MYTHS ABOUT THE KEYSTONE XL PIPELINE

The Keystone XL pipeline will create jobs in manufacturing and construction.

Based on TransCanada’s data supplied to the State Department, only 2,500-4,650 temporary construction jobs will be created in the construction of the pipeline. According to the US State Department, once the pipe is in the ground as few as 20 full time jobs will be needed to maintain the Keystone XL. 

The majority of steel used for the pipeline is low-quality steel purchased from India and Russia resulting in a low number of manufacturing jobs here in the US, and an increased risk of rupture. However, the risk of spills and contamination to US farmland and aquifers will threaten farmers and ranchers that depend on them for a livelihood. 

The Keystone XL is a job killer, not maker.

The Keystone XL pipeline will reduce our reliance on foreign oil.

The amount of oil we import from Canada will not change. The Keystone XL is an exporter line meaning that diluted bitumen will be sent to refineries on the Gulf coast within a Foreign Trade Zone to be exported tax free to the overseas market. The Keystone XL will not bring oil to the US, only through it.

The Keystone XL pipeline will reduce oil and gas prices.

According to TransCanada’s data, KXL will increase the price of heavy crude oil in the Midwest by almost $2 to $4 billion. By diverting major volumes of Tar Sands oil now supplying Midwest refineries, it can be sold at higher prices on the Gulf Coast through the export market. TransCanada is only looking for the cheapest way to coast. With the promise of jobs, it’s exploiting the unemployment problem here in America by dangling a carrot. We take on the environmental risk, they keep all the profits.
 
President Obama opposes the construction of the Keystone XL.

President Obama and Secretary Hillary Clinton have both voiced loud support in favor of the Keystone XL pipeline. Obama has pledge to make KXL a priority, directing his administration “to cut through the red tape and get it done”.  Secretary Clinton has rallied behind her former campaign manager Paul Elliott (now a top lobbyist for TransCanada) to usher in KXL. The only reason construction was “postponed” was because of the large public outcry. 

All over the world, history has shown when oil and politics mix, it’s the people who suffer most.

Tar sands oil production and transportation is as safe as crude oil.

Tar sands bitumen is not oil, but a viscous tar substance that will not flow without vast amounts of water, heat, pressure and a list of toxic chemicals to dilute it. Due to the sand, sediment and corrosive chemicals used to transport the substance in steel pipes, it is far more abrasive and dangerous than crude oil.

Former safety inspector for Keystone I, Mike Klink has come out publicly against TransCanada’s lack of concern for cracked pipes and oil leaks. Keystone I has already leaked 15 times since its construction in 2010.

The effects of a tar sands spill on a watershed have been seen in July 2010, where over 800,000 gallons spilled into the Kalamazoo river in Marshall, Michigan, making it the largest spill in Midwest history. Tar sands sink instead of float, making it impossible to clean-up.  To date, the clean-up effort is on-going, costing $585 million* and counting, without taking into account the health effects of the citizens of Marshall. This is not the fate we want for the rest of America.

TransCanada can’t take land from private land owners because its a foreign corporation.

TransCanada has the power of eminent domain, which means it can condemn a piece of land if the owner decides not to sell it to them. This is happening to everyone along the line that choses to fight TransCanada. Landowners are also refused compensation in the event of a spill if they refuse to sign.

To accept the Keystone XL pipeline means to accept that in America, a foreign owned, non-permitted, for-profit oil company can take your land and have the government support it.

People that oppose the Keystone XL are environmental extremists.

Understanding the real effects of the pipeline have brought people together from across the board to oppose it: from farmers, ranchers, landowners, members of the Tea Party, Republicans and Democrats alike.

For TransCanada and those who support it, it’s not about jobs or energy security, it’s about one thing, money. For the rest of us, it’s about something far greater, a matter of life or death.

This is not a partisan issue, it’s an issue of survival. We all need the same things: air, water and land. The Keystone XL pipeline threatens all of these things.

The end of oil is an opportunity to move forward beyond fossil fuel and towards real energy independence. Instead of dragging our heels we can seize the moment  and find innovative ways that don’t comprise our survival. The only thing that will end our dependence on oil is our dependence on oil.
 
*update
As of July 26 2012, The Enbridge tar sands oil spill in the Kalamazoo River has cost more than $800 million. It stands as the costliest pipeline cleanup in American history.