Full Answer
What are the benefits of Keystone XL pipeline?
On his first day in office, he canceled the Keystone XL pipeline, which would have supported thousands ... change as a rationale for canceling domestic energy initiatives that benefit average Americans. But his arguments don’t hold up under scrutiny.
Does the Keystone Pipeline affect gas prices?
There is already a Keystone pipeline that is shipping tar sands crude to Texas for refining; the XL is a shortcut and capacity increase. But with global demand low for oil products, having another pipeline on or off the permit table doesn’t change the price of anything.
What are facts about Keystone Pipeline?
Quick Facts
- Keystone XL 329 miles (529 km) in Canada (Hardisty, Alta., to Monchy, Sask.)
- 840 miles (1,351 km) in the United States (Phillips County, Mont. to Steele City, Neb.)
- 36-inch diameter pipeline Capacity of 830,000 barrels per day
Why to stop the Keystone Pipeline?
The Canadian company behind Keystone XL, TC Energy, operates a pipeline which spilled thousands of gallons of oil in South Dakota in 2017 and North Dakota in 2019. Activists and tribal members say the pipeline endangers water quality, breaks tribal land treaties and pipeline construction brings the threat of human trafficking.
What are the benefits of the Keystone pipeline?
The Keystone XL Pipeline will contribute to energy security, create tens of thousands of high-quality employment and local contracting opportunities as well as provide a substantial economic benefit to local communities across Canada and the United States.
Who does the Keystone pipeline supply?
US crude oilThe Keystone Pipeline System plays a key role in delivering Canadian and US crude oil supplies to markets around North America. It stretches 4,324 km (2,687 miles) from Alberta to refineries in Illinois, Oklahoma and the US Gulf Coast.
How does the Keystone Pipeline benefit the economy?
The Keystone XL pipeline is a 2,700-‐kilometer pipeline that stretches from central Alberta, Canada to the American Gulf Coast. It creates the ability for Canadian oil to reach the United States as well as other international markets with ease. There are numerous benefits that this pipeline creates for Canada.
What is bad about Keystone pipeline?
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.
Where does the oil from the Keystone pipeline go?
Operating since 2010, the original Keystone Pipeline System is a 3,461-kilometre (2,151 mi) pipeline delivering Canadian crude oil to U.S. Midwest markets and Cushing, Oklahoma.
Why the Keystone XL pipeline should be built?
Why do we need Keystone XL? The U.S. continues to import about 9.1 million barrels of oil a day from 90 countries across the globe. When completed, Keystone XL will play a critical role in connecting the world's third largest oil reserve with the world's largest refining market at the U.S. Gulf Coast.
Who are the stakeholders in the Keystone pipeline?
Proponents of the Keystone XL Pipeline, including high-level Canadian officials and U.S. and Canadian petroleum industry stakeholders, base their arguments supporting the pipeline primarily on increasing the security and diversity of the U.S. petroleum supply and economic benefits, especially jobs.
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 do pipelines affect the economy?
Pipelines help keep costs low for important consumer goods like gasoline, natural gas and heating oil. These lower prices provide a direct benefit not only to consumers, but also to producers, distributors and manufacturers of all sizes across the supply chain.
What is the issue with the pipeline?
Controversial Keystone XL Pipeline Is Halted : NPR. Controversial Keystone XL Pipeline Is Halted TC Energy suspended construction in January when President Biden revoked a key permit. The controversial project was a major flashpoint in the debate over fossil fuels' role in climate change.
Is the Keystone pipeline actually bad for the environment?
In 2015, the Environmental Protection Agency calculated that the energy required to process tar sands oil and transport it through Keystone XL would generate 1.3 billion more tons of greenhouse gas emissions over the pipeline's 50-year lifespan than if it were carrying conventional crude.
Why is the pipeline important?
Pipelines supply the necessary fuel for these daily activities to function and keep our country moving, both physically and economically. Pipelines and the products they carry help provide economic growth for communities across the country.
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.
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 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.
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.
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 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.
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.
Why is Keystone XL being opposed?
Opposition to Keystone XL centers on the devastating environmental consequences of the project. The pipeline has faced years of sustained protests from environmental activists and organizations; Indigenous communities; religious leaders; and the farmers, ranchers, and business owners along its proposed route. One such protest, a historic act of civil disobedience outside the White House in August 2011, resulted in the arrest of more than 1,200 demonstrators. More than 90 leading scientists and economists have opposed the project, in addition to unions and world leaders such as the Dalai Lama, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, and former president Jimmy Carter (together, these and other Nobel laureates have written letters against the project). In 2014, more than two million comments urging a rejection of the pipeline were submitted to the State Department during a 30-day public comment period.
