For anyone that has not researched this topic, here is a 5 minute primer on why the Keystone pipeline should never be approved:
There are few tangible benefits to the US as the pipeline will not connect to Midwest refineries and the crude will ultimately be exported:
Rather than providing the US with more Canadian oil, Keystone XL will simply shift oil from the Midwest to the Gulf Coast, where much of it can be exported to international buyers – decreasing US energy supply and increasing the cost of oil in the American Midwest,” concludes a new study by the Natural Resources Defense Council, a New York-based environmental advocacy non-profit group, citing numerous TransCanada studies and the transcripts of Canadian federal hearings.
http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Politics/2012/0309/Inside-the-Keystone-pipeline-How-much-would-it-really-help-US-consumers
So those of us in the Midwest will pay more for gasoline as the crude from Alberta currently being railed into Midwest refineries evaporates.
OK, so we lose a little crude in the Midwest. Pipeline is safer than rail, so that's good, right? Well, no:
In 2012, former TransCanada engineer Evan Vokes blew the whistle on his employer as he raised concerns about the competency of some pipeline inspectors and the company's lack of compliance with welding regulations set by the NEB.
The following year, the watchdog group Public Citizen reported that dozens of anomalies, including dents and welds, had been identified along a 60-mile stretch of the southern segment of the Keystone XL pipeline, north of the Sabine River in Texas.
http://www.commondreams.org/news/2015/03/19/transcanada-whistleblower-spurs-new-probe-pipeline-giants-safety-record
And then there's this report on their professionalism in TX where the southern portion is already being built:
Vokes says TransCanada prioritizes staying on schedule over quality. In a 28-page complaint filed last year with the Canadian government’s pipeline regulator, he describes rampant code violations on other TransCanada projects. He claims that the repair work in Texas proves the company is still ignoring the engineering codes and regulations that guide pipeline construction and warns that Keystone XL will likely leak.
http://www.treehugger.com/energy-disasters/transcanada-whistleblower-keystone-xl-texas-will-leak.html
This is what it does to people who live where it leaks or spills:
Diluted bitumen spills
Large quantities of diluted bitumen were spilled following pipeline ruptures in Marshall, Michigan, in 2010 and Mayflower, Arkansas in 2013. These spills, of at least 1.15 million gallons and 210,000 gallons, respectively, have proved extremely difficult to clean up. The tar sands oil that spilled in Michigan entered the Kalamazoo River, leading to the most expensive oil pipeline cleanup in U.S. history (now totaling more than $1 billion). After the spill in Michigan, the state Department of Public Health set up a broad surveillance effort that determined 320 people suffered adverse health effects, including cardiovascular, dermal, gastrointestinal, neurological, ocular, renal, and respiratory impacts. Similarly, following the Arkansas spill, air monitoring data showed significantly increased levels of benzene in the ambient air, and residents living close to the spill reported increased headaches, nausea, and respiratory problems. Despite these health concerns, the federal government has failed to promulgate guidelines for dealing with chemical exposure at oil spills and has not commissioned any studies regarding the long-term human health impacts of these spills.
http://www.nrdc.org/energy/tar-sands-health-effects.asp
This should not be a close one for HRC.
= new reply since forum marked as read
and put pressure on her to commit to signing such a bill to avoid the U.S. getting their debt increased substantially if they have to pay these TPP fines, and Obama looking to pass the buck to have a bill signed to her, or the prospect of her "friends" complaining that a Democratic congress will prevent such a bill from being passed in 2017 if it lasts that long, and then to keep them happy she'd be forced to use executive action to implement Keystone rather than waiting for congress to pass a bill for it.
