Keystone Pipeline

People are asking me if I would support the Keystone Pipeline.  The short answer is No but the important answer is why.  My focus is on ending the tyranny of wealth that controls our government and reverse the immense migration of wealth that has taken place over the past 40 years.  The keystone pipeline is a good illustration of why this migration of wealth is not just about taxes. 

            First off let’s examine why a majority of Americans support the Keystone pipeline.  As expected it really comes down to two things; jobs and energy.  I oppose the keystone pipeline because neither of these is actually a realistic possibility and the environmental cost is substantial.  Trans Canada is promising 20,000 jobs.  Independent estimates put the number at less than 4,000.  Mostly, these are temporary jobs lasting a year or two.  Following completion estimates are somewhere between 2 to 3 hundred jobs.  Pretty insignificant in a country that needs millions of jobs.  Who are we going to believe?  One good thing I can say about the Keystone pipeline is that the product probably will not gain much acceptance in the United States because it is such a “dirty” energy option.  Proponents will argue that it is much cleaner than coal but a major byproduct of Alberta Crude is petcoke which is much worse than coal. While most developed nations are focusing on clean energy, the Keystone pipeline increase America’s commitment to fossil fuels rather than make a strong commitment to clean energy.  Once again, think about who really benefits from that commitment to oil.

The majority in congress are representing the super-rich, including our own John Kline.  They are going to talk about jobs and energy independence.  They are not going to talk about how much it’s going to cost tax payers to deal with the pollution, environmental damage, and inevitable spills.  The mess is already apparent as no one has decided what to do about the Petcoke generated from Canadian Tar sands.  http://blogs.windsorstar.com/2013/07/30/video-shows-black-cloud-of-petcoke-dust-filling-air-over-windsors-riverfront/

            But it gets worse.  The Keystone pipeline is not about American jobs or American Energy independence at all.  It’s about allowing TransCanada Corporation to get their product to a seaport for export to countries like China.  I guess we are being a good neighbor, by allowing Trans Canada to transport their product across sensitive environments here in the United States but I have yet to hear any good arguments that explain how the pipeline is going to improve our relationship with Canada.

Perhaps if Trans Canada was willing to post a couple billion dollars for a security bond to ensure taxpayers will not get stuck with the cleanup cost, I might be willing to reconsider.  Does anyone remember the Environmental Superfund which 30 years later is still costing taxpayers 300 million a year to clean up the mess. It’s probably one of the reasons our government of the wealthy would also like to eliminate the Environmental Protection Agency.

When I was a teenager you did not dare get close to the river that ran through my town.  The stench would overwhelm you.  I don’t’ want to see America returning to those environmental standards. Environmentally safe energy production from fossil fuels is simply not very profitable without enormous taxpayer subsidies. I don’t suppose I am going to get any campaign funding from BIG OIL, but maybe General Dynamics will step up in favor of their new wind turbines.