Keystone Politics
By Garrett Kizior
History of the Keystone Pipeline
Canada’s Athabasca River Basin is the home of one of the world’s largest stockpile of fossil fuels; bitumen. Bitumen, which lies beneath prehistoric boreal forests and peat bogs, is composed of oil, sand, and clay, and is often compared to thick tar. Because of its composition, bitumen is commonly referred to as tar sands The only method to remove the tar sands from the ground is to first inject hot steam into the earth until the bitumen melts and then carry it to the surface with heavy machinery. Once above ground, converting bitumen to fuel can consume as much energy as it provides. Even though the costs involved in drilling the tar sands are high and the ultimate energy …show more content…
TransCanada has said that the permit they received from the United States government to build the Keystone Pipeline gives then the power to use eminent domain to acquire land where the pipeline would be built on. As with any case of eminent domain, many property owners complained that the company cannot use eminent domain to acquire their land, especially since TransCanada is a Canadian company. How can a Canadian company force the sale of private land of a United States citizen? Many landowners complained to their local and state representatives in order to stop the eminent domain actions. If the Keystone XL project would have been built, the number of disputed cases of eminent domain would have skyrocketed. As with any case of eminent domain, TransCanada has said they offered fair compensation for any private land and that they always try to avoid the eminent domain process to acquire land if …show more content…
Because the Tar Sands oil is so thick and chemically different than conventional unrefined oil, it must be upgraded to a form that is more transportable and useable as a base for synthetic oil. (Upgrading is so energy intensive that it adds one to two hundred pounds of CO2 to the atmosphere for every barrel of bitumen upgraded. Compared to refining conventional oil, upgrading tar sands (removing impurities and adding hydrogen) produces two to three times more sulfur dioxide (which causes rain), volatile organic compounds (producers of ozone), and particulate matter (a cause of heart and lung disease, Avery, pg 185). Environmentalists, as well as everyday citizens, have expressed concerns that these pollutants will add to global warming and the heating of our planet. In a time when the world is trying to cut down on carbon emissions to fight global warming, the processing of the Tar Sands oil produces up to 20 percent higher emissions than the processing of conventional oil. The Keystone Pipeline and the proposed Pipeline XL would be an accomplice to the destruction of our planet. (“.. by facilitating tar sands oil production the proposed pipeline will result in carbon emissions equivalent to 46 new coal
By Garrett Kizior
History of the Keystone Pipeline
Canada’s Athabasca River Basin is the home of one of the world’s largest stockpile of fossil fuels; bitumen. Bitumen, which lies beneath prehistoric boreal forests and peat bogs, is composed of oil, sand, and clay, and is often compared to thick tar. Because of its composition, bitumen is commonly referred to as tar sands The only method to remove the tar sands from the ground is to first inject hot steam into the earth until the bitumen melts and then carry it to the surface with heavy machinery. Once above ground, converting bitumen to fuel can consume as much energy as it provides. Even though the costs involved in drilling the tar sands are high and the ultimate energy …show more content…
TransCanada has said that the permit they received from the United States government to build the Keystone Pipeline gives then the power to use eminent domain to acquire land where the pipeline would be built on. As with any case of eminent domain, many property owners complained that the company cannot use eminent domain to acquire their land, especially since TransCanada is a Canadian company. How can a Canadian company force the sale of private land of a United States citizen? Many landowners complained to their local and state representatives in order to stop the eminent domain actions. If the Keystone XL project would have been built, the number of disputed cases of eminent domain would have skyrocketed. As with any case of eminent domain, TransCanada has said they offered fair compensation for any private land and that they always try to avoid the eminent domain process to acquire land if …show more content…
Because the Tar Sands oil is so thick and chemically different than conventional unrefined oil, it must be upgraded to a form that is more transportable and useable as a base for synthetic oil. (Upgrading is so energy intensive that it adds one to two hundred pounds of CO2 to the atmosphere for every barrel of bitumen upgraded. Compared to refining conventional oil, upgrading tar sands (removing impurities and adding hydrogen) produces two to three times more sulfur dioxide (which causes rain), volatile organic compounds (producers of ozone), and particulate matter (a cause of heart and lung disease, Avery, pg 185). Environmentalists, as well as everyday citizens, have expressed concerns that these pollutants will add to global warming and the heating of our planet. In a time when the world is trying to cut down on carbon emissions to fight global warming, the processing of the Tar Sands oil produces up to 20 percent higher emissions than the processing of conventional oil. The Keystone Pipeline and the proposed Pipeline XL would be an accomplice to the destruction of our planet. (“.. by facilitating tar sands oil production the proposed pipeline will result in carbon emissions equivalent to 46 new coal