The Keystone XL Pipeline will have a negative impact on the environment if the proposal to build it passes.

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The Keystone XL Pipeline will have a negative
impact on the environment if the proposal to
build it passes.

• By Darrel Bagiotti

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The Issue!

• The Keystone XL Pipeline is a proposed business
  plan by TransCanada a leading energy company in
  Canada, to pump crude oil from Albert, Canadas
  tar sands to Texass Gulf Coast.
• The project will connect underground pipes 1,700
  miles across the nation carrying the expected
  900,000 barrels of oil daily.
• It is a heated debate because one side argues the
  economic benefits to having foreign oil pumped
  directly into the United States, compared to the
  opposing side arguing the Keystone XL Pipeline
  will have a negative impact on the environmental.
• Knowing the dirty truth about the negative
  environmental impacts due to tar sands, it
  doesnt seem like our best judgment to use it.
• If the Keystone XL Pipeline proposal is signed it
  will have a negative impact on the environment.

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The science and technology behind the issue.

• Technology in the context I am using it may be
  different then what some may think when they hear
  the word. Amy E. Wendling author of Karl Marx on
  Technology and Alienation quotes Marx in stating,
  technology exemplifies the interaction between
  human beings and nature (Wendling 1). In
  relation to the Keystone XL Pipeline this
  definition of technology is exactly what this
  issue is about, conflict between humans and
  nature.
• I prefer the definition from Jeffrey A. Lee
  author of the book The Scientific Endeavor who
  writes Science is a way of learning about
  things it is a process we use to improve our
  understanding of the universe and all that is in
  it (Lee 1). Using data and information collected
  about tar sands and the negative impact they have
  on the environment, I dont think we are
  improving our understanding of all things if we
  know something we are doing is bad but continue
  to do it.

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The Science

• What are tar sands?
• Tar sands are a combination of clay, sand, water,
  and bitumen, a very black viscous oil.
• Tar sands extraction emits more GHG emissions
  then any other energy extraction process.
• Knowing what tar sands are and how they have a
  negative impact on our environment, I dont think
  we are paying attention to the data and
  statistics scientist have been putting out about
  tar sands.

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Technology

• Open pit mining.
• Enormous shovels dig up the tar sands and
  transfer the tar sands in giant trucks to the
  extraction plant.
• . At the extraction plant, the hot water process
  separates the bitumen form sand, water, and
  minerals. The separation takes place in
  separation cells, the combination of hot water
  and agitation releases bitumen from the oil sand,
  and causes tiny air bubbles to attach to the
  bitumen droplets, that float to the top of the
  separation vessel, where the bitumen can be
  skimmed off. The bitumen is then brought to
  another station where it is eventually upgraded
  into synthetic crude oil (EIS 1).

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Fun Facts about the Keystone XL Pipeline

• Tar sands emits 3x more GHG compared to
  conventional oil extraction.
• Tar sands extraction requires strip mining huge
  tracts of pristine forest. An area the size of
  Florida is slated for extraction.
• In its 2006 pipeline risk assessment for the
  U.S. State Department permit application,
  TransCanada predicted that Keystone would see one
  spill in 7 years. There has been 12 spills in one
  year.

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Ethical Views

• Over 1,100 people have been arrested protesting
  against the project.
• Is it worth the risk having this pipeline run
  across our nation near major aquifers that
  provide adequate drinking water for millions of
  people?
• People argue though that we need jobs in America
  and this project will create thousands of jobs in
  the U.S.

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Economics

• 13 billion dollar project
• Canadas economy relies on crude oil and the
  United States relies on the crude oil to support
  our demand for oil.
• The project will create 20,000 direct high wage
  jobs.
• States along the projected pipeline will receive
  5.2billion in property taxes.

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Crunching the Numbers

• The pipeline is expected to flow 900,000 barrels
  of oil daily and with one barrel of oil in the
  U.S costing roughly 100, TransCanada will make
  900 million every ten days.
• About two tons of tar sands are required to
  produce one barrel of crude oil. This means
  roughly 1.8million tons of tar sands are required
  to meet the 900,000 barrels of oil daily.
• Trucks carry up to 320 tons of tar sands per
  load. This means 5,625 trucks will be needed to
  carry the 1.8 million tons of tar sands daily.

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The Future

• Use alternative energy sources such as wind
  turbines, they have been around since 900 A.D and
  they are a eco-friendly way to produce energy.
• Cuba survived peak oil, so there is hope that a
  nation can go through peak oil and come out
  strong.
• Stop the megaload now!!
• http//www.wearepowershift.org/
• Protest agaisnt the Keystone XL Pipeline

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Work Cited

• "Alberta Energy Facts and Statistics." Alberta
  Energy. 9 Sept. 2011. Web. 28 Sept.
• 2011. lthttp//www.energy.alberta.ca/OilSands/791
  .aspgt.
• Drug Gangsters, Zetas. "Goldman Sachs Drives Up
  Oil Futures Culture of Life News." Culture of
  Life News Culture of Life News the Blog Is
  Mightier than the Sword. Ruthless Analysis of
  History and Modern Events. 4 June 2009. Web. 29
  Sept. 2011. lthttp//emsnews.wordpress.com/2009/0
  6/04/goldman-sachs-drives-up- oil-futures/gt.
• Feed, Sam Abuelsamid RSS. "Shell Plans to
  Quadruple Canadian Oil Sands Production."
  AutoblogGreen -- We Obsessively Cover the Green
  Scene. 27 June 2007. Web. 29 Sept. 2011.
  lthttp//green.autoblog.com/2007/01/27/shell-plans-
  to-quadruple- canadian-oil-sands-production/gt.
• Katusa, Marin. "Securing the Insecure U.S. Oil
  Imports - Undesignated - Resource Investor."
  Resource Investor - News and Investment Insights
  on Mining, Drilling and Piping Sectors, Products
  and Companies. 7 Oct. 2008. Web. 28 Sept. 2011.
  lthttp//www.resourceinvestor.com/News/2008/7/Page
  s/Securing-the-Insecure--U-S--Oil-Imports.aspxgt.
• Tar Sands Basics. (2003). Oil Shale and Tar Sands
  Information Center. ESI. Retrieved September
  23, 2011, from http//ostseis.anl.gov/guide/tarsan
  ds/index.cfm
• Keystone Pipeline Project. (2011, August 29).
  TransCanada Corporation Home. Retrieved September
  08, 2011, from http//www.transcanada.com/keystone
  .html
• Lee, J. A. (2000). The scientific endeavor a
  primer on scientific principles and practice.
  San Francisco, CA, CA Benjamin Cummings.
• Wendling, A. E. (2009). Karl Marx on Technology
  And Alienation. Basingstoke, NY Palgrave
  Macmillan.