The announcement that the U.S. government is going to delay a decision on TransCanada's proposed Keystone XL tar sands pipeline shows that business as usual has ended for the tar sands industry. While the oil industry and its allies may react with shock and indignation, this should be anything but a surprise.
Over the last year and a half, several factors have lead to a disintegration of big oil's social licence. There was the largest offshore oil spill in U.S. history when BP's Deepwater Horizon well exploded, killing 11 workers and spewing 4.9 million barrels of oil into the ocean. In the aftermath, concerns about the oversight of the industry and its response to the spill surfaced.
Second, TransCanada's existing Keystone pipeline sprung 14 leaks in the U.S. and 21 leaks in Canada during its first year in operation. This despite claims by the company that it would "meet or exceed world-class safety and environmental standards" and leak an average of 1.4 times a decade. Now, that very same company is seeking permission to build a bigger, more dangerous pipeline?
Third, while the tar sands industry claims that it's well-regulated, evidence to the contrary has mounted. From scientists to the Environmental Commissioner, the absence of clear rules to protect the environment has been laid bare, repeatedly.
And fourth, with 2010 being the hottest year on record and the U.S. breaking 900 heat records
last July alone, the public isn't buying the line that more tar sands oil is good for North America. It's clearer than ever that we can't delay the transition beyond oil to renewable energy. Tar sands expansion takes us in the wrong direction and thousands of Canadian and American citizens are standing up for a clean energy future.
The lesson is that companies seeking to expand the infrastructure for tar sands oil, thus locking us into several decade of dependence, are going to face opposition. Keystone XL is not an isolated case -- refineries wanting to retool to process tar sands like Hyperion have faced public concern and more people have registered to voice their opinions on Enbridge's proposed Northern Gateway pipeline than any other energy project in Canadian history. As well, other jurisdictions like the European Union are calling Canada out for selling more polluting oil.
Canada can no longer credibly defend tar sands oil abroad while doing nothing at home to clamp down on pollution and transition to clean energy.
Delay is a Pyrrhic victory for U.S. oilsands opponents
Research Offers Hope for More Efficient Oil Sand Industry
Victorious in Unity: The Movement that Stopped the Keystone XL Tar Sands Pipeline
Canada produces 2% of the world's GHG and the OilSands contributes 6% to that 2% (0.1% globally)
Ms. McEachern when you were working for Forest Ethics (based in San Francisco ) did you ever consider criticizing the 24 offshore drilling rigs there that pump out the heaviest carbonized oil in the world ? Probably not since no one was paying your group to attack them - just the Oilsands .
How much money would it take to attack your coal industry ? - the industry whose electrical generating stations recharge your electric cars ? Obviously more than they're paying !
http://www.spiegel.de/international/business/0,1518,563502,00.html
This statement is pure fantasy.!! The reason for the Obama administration's excessive delay of the Keystone Pipeline is to molify the environmental lobby, and is an attempt to improve his re-election prospects in 2012.
The purchase of a 50 % interest in the Seaway pipeline , by Enbridge Inc and the building of the Wrangler Pipeline between Cushing Ok. and the gulf coast will ensure ever increasing amounts of Canadian oil to the US gulf coast refineries. Given the trillions of dollars spent by the US military to protect oil supplies in the middle east, over past decades, it means that Saudi oil actually costs the US economy several times the nominal price of $100 /barrel.
Most Americans fail to realize that a Mid East war would wreck the already shaky US economy, and the rest of the world's economy also, so oil supplies from Canada represent a large reduction in risk, not to mention, its dependability , reliability , and lower cost.
It's a huge advantage, for both nations. A "No brainer" , if you will
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080415010554AAJ9Rn7
This statement is pure fantasy . The reason for Obama's delay of the Keystone XL pipeline is overwhelmingly recognized as a partisan political move to molify the environmental lobby, and an attempt to increase his chances of re-election in 2012.
The agreement to relocate the pipeline in Nebraska removes some of the cover for excessively delaying the project. TransCanada intends to prebuild the Cushing Ok. to the Gulf in anticipation of eventual approval . Even if the Keystone Pipeline was killed, the recent purchase of of the Seaway Pipeline by Enbridge Inc., and construction of the Wrangler pipeline from Cushing, Ok to the Gulf will ensure that Canadian oil will move south to the Gulf refineries, in ever increasing volumes.
Given that the US economy has suffered over past decades , with the trillions of dollars spent by the military attempting to protect Mid East oil, in contrast Canadian oil is not only a bargain, but is a secure and reliable supplier. Most Americans fail to realize that a war in the Middle East could wreck , not only the US economy, but the world economy, also. Any move to decrease that threat makes perfectly good sense, for Canada, and the US.