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Nov 7, 2015 · We're speaking of President Obama's announcement yesterday that he has decided to reject the Keystone XL oil pipeline project. The pipeline would have carried crude oil from Canada to U.S....
Mar 15, 2022 · March 15, 2022. Pipeline under construction in Alberta, Canada. rblood via Flickr, CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. The takedown of the notorious Keystone XL (KXL) tar sands pipeline will go down as one of...
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Why is the Keystone XL pipeline so controversial?
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Will the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline go down?
Why is Keystone XL so important?
- Overview
- 1. The pipeline has a complicated history.
- 2. The pipeline may impact wildlife.
- 3. The pipeline may increase oil production.
- 4. Will the pipeline contribute to climate change?
- 5. The pipeline’s mixed picture on jobs.
As Nebraska signed off today on a proposal to build the Keystone XL Pipeline, here's how the project will likely impact the environment, people, and jobs.
The proposed Keystone XL oil pipeline has been a lightning rod for controversy and a symbol of the wider fight over the future of energy production and climate change policy over the past several years. On Monday the Nebraska Public Service Commission voted 3-2 to allow pipeline company TransCanada to move forward with finishing a section of the $8 billion, 1,179-mile project across state lands.
The Keystone XL pipeline was first proposed nine years ago, during the rise of the tar sands oil boom in Alberta. But the project has faced intense environmental, tribal, and political opposition for years.
President Donald Trump announced in March that he was granting approval to the Keystone XL Pipeline, after he had vowed support for the project while campaigning for office. The Obama administration had previously ruled against the pipeline in November 2015, in large part citing an overall effort to turn away from fossil fuels on the road to addressing climate change. But in March, Trump said the pipeline would be “the first of many infrastructure projects” to stimulate jobs (see a map of the route).
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What is the Keystone XL Pipeline?
TransCanada, the Calgary-based company behind the pipeline, was issued the construction permit from the State Department the same day.
The pipeline has been a hot-button issue for years, pitting the fossil-fuel industry against many environmentalists, who have said the project will increase the country’s reliance on oil (particularly dirty oil from Canada’s vast tar sands), harm sensitive lands and wildlife along its course, and signal to the world that the U.S. has not yet gotten serious about addressing the greenhouse gases that cause global warming. The country should invest more in renewable alternatives, a coalition of green groups has argued. (Learn about a young writer's five-month journey down the pipeline's proposed route.)
Opponents have warned that the pipeline could endanger many animals and their habitats in the U.S. and Canada through the infrastructure’s construction, maintenance, and possible failures that could lead to an oil spill.
The critically endangered whooping crane is at risk of flying into new power lines that would be constructed to keep oil pumping through the Keystone XL pipeline, the National Wildlife Federation has said.
While the greater sage-grouse isn’t officially an endangered species, it has already lost some of its habitat, and the Keystone XL pipeline route is close enough to areas where grouse mate that noise from roads, pumping stations, and construction could impact the breeding success of this shy bird. The Keystone XL pipeline route would go through most of the remaining locations of the swift fox, a tiny canid about the size of a house cat. The U.S. State Department’s Environmental Impact Report also said that some American burying beetles will be killed and their habitats destroyed by the pipeline, though the agency added that a monitoring and habitat-restoration program would help mitigate losses and the species wouldn’t be seriously threatened.
After initial opposition, TransCanada agreed to change its planned pipeline route to go around the environmentally sensitive Nebaska Sandhills, bury the pipeline deeper in the ground than they had planned, and closely monitor the pipeline’s safety. These steps are intended to help minimize the harm of an oil spill if one happens.
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Related: What Are Fossil Fuels, Anyway?
Once built, about 830,000 barrels of heavy crude oil per day will flow from Alberta, Canada, to the refineries along the U.S. Gulf Coast, which are built to handle the kind of heavy crude oil that comes out of the tar sands. Those refineries need crude oil in order to function and to support the people who work there, and places like Mexico and Ven...
Many climate activists have opposed the pipeline on the suspicion that it may increase our reliance on, and use, of fossil fuels, and further delay investment in more renewable technologies. However, a direct connection to this possibility has been hard to establish.
The State Department said in a 2014 assessment that the Keystone XL pipeline would have no additional impact on greenhouse gas emissions because the oil would be extracted from tar sands in Canada at the same rate anyways, regardless of whether or not the pipeline was built. The oil companies did have other options available, including sending their product via trains (which can increase risk of accidents), and other pipeline routes.
The State Department estimates that the Keystone XL pipeline would create 42,100 jobs over the one to two years of the pipeline’s construction and would create 50 permanent jobs. It would also contribute to keeping oil refinery jobs along the Gulf.
However, environmentalists counter that more jobs could be created quicker in renewable energy. Last year, solar employed more people than traditional coal, oil, and gas combined, they point out. (See dramatic pictures of solar and wind energy.)
Mar 18, 2021 · On the first day of Biden’s presidency, he issued an executive order canceling the Keystone XL pipeline — making good on his promise to the climate activists who helped get him elected, but...
Jan 27, 2021 · 26 January 2021. By Holly Honderich,BBC News, Washington. Getty Images. The massive project was meant to span Canada and the US. Within hours of taking office, President Joe Biden signed an...
Oct 14, 2011 · by Lois Beckett. Oct. 14, 2011, 11:40 a.m. EDT. UPDATE (January 18, 2012): Today, the Obama administration denied a permit for the proposed Keystone XL pipeline. In October, we explained why the...
Jul 17, 2022 · Commodities. Oil. Keystone XL Pipeline: What it Means, How it Works. By. James Chen. Updated July 17, 2022. Reviewed by Andy Smith. Fact checked by Marcus Reeves. What Is the Keystone XL...
