for Keystone XL Pipeline. These communities and businesses along the pipeline route are poised to benefit from construction and long-term operation of the pipeline.
Is the Keystone pipeline good for the environment?
Keystone XL and Wildlife No matter how you look at it, Keystone XL would be bad for wildlife, especially endangered species. Many imperiled species live along the proposed pipeline's path and in areas where tar-sands oil is produced. If the pipeline were built, it would decimate habitat these species rely on.
What Is Keystone XL?
The Keystone XL pipeline extension, proposed by TC Energy (then TransCanada) in 2008, was initially designed to transport the planet’s dirtiest fossil fuel, tar sands oil, to market —and fast. As an expansion of the company’s existing Keystone Pipeline System, which has been operating since 2010 (and continues to send Canadian tar sands crude oil from Alberta to various processing hubs in the middle of the United States), the pipeline promised to dramatically increase capacity to process the 168 billion barrels of crude oil locked up under Canada’s boreal forest. It was expected to transport 830,000 barrels of Alberta tar sands oil per day to refineries on the Gulf Coast of Texas.
How many times has the Keystone pipeline leaked?
Since it first went into operation in 2010, TC Energy’s original Keystone Pipeline System has leaked more than a dozen times; one incident in North Dakota sent a 60-foot, 21,000-gallon geyser of tar sands oil spewing into the air.
How much oil would be transported by Keystone XL?
To be precise, it would transport 830,000 barrels of Alber ta tar sands oil per day to refineries on the Gulf Coast of Texas. Some 3 million miles of oil and gas pipelines already run through our country. But Keystone XL wouldn’t be your average pipeline, and tar sand oil isn’t your average crude.
Why is it so hard to clean up tar sands oil?
And when tar sands oil does spill, it’s more difficult to clean up than conventional crude because it immediately sinks to the bottom of the waterway. People and wildlife coming into contact with tar sands oil are exposed to toxic chemicals, and rivers and wetland environments are at particular risk from a spill.
How does tar sands affect the environment?
All facets of the tar sands industry pose a threat to the environment. Its mines are a blight on Canada’s boreal, where mining operations dig up and flatten forests to access the oil below, destroying wildlife habitat and one of the world’s largest carbon sinks. The mining depletes and pollutes freshwater resources, creates massive ponds of toxic waste, and threatens the health and livelihood of the First Nations people who live near them. Refining the sticky black gunk produces piles of petroleum coke, a hazardous, coal-like by-product. What’s more, the whole process of getting the oil out and making it usable creates three to four times the carbon pollution of conventional crude extraction and processing. “This isn’t your grandfather’s typical oil,” says Anthony Swift, director of NRDC’s Canada project. “It’s nasty stuff.”
What would happen if Keystone XL was fully realized?
A fully realized Keystone XL would lead to more mining of that “nasty stuff” by accelerating the pace at which it’s produced and transported. (Indeed, Keystone XL was viewed as a necessary ingredient in the oil industry’s plans to triple tar sands production by 2030.)
How many jobs will KXL create?
When TC Energy said the pipeline would create nearly 119,000 jobs, a State Department report instead concluded the project would require fewer than 2,000 two-year construction jobs and that the number of full-time, permanent jobs would hover around 35 after construction.
How many jobs will Keystone XL create?
President Trump on Tuesday predicted the revived projects would create 28,000 jobs in the U.S. But job claims for Keystone XL, the larger of the two, have been all over the map. TransCanada, the owner of the pipeline, said in 2011 that it would create 20,000 direct jobs in the U.S. and support an additional 118,000. The State Department, in a review that ultimately denied the project permit, noted that a total of 42,000 jobs would be created directly and indirectly during the pipeline’s construction, which is estimated to take a year.
What pipelines did Trump build?
President Donald Trump announced Tuesday that construction would move forward on the Keystone XL and Dakota Access pipelines , both of which had stalled under the Obama administration. The decision was a blow to environmental activists and supporters of tribal sovereignty, but was touted by the White House as a great boost to the American economy.
How much will the Dakota Access pipeline generate?
The projects would also increase local tax revenue. Once the Dakota Access pipeline is operational, it will generate about $55 million in property taxes, split across four states, according to estimates.
How much tax revenue will be generated from Keystone XL?
Construction of Keystone XL would cause a short-term tax revenue increase (primarily from sales and use taxes) of $66 million. Once the pipeline is operating, 27 counties will collect an additional $56 million in taxes. The pipeline won’t affect property values, according to the government.
What happens during the Dakota Access pipeline?
During construction, towns along the pipeline’s path are likely to see local booms in business, as workers spend money on lodging, food and entertainment. This has already happened along the Dakota Access corridor. However, like the construction jobs that fuel it, the boom is temporary.
How much did the BP oil spill cost?
The five-year cleanup of BP’s oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, starting in 2010, cost the company $62 billion. That doesn’t include the cost of decreased tourism, diminished wildlife and land that becomes unusable. It also doesn’t account for potential long-term health effects.
How much does it cost to clean up an oil spill?
Cleaning up oil spills costs on average $16 per gallon, according to Resources for the Future, a nonprofit that focuses on environmental issues. But the range of costs varies enormously -- from $630 a gallon to $7 a gallon -- based on where the cleanup occurs, such as land or water, urban or rural areas.
Why is Keystone XL bad?
The pipeline passes through an active earthquake zone. One bad spill could permanently poison the Ogallala Aquifer, which provides drinking water to millions of people, and 30 percent of our irrigation.
What are the Chinese doing to the world supply chain?
Chinese leaders have seized key elements of the world industrial supply chain, like rare earths. According to our government, they engage in pervasive industrial espionage. They have threatened American companies like Apple, Google and Walmart. In short, they know how to play the game.
What is the Chinese economy?
The Chinese economy consists of taking raw materials and energy, making that into stuff, and then selling that stuff — a/k/a “manufacturing.”. Chinese leaders understand that in order for that model to work, China needs steady supplies of raw materials and energy.
Does the pipeline pass through earthquake zones?
The pipeline passes through an active earthquake zone. One bad spill could permanently poison the Ogallala Aquifer, which provides drinking water to millions of people, and 30 percent of our irrigation. Here is another reason, perhaps the best reason of all: It doesn’t do us any good. China, yes.
Where do the Chinese get their energy from?
Well, the Chinese have figured it out. They’re going to get their energy from Canada, a stable country, and pass it through the United States, another stable country. They will pay the Canadians the world price for oil. They will pay us nothing, or next to nothing. So Uncle Sam is Uncle Sucker.
Is Keystone pipeline good?
Here is another reason, perhaps the best reason of all: It doesn't do us any good. China, yes. The Koch Brothers (who own the refining capacity that would be used), yes. Us, no.
Does China trade with the US?
And not for the first time. For the past decade, China has pursued an utterly unscrupulous and incredibly successful strategy in “trade” with the United States. China has been importing from the United States roughly $50 billion in goods each year, much of it food, raw materials and energy.
What does Biden mean by revoking Keystone?
Indeed, by revoking Keystone’s permit, President Biden is relegating these workers to the unemployment line, when our country can ill afford to strain our already overstressed unemployment system.
How has Keystone pipeline affected Oklahoma?
Again, the impact will be felt not just in Oklahoma: The pipeline here increases the transport of oil to Cushing, one of the largest transshipment and oil-storage locations in the world.
What was the impact report on Keystone XL?
In fact, the impact report stated that the State Department expected extraction of oil in Canada and changes to the environment “regardless of any potential effects” from the Keystone XL project.
How many jobs will the pipeline create?
In response to the president’s decision, lawmakers have introduced legislation to mandate continuation of the project, estimating that the pipeline’s expansion would create 11,000 “direct high-paying jobs” and “up to 60,000 indirect and direct jobs.”
How many jobs would be destroyed by the executive order?
Also, despite the president’s supposed priorities, the executive order would lead to the destruction of 10,000 union jobs, as well as the $500 million allocated for indigenous suppliers and a $10 million fund for green-jobs training.
Is the Keystone pipeline good?
Killing the Keystone XL pipeline does no tangible good and will doubtless cause harm to countless Americans, and even to the environment that the decision pledges to protect.
Is Keystone XL a no brainer?
To anyone truly interested in optimizing health and human safety for the American people and our friends in Canada — as well as protecting the environment and promoting well-paying jobs — supporting Keystone XL is a no-brainer.
Why would Canadian oil producers choose Keystone XL?
Why Canadian crude oil producers would choose Keystone XL when other pipelines to the US are running well below capacity has much to do with diversifying away from the US market to more lucrative markets in Europe, China, and other Asian countries, Verleger and others argue. Trends seem to support this thesis.
Why do environmentalists oppose the pipeline?
But others, including environmentalists who oppose the pipeline mainly because extracting oil from tar sands releases more greenhouse gases than other methods of harvesting oil, also argue the pipeline will do little or nothing to boost US energy security and will actually lead to higher oil prices in the Midwest.
How much oil would Keystone XL move?
According to this premise, Keystone XL would move up to 830,000 barrels of Canadian crude south each day, boosting economic activity by billions of dollars and creating thousands of new jobs – though their precise number is hotly disputed.
How will the Whitfield pipeline help the price of gasoline?
In an e-mailed statement, Whitfield's press secretary adds that the pipeline “will help lower the price of gasoline by bringing more oil supply to the market ” and says the Department of Energy “specifically states that gasoline prices in all connected markets would go down.”
How long does it take to approve the pipeline?
That bill would strip the president of authority to block the project and give the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission 30 days to approve the pipeline. But most of the heated partisan rhetoric over job creation and gasoline prices glosses over ...
How much did farmers spend on fuel in 2009?
US farmers who spent $12.4 billion on fuel in 2009 could see those costs rise to $15 billion or higher if the pipeline goes through, he projects. At least $500 million of the added cost “would come from the Canadian market manipulation,” he wrote.
Will the TransCanada pipeline increase the price of oil?
In hearings last May and December, TransCanada officials admitted to US legislators that the pipeline will indeed increase the price paid for Canadian oil in the Midwest – but suggested those higher crude oil prices would not necessarily mean higher gasoline prices in that region.
How many barrels of oil were released from the pipeline in 2011?
The number of crude oil releases from pipelines that were greater than 500 barrels is down by 32% since 2011. Most of the incidents that do occur don’t impact the general public either, with 71% of reported incidents wholly contained with the operation facility where it occurred.
How are pipeline operators prepared for an incident?
Pipeline operators are also prepared for the unlikely event of an incident by using control room tech that can stop the flow of liquids instantly. There are emergency response plans, resource deployment procedures, and frequent communication with first responders to ensure that any adverse impact is limited.
How many branches are there to the Keystone pipeline?
There is a main trunk line and eight branches to it. In comparison, the Keystone XL pipeline that generates controversy because of its placement is planned to be 1,897 kilometers upon completion. It would transport up to 830,000 barrels of oil each day for processing.
Why are pipelines important?
Pipelines are useful in the transmission of liquid items from one location to another. You have this technology in your home because a pipe drain takes sewage away from your property to the wastewater treatment plant. Fresh water supplies are available at your faucet because a pipe brings water to your property – even if you have a well drilled to access this resource. We also use pipelines to move energy products, such as crude oil, in as efficient a manner as possible.
How long is the West East pipeline?
The global oil and gas energy have some of the longest ones operating that have ever been created. The West-East Gas Pipeline stretches for over 8,700 kilometers, with PetroChina owning a 72% interest in the project. There is a main trunk line and eight branches to it.
What was the worst oil leak in history?
The worst leak in history when using this technology was the Persian Gulf War Oil Spill that released hundreds of millions of gallons of oil into the northern waters of the gulf as a way to prevent amphibious troops from landing. The Deepwater Horizon spill in 2010 killed 11, injured 17, and released 134 million gallons of oil.
Why do leaks occur?
The reasons for an incident are varied, but 24% of the time a leak occurs because of excavation damage. Another 18% of the primary causes are directly attributed to corrosion. 17% of leaks are caused by an equipment, weld, or material failure. The vast majority of the incidents have occurred in California and Texas as well – the two states with the longest history of oil and gas development.
Will all the oil from the Keystone XL pipeline be exported?
President Trump’s approval of the Keystone XL pipeline brought protests from opponents who say it will not benefit the U.S.
Why is the Keystone pipeline important?
The Keystone XL pipeline was designed to transport oil to the Gulf Coast because refineries in the region are already equipped to process heavier crude oils, like those found in Canada’s Alberta province. The same kind of crude oil comes to the region from Latin America. If the pipeline transfers as much crude oil to the Gulf Coast as ...
Where does Keystone XL pipeline go?
What gets exported. The Keystone XL pipeline will transport crude oil from Alberta, Canada to Nebraska. The oil will then flow through another pipeline to Gulf Coast refineries, where it will be refined into petroleum products like gasoline.
Where does the Gulf Coast get its oil from?
The Gulf Coast imported more than 3.3 million barrels of crude oil a day in 2016. Most of that oil came from Latin America and the Middle East. Only 9 percent of the crude oil imported to the Gulf Coast came from Canada. The Keystone XL pipeline was designed to transport oil to the Gulf Coast because refineries in the region are already equipped ...
Why did Maine reverse the minimum wage?
After the minimum wage for tipped workers was raised in Maine, the state "reversed that decision due to restaurant employees organizing en masse against the measure."
Is Gillibrand correct?
Gillibrand suggests the crude oil imported through the pipeline would be immediately exported to other countries once it reaches the Gulf Coast. Experts say that is not the case. "I don't believe that she is correct," said Mark Bateau, Director of the Energy Institute at the University of Michigan.
Does Keystone XL have oil?
The Keystone XL pipeline "doesn’t even have any oil for America.". The Keystone Steele City pumping station in Nebraska. The Keystone XL pipeline is supposed to connect to the station / Credit: Associated Press, 2015.
Root of The Problem
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