Last week I
was out walking with my little sister through the park, enjoying the spring
weather, when we happened upon a parked car that was leaking. It was black, it was slick, and it was
trickling down into the grass and flowerbed.
I found the owner, who promptly called his mechanic. Obviously, we were concerned about the
wellbeing of the flowers, the soil, and the millions of “cute” insects and
worms who inhabited the now-oil-covered vegetation. My sister scrunched up her face; “eew. Oil is
gross.”
This year,
Secretary of State John Kerry is due to decide whether TransCanada’s Keystone
XL Pipeline is in the “national interest,” to grant approval of a Presidential
Permit.
Now, of course I’m not saying that
this pipeline threatens to gush out a flood of oil and sweep away all of us
like a scene from Noah’s Ark.
The pipeline is a big deal
though. Energy security, economics,
environmental integrity, cultural and indigenous livelihood, international
relations… it touches on as many subjects as a senior in college who has
switched majors 3 times.
As its proponents have made clear,
Keystone would carry 830,000 barrels per day.
(That seems like a lot, until you realize the global oil market is
94,000,000 barrels per day1… Keystone would be a miniscule 0.8% of
that). But it’s all coming from Canada! Our friendly neighbor from the North,
headed by the conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper, has gently prodded us
a number of times to get on with it.
Plus, you will hear politicians and political pundits talking about the
pipeline’s ability to wean us off foreign oil and generate a whole lot of jobs
at the same time.
With all this popular press, you’d
think Keystone was the newest Republican to announce that he was running for
President, hoopla and all.
Problem is, each and every one of
those barrels is carrying tar sand oil, one of the dirtiest, most
energy-intensive oils we humans have extracted.
And that really-dirty/ very-CO2-polluting oil isn’t
exclusively for American domestic consumption; it’s destined to be shipped from
the Gulf Coast to countries around the globe, including China, as small part of
the world oil market. (Sorry. You won’t be seeing any dramatic decrease in your
gas prices at the pump if Keystone is approved).
Although there isn’t an “eew”
factor—as my sister eloquently put it—in scientific assessments of the pipeline
and its oil, there is a wealth of research showing its associated environmental
risks and impacts. The pipeline runs
through sensitive ecological areas, home to endangered critters like the
American Burying Beetle and the Greater Sage-Grouse. Plus, the proposed route lies on top of a number
of sacred sites of Native Americans and Indigenous Canadians.
I think I speak for all of us when
I say that the communities of Native Americans and American Burying Beetles
both deserve better.
Add to that the reality of climate
change—unless you’re any, yes any, of
the Republican presidential hopefuls like Jeb Bush or Marco Rubio who
conveniently deny the science—and you end up with a weighty decision. On one side of the scale lie a multinational
petroleum company, Stephen Harper, climate change deniers, and 2,500 temporary
jobs; on the other side there’s my sister, Native Americans, beetles, and the
world. I know which side I’m on. Let our Secretary of State know which side
you’re on.
References
1. The International Energy Agency. “FAQs: Oil.” IEA, New York: 2015. Web.
<http://www.iea.org/aboutus/faqs/oil/>.
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