When will Keystone XL be cancelled?
January 20, 2021 Melissa Denchak. UPDATE: June 9, 2021: TC Energy announced that it is canceling the controversial Keystone XL tar sands pipeline, putting an end to a fossil fuel project that endangered waterways, communities, and the climate, which President Biden denied a key permit for on his first day in office.
How much money will the Keystone pipeline contribute to the US economy?
It is believed that the Keystone XL pipeline has the potential to contribute more than $3 billion annually to the US economy once it become operational. It would also create an estimated $2.4 billion (in US dollars) for Canada, which would be split between the government, shareholders, and company reinvestments.
How many jobs will the Keystone pipeline create?
The US State Department has estimated that the construction of the pipeline project could create up to 42,000 jobs over a two-year construction period.
How to remove bitumen from the ground?
According to the New York Times, one method includes using water and natural gas to pump steam into the tar sands , which creates the potential for a toxic runoff. Strip mining is the other option. 2.
How many barrels of oil are in the Keystone pipeline?
The Keystone XL pipeline is a delivery system that is designed to carry over 800,000 barrels of oil sands petroleum per day from Western Canada to oil refineries along the Gulf Coast of the United States. Around half of the pipeline has already been completed, but its construction has always been opposed by various environmentalist groups.
What would happen if Keystone XL went active?
In practical terms: if Keystone XL goes active, it would be the equivalent of adding 5.6 million cars to US roadways every day. 6. Tar sands oil has the potential to be highly corrosive. The oil that will be piped through the Keystone XL extension is some of the most corrosive petroleum that is used today.
Why can Canadian producers raise prices with Keystone?
With Keystone, Canadian producers can raise prices because the quality of the petroleum will be better while they are able to cut into their overhead costs at the same time. 6. The amount of emissions added to the atmosphere from Keystone XL are negligible.
Is the Dakota Access Pipeline related to the Keystone pipeline?
The issues from DAPL are often associated with Keystone XL. The protests from the Dakota Access Pipeline are often associated with the Keystone pipeline. Although the two projects are somewhat similar in what they hope to accomplish, the environmental concerns are slightly different for Keystone.
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.
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.”
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 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.
Did Obama deny the Keystone pipeline?
Yet in January, Mr. Obama, under pressure by Republicans, reiterated his previous decision to deny permission to build the Keystone XL– at least for now. The pipeline “would not serve the national interest at this time,” Dr. Kerri-Ann Jones, an assistant secretary of State, subsequently told the House subcommittee on Energy and Power, citing “unresolved concerns” including energy security, economic effects and environmental impacts.
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.
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 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.”
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.
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.
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.
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.
Does the Gillibrand pipeline affect gas prices?
The U.S. State Department did not respond to most of Gillibrand’s claim but did comment on how the pipeline could affect gas prices. "As the final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement makes clear, gas prices throughout the United States are primarily driven by global market factors," a spokesperson said.
Who is building the TransCanada pipeline?
TransCanada, the company building the pipeline, confirmed in an email that the pipeline was designed to reach refineries in the Gulf Coast region.
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.
Root of The Problem
- It's important to understand what's contributing to the high prices of oil in the first place. Gregory Nemet, professor of public affairs at the University of Wisconsin-Madison's Wisconsin Energy Institute, pointed out that the cost of oil has steadily increased since last fall, when it was around $70 a barrel, to more than $130 last week before se...
More Production, But Higher Costs For Americans
- Even if the pipeline was already built, it wouldn't help with the price at the pump, Nemet added, noting that the U.S. has already doubled its oil production over the last 15 years. "And yet, we still have $100 per barrel oil." With inflation soaring, gas prices have been increasing for months — hitting an average of $4.33 a gallonon March 11, according to AAA. "The key lesson there is the …
Less Oil, Clean Energy Fans Say
- By contrast, Mr. Biden's decision with the International Energy Agency to release 30 million barrels of oilfrom the nation's Strategic Petroleum Reserve puts downward pressure on gas prices in the short-term, Kieve said. The agency will release a total of 60 million barrels of crude to help ease some of the supply disruptions caused by the war Ukraine. "You won't see a lot of environmenta…