Promising a Centillion of jobs and light sweet crude from our neighbors up North, the House passes the pipeline bill. Check it. Pro Keystone heads say the pipeline increases energy security and reduces dependence on foreign oils.
Check it. “Opponents of Keystone pipeline are threatening US jobs.”
Sen. Dick Lugar preaches, “The pipeline would bring crude from the vast oil sands deposits in Canada to American refineries along the Gulf, creating thousands of private sector jobs.
It would help protect United States national security interests. It comes at no taxpayer expense. And it will strengthen our vital ties with our ally Canada.”
Check it. Keystone Pipeline Bill Passes House, Lacks Match in U.S. Senate.
“Legislation that would force U.S. approval of TransCanada Corp.’s Keystone XL pipeline and open Atlantic waters to offshore drilling passed the House, a measure that the Senate doesn’t plan to consider.”
Check it. US House passes Keystone bill, Senate action uncertain.
“The US House of Representatives passed an energy bill on Thursday that would wrest control of a permit for the controversial Keystone XL oil pipeline away from President Barack Obama”
Opponents cite Environmental concerns, inflated job estimates and desire to move away from Oil dependency to clean and renewable re-sources.
Proponents argue the Oil will be extracted in Canada regardless whether or not the US is a buyer, the pipeline extension can provide up to 1.1 million barrels per day for the US oil needs and shipping via tanker, train and barge is less safe and more energy consuming than the pipeline.
Dissent counters and says it is time to look ahead and start moving away from oil.
Check it. An Oil Sand Marriage?
Christopher F. Jones in the Huffington Post breaks it down,
“Pipelines are like marriages: they are meant to last several decades. We have to ask ourselves not only whether we want such a pipeline now, we have to determine whether we want to spend the rest of our lives with it…
Most debates about the Keystone pipeline are focused on the present. If you listen to the advocates of the Keystone pipeline, you’ll hear claims mostly about the pipeline’s short-term benefits. They emphasize the creation of lucrative construction jobs and access to a source of oil that is controlled by a friendly government…
We must consider whether we would still be happy with our decision in twenty, forty, and even sixty years. From this long-term perspective, the Keystone pipeline looks worse and worse.”
How Many Jobs will Keystone Create?
CEO of TransCanada Russ Girling says “20,000 US jobs” and implores environmentalists to “check the facts”. Check it.
An independent study conducted by the Cornell ILR Global Labor Institute says, “Keystone XL would result in 2,500 to 4,650 temporary construction jobs”. Check it.
Washington Republican Doc Hastings claims, “This legislation would create hundreds of thousands of good-paying jobs for American workers.” Check it.
A 2010 study by The Perryman Group boasts Keystone will create, “hundreds of thousands of jobs due to the stable oil supplies it will make available” Check it.
Check it:
U.S. House of Representatives, Committee on Energy and Commerce: The Keystone XL Pipeline.
“The Keystone XL pipeline is a proposed $7 billion, nearly 1,700-mile, 36-inch crude oil pipeline that will stretch from the oil sands in Alberta, Canada to the Gulf Coast, bringing significant new oil supplies to refineries in the U.S.”
Check it.
EPA Emergency Response and Preparedness Keystone Pipeline Project.