[184], In the year before the 2012 United States presidential election, McKibben and other activists mounted pressure on then-President Obama, who was running for re-election. The black snake is a reference to something that is sneaky, dangerous and sinister, which is the way the Sioux Nation views the Keystone Pipeline. The Keystone XL pipeline, which would have expanded an existing system transporting oil from Canada to the Gulf Coast, has been a political and environmental battleground since its conception. The decision echoed a seven-year State Department review process with EPA input that concluded the pipeline would fail to serve national interests. [106], The United States section is 2,219 kilometres (1,379mi) long. One such protest, a historic act of civil disobedience outside the White House in August 2011, resulted in the arrest of more than 1,200 demonstrators. [66][67][68] Financial commitment towards completion of the pipeline was weakened by a number of technological factors as well. Leading climate scientist and former NASA researcher James Hansen has warned that fully exploiting Canadas tar sands reserves by moving forward with these projects would mean game over for our climate. The following year, President Obama said in his speech announcing the rejection of the pipeline on November 6, 2015, that Keystone XL had taken on symbolic importance, "for years, the Keystone pipeline has occupied what I, frankly, consider an overinflated role in our political discourse. [8], The leak raised concerns from environmentalists due to the transfer of tar sands through the pipeline, which are more toxic than crude oil and can sink in water. And the risk that Keystone XL would have spilled was heightened because of the extended time the pipe segments were left sitting outside in stockpiles. But environmental reviews by both the Obama and Trump administrations concluded that the Keystone XL pipeline would not have lowered gasoline prices. [119], In January 2012, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Rep. Steve Cohen (D-Tenn.) requested a new report on the environmental review process. Fact: It appears that the government review process for Keystone XL has been completely fair. The Keystone Pipeline System is an oil pipeline system in Canada and the United States, commissioned in 2010 and owned by TC EnergyAs of March 2020, the Government of Alberta. TC Energy confirmed that there had been a release of oil into a creek located in Washington County, Kansas, 20 miles to the south of Steele City, Nebraska. [251], As of 2013, however, producing and processing tar sands oil results in roughly 14 per cent more greenhouse gas emissions than the average oil used in the U.S.[252] [6], The proposed Keystone XL pipeline would start from the same area in Alberta, Canada, as the Phase 1 pipeline. The Keystone pipeline spill in a creek running through rural pastureland in Washington County, Kansas, about 150 miles northwest of Kansas City, also was the biggest in the system's history, according to U.S. Department of Transportation data. September 29, 2015 TransCanada dropped their lawsuit against Nebraska landowners who had refused permission allowing for pipeline easements on their properties, in order to exercise eminent domain over such use. [230][235] In April 2018, a federal investigation found that 408,000 US gallons (1,540m3) of crude had spilled at the site, almost twice what TransCanada had reported. [6][16], On January 24, 2017, in his first week in office, President Donald Trump signed a presidential memorandum to revive both Keystone XL pipelines,[70][71] which "would transport more than 800,000 barrels [130,000m3] per day of heavy crude" from Alberta to the Gulf Coast. [141], On May 4, 2012, the U.S. Department of State selected Environmental Resources Management (ERM) to author a Draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement, after the Environmental Protection Agency had found previous versions of the study, by contractor Cardno Entrix,[142] to be extremely inadequate. The operator of the Keystone Pipeline System, which carries a form of crude oil from Canada to multiple states for refining, said over the weekend . [257] EPA concluded that due to the current relatively cheap cost of oil, companies might be less likely to set up their own developments in the oil sands. A view of the land repair work underway at site of an oil spill from Keystone Pipeline, located north of Washington, Kansas, Dec. 15, 2022. A spill would have been devastating to the farms, ranches, and communities that depend on these crucial ecosystems. [29] The Canadian section would consist of 526 kilometres (327mi) of new pipeline. [114] By 2011, Koch Industries refined 25% of all crude oil imported into the United States. In short, tar sands oil represents no small threat to our environment, and our best stance against it, as the rallying cry goes, is to keep it in the ground.. In turn, it will impact Americas energy security and its economy by lowering energy prices. It also included approximately 373 kilometres (232mi) of new 30-inch-diameter (760mm) pipeline, 16pump stations and the Keystone Hardisty Terminal. (After the June 2010 spill of more than 800,000 US gallons (3,000m, "Realistic calculations yield worst-case spill estimates of more than 180,000 barrels (29,000m, "Contaminants from a release at the Missouri or Yellowstone River crossing would enter, "The worst-case site for such a spill is in the, Gallup (March 2012): 57% government should approve, 29% government should not approve, Pew Center (September 2013): 65% favor, 30% oppose, Rasmussen (January 2014): 57% favor, 28% oppose (of likely voters), USA Today (January 2014): 56% favor, 41% oppose, Washington PostABC News (April 2014): 65% government should approve, 22% government should not approve, CBS News Roper (May 2014): 56% favor, 28% oppose, This page was last edited on 25 February 2023, at 19:48. Leaks and spills from Keystone XL and other tar sands and conventional crude pipelines could put existing jobs at risk. However, once the oil starts reaching the international market, it will ultimately cause a price hike in fuel rates in America. From the refineries, the oil would be sent chiefly overseasnot to gasoline pumps in the United States. Fact: In various independent studies based on the future economics of the KXL project, it has been found that these claims of generating millions of dollars by TransCanada are a plot to get support for this project. [183], Bill McKibben, environmental and global warming activist and founder of 350.org, the group that organized the 2009 international protestsdescribed by CNN as "the most widespread day of political action in the planet's history"led the opposition to the construction of the Keystone XL pipeline. This pipeline project is supposed to connect oil sands in Alberta, Canada, to different cities, including Nebraska, Steele, and Gulf Coast. [70] The order would expedite the environmental review, which Trump described as an "incredibly cumbersome, long, horrible permitting process. The study found that the pipeline would have limited adverse environmental impacts, but was authored by a firm that had "previously worked on projects with TransCanada and describes the pipeline company as a 'major client' in its marketing materials". Phase 4 is the "Keystone XL Pipeline" that President Joe Biden canceled. The mining depletes and pollutes freshwater resources, creates massive ponds of toxic waste, and threatens the health and livelihood of the First Nations people who live near them. Kerry found that there was a "perception" among foreigners that the project would increase greenhouse-gas emissions, and that, whether or not this perception was accurate, the decision would therefore "undercut the credibility and influence of the United States" in climate-change-related negotiations. but the truth is energy prices will hike up at some point. [159], The number of temporary jobs created during the two-year construction of the KXL pipeline has been estimated by proponents to be as high as 20,000, and by independent groups to be as low as 2,000. Refining the sticky black gunk produces piles of petroleum coke, a hazardous, coal-like by-product. [136] On October 4, 2012, 78-year-old Texas landowner Eleanor Fairchild was arrested for criminal trespassing and other charges after she was accused of standing in front of pipeline construction equipment on Fairchild's farm in Winnsboro, a town about 100 miles (160km) east of Dallas. [280], In June 2012, Sierra Club, Clean Energy Future Oklahoma, and the East Texas Sub Regional Planning Commission filed a joint complaint in the United States District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma seeking injunctive relief and petitioning for a review of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' action in issuing Nationwide Permit 12 permits for the Cushing, Oklahoma, to the Gulf Coast portion of the pipeline. [55][56], In March 2012, Obama endorsed the building of the southern segment (Gulf Coast Extension or Phase III) that begins in Cushing, Oklahoma. They included one potential alternative route in Nebraska that would have avoided the entire Sandhills region and Ogallala Aquifer and six alternatives that would have reduced pipeline mileage crossing the Sandhills or the aquifer. As per the analysis report conducted by Cornell Universitys Global Labor Institute, these job claims are nothing but mere fabrications. One was Nebraskas Ogallala Aquifer, which provides drinking water for millions as well as 30 percent of Americas irrigation water. It appears that the government review process for Keystone XL has been completely fair. [125] TransCanada's Pipeline Permit Application to the South Dakota Public Utilities Commission states project impacts that include potential physical disturbance, demolition or removal of "prehistoric or historic archaeological sites, districts, buildings, structures, objects, and locations with traditional cultural value to Native Americans and other groups".[126]. its plants and animals, and the natural systems on which all life depends. [133] In this article Wood refers to the pipeline as a black snake that poses a major threat to the Sioux Nation. Hid Contractor's Ties to Keystone XL Pipeline Company", "Oil, money and politics; EPA snags Keystone XL pipeline", letter to U.S. Dept. 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