General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsThe GOP Keystone Cop Scheme
Tea Partied Republican Congressional members, 2012 GOP presidential candidates, and Right Wing cable news network and radio talk show hosts are criticizing the President for rejecting a permit for the Keystone XL pipeline with the LIE that his decision threatens to destroy TENS OF THOUSANDS of jobs. Here are the facts:
CBSnews.com reports that the U.S. State Department calculated last year that the underground pipeline would add 5,000 to 6,000 U.S. jobs while a subsequent INDEPENDENT review of Keystone puts that number EVEN LOWER, with the Cornell University Global Labor Institute finding that the pipeline would ADD ONLY 500 1,400 TEMPORARY construction jobs. Cornell researchers concluded that the construction of KXL will create FAR FEWER jobs in the U.S. then its proponents have claimed AND may actually DESTROY more jobs than it generates.
In addition to the job killing aspect of the pipeline, the pipelines will also KILL THE ENVIRONMENT. A Huffington Post article revealed that tar sands (within the pipelines) are extremely corrosive and likely to cause leaks in the pipeline. Greenliving.about.com reports that the proposed route of the new Keystone XL pipeline travels directly over the Ogallala Aquifer an enormous lake of water that extends from South Dakota to Texas. Greenliving further explains that pipeline oil leaks will have DEVASTATING EFFECTS on drinking water for millions of people and irrigation for TWENTY PERCENT of Americas agricultural harvest.
TYPICALLY OUT OF TOUCH Tea Partied Congressional representatives , 2012 GOP presidential candidates and Right Wing cable news network and radio talk show hosts are NOT LISTENING TO OR PROVIDING NEWS COVERAGE featuring the parents, business owners , residents and farmers who live along the Aquifer line. These individuals have been fighting the pipeline installation since its inception because of their fear of the contamination AND potential life threatening medical problems that can affect drinking water and farmland irrigation systems from a pipeline leakage. Individuals who live along the Aquifer line KNOW WHAT THEY ARE TALKING ABOUT because of DOCUMENTED damages that have occurred FROM SEVERAL OTHER tar sand pipeline leaks. Tar sand pipeline leaks are among the DEADLIEST pipeline leaks known to man because scientists have yet to find a solution on how to contain it; clean it up OR stop its devastation on the environment.
Since jobs, the health and safety of citizens, the economic stability of the agricultural industry, and the protection of the environment have NOTHING to do with the Keystone XL pipeline project, what is the TRUE DRIVING FORCE behind the fight for it big time tax cuts for oil interests, big time oil industry campaign contributions for Tea Partied Congressional members and 2012 GOP presidential candidates or ALL of the above?