Breaking Down the Keystone XL Pipeline: Who, What, When, Where & Why?
Yesterday, President Obama vetoed the Keystone XL Pipeline which would have funneled in over 800,000 barrels of oil a day from Canada to Texas (using a bunch of already in place connections along the way). The pipeline extension is literally just that. A 36 inch diameter line of pipe that would be placed in trenches to extend into Canada. We trust Canada so we'd rather get oil from them than from other countries right now. You know...cuz that pesky Middle East oil can come with a bunch of headaches.
Now...this pipeline is simply an extension that TransCanada wants to build for a cost of about $8 billion dollars. They need to put down 875 more miles of pipeline to connect from Canada to Nebraska, to an existing pipeline that opened sometime last winter. TransCanada couldn't just build it without our permission because it crosses out borders and that's some international security kinda stuff that needs to be dealt with and monitored properly.
President Obama hasn't used his veto power in over 4 years (he's only used his veto power twice before). This Keystone pipeline has been on the table for 6 years.
Republicans and oil companies say it will create more than 40,000 jobs. True. For as long as it takes to dig the trench, lay the pipe (pun alert), and cover it up. That will take about a year or two so those "jobs" will be temporary. Once the pipe is fitted...nothing more needs to be done. Just monitoring every now and then to make sure there aren't leaks. Because we all know that oil companies sometimes screw up when it comes to spilling oil. (Insert eyeroll here.)
There is also a big hoopla over the way Canada extracts this oil making it much "dirtier" (oil sands) than the crude oil our refineries are used to turning into gas and whatnot. Environmentalists say that much more greenhouse gases are released when refining Canada's oil sands. And well...think what you want...greenhouse gases are not natural to our environment and consistently wreck havoc on our planet. That's just a fact, Jack. Science doesn't lie even if you pay a bunch of people a whole lot of money to keep that information quiet. Nobody is disputing the fact that Canada's oil sands are corrosive (because it's "dirty") and that has environmentalists worried because if there is a spill of corrosive oil up and through the Midwest...well...ain't nobody got time for that as the clean up would be major levels of epic.
Enter the Koch brothers.
The Koch brothers, in my opinion, are the Scrooge McDuck's of America. Well, they own Koch Industries, which is the largest foreign leaseholders of the areas in Canada where the oil will be extracted. So yeah...we'd be doing them a big, big, HUGE favor by allowing this pipeline to be built so they can transport their oil to refineries on the Gulf Coast. Folks are arguing over how much money they stand to make off this...but the end result is the same...they will make money. You can argue that it's the American way or you can see it for what it is, more of the haves continuing to make way for more haves and giving us a bone or two by way of temporary jobs which will go away once they get what they want done and the real money starts rolling in.
SAYONARA! Oh...and um...we're not hiring.
So now Republicans need to get over 2/3rds of Congress to vote in favor of the Keystone pipeline extension in order to override President Obama's veto. Totally doubt that happens. Totally.
Does this mean the oil will not be transported? Please. You know these people with money make a way. LOL! They have entire train rail lines dedicated to transporting oil but they say the risk of accident with the trains is far greater than the pipeline.
Oil is going to be transported no matter what.
It's the American way.
Okay...again...yall know I do this to break things down for my brother when he asks me specific questions. I try to be as brief and as clear as possible. I don't get all in-depth cuz um...I'm not an expert. There are lots of factors I didn't put here because well, yall know when you're setting up counterattacks you just toss all kinds of everything out there in order to confuse folks. I read most of it and decided to pick and choose what I thought were the most important factors to break down. If you have additional information or think something I chose to not point out is relevant...please share. The floor, as always, is open. Unless you're a jerk and well...then your mic will be cut off. Simple. - Monnie