Tar Sands pipeline

[Riot]

Originally Posted by Danzig

i figure its cleared since i read that theyve already extracted oil. im limited right now on finding out much...but enviros wouldnt be considered such if they werent up in arms~doesnt mean theyre right.

The "up in arms" stems from four concerns:

First, this is the second-largest deposit of carbon in the world, and to extract it in toto would be "game over for climate change" according