I want to better understand the issue of the Keystone XL Pipeline (what does XL stand for? "Cross" land?). I am going to lay out my basic understanding of the issues and then the AO can correct me and demonstrate how little I know about anything.
A) Basically, the pipeline is a pipe that runs from Canada to Mexico. It's purpose would be to pipe oil from the Canadian Oil Sands to the Gulf. EditSeveral 0.00293 million miles of the pipeline are already in place and parts are even currently in use. What is being argued over is whether or not to finish the pipeline.
B) Republicans are for it. They believe it will increase jobs. Various "reports" I have seen suggest that as many as 43,000 skilled laborers would be employed during the construction, but as few as 50 full time positions would remain once construction is done.
C) Democrats are against it because it will hurt the environment. It does this in 2 ways: 1) getting oil from oil sands is harder on the environment than originally thought. In particular it takes a sizeable amount of water and communities downstream from the oil sand fields are concerned about depleting aquifers. 2) pipelines cannot be trusted to not leak.
D) Conspiracy theorist believe that Democrats are against the pipeline because Mr. Buffett backs so many Democrats and his trains' businesses would be hurt by the pipeline.
My thoughts
A) Why do we want oil going from Canada to the Gulf? Does that just mean that Canada can ship internationally via the gulf? Can't they do that from the St Lawrence Seaway? Do we (USA :usa:) gain anything from having Canada ship their oil through the US? How much of this oil would we be consuming? And finally, since millions of miles are already "up and running" does drawing out finishing the project really serve a purpose at this point?
B) The economic impact depends a lot on the answers to my part A) questions. As for the 43,000 jobs turned to 50 jobs - I can't imagine that has a large impact on the economy*, but it's silly for democrats to make that argument since they are always pushing that building infrastructure has a good impact on the economy even though those are all temp jobs.
C) As far as hurting the environment, what Canada does with oil sands is Canada's business. Hopefully they consider the environmental impact and plan accordingly. I know the aquifers in the Midwest united states are also depleting and the demand for ethanol is partially responsible. So it would appear that wherever we get our energy, we need to use caution. As far as pipes leaking - I have no idea, but it seems like you should be able to make a pipe that has a small chance of doing substantial damage via leaks.
D) I think this is nonsense. Unless the pipe goes to every major city, Buffett's trains will still be in use and they haul stuff other than oil too. Perhaps a small portion of their business will be impacted.
The senate just voted and while most were for completion they didn't get a filibuster proof majority. In my mind, this thing is inevitable and will probably have negligible impacts on both the economy and the environment, but until then I guess we will just keep seeing more votes?
*Here is where Sheba reminds us that nothing is "good for the economy" just good for some and bad for others.
Edit: That got way longer than I expected
tl;dr - what's up with the keystone pipeline?
A) Basically, the pipeline is a pipe that runs from Canada to Mexico. It's purpose would be to pipe oil from the Canadian Oil Sands to the Gulf. Edit
B) Republicans are for it. They believe it will increase jobs. Various "reports" I have seen suggest that as many as 43,000 skilled laborers would be employed during the construction, but as few as 50 full time positions would remain once construction is done.
C) Democrats are against it because it will hurt the environment. It does this in 2 ways: 1) getting oil from oil sands is harder on the environment than originally thought. In particular it takes a sizeable amount of water and communities downstream from the oil sand fields are concerned about depleting aquifers. 2) pipelines cannot be trusted to not leak.
D) Conspiracy theorist believe that Democrats are against the pipeline because Mr. Buffett backs so many Democrats and his trains' businesses would be hurt by the pipeline.
My thoughts
A) Why do we want oil going from Canada to the Gulf? Does that just mean that Canada can ship internationally via the gulf? Can't they do that from the St Lawrence Seaway? Do we (USA :usa:) gain anything from having Canada ship their oil through the US? How much of this oil would we be consuming? And finally, since millions of miles are already "up and running" does drawing out finishing the project really serve a purpose at this point?
B) The economic impact depends a lot on the answers to my part A) questions. As for the 43,000 jobs turned to 50 jobs - I can't imagine that has a large impact on the economy*, but it's silly for democrats to make that argument since they are always pushing that building infrastructure has a good impact on the economy even though those are all temp jobs.
C) As far as hurting the environment, what Canada does with oil sands is Canada's business. Hopefully they consider the environmental impact and plan accordingly. I know the aquifers in the Midwest united states are also depleting and the demand for ethanol is partially responsible. So it would appear that wherever we get our energy, we need to use caution. As far as pipes leaking - I have no idea, but it seems like you should be able to make a pipe that has a small chance of doing substantial damage via leaks.
D) I think this is nonsense. Unless the pipe goes to every major city, Buffett's trains will still be in use and they haul stuff other than oil too. Perhaps a small portion of their business will be impacted.
The senate just voted and while most were for completion they didn't get a filibuster proof majority. In my mind, this thing is inevitable and will probably have negligible impacts on both the economy and the environment, but until then I guess we will just keep seeing more votes?
*Here is where Sheba reminds us that nothing is "good for the economy" just good for some and bad for others.
Edit: That got way longer than I expected
tl;dr - what's up with the keystone pipeline?
Keystone Pipeline Thread
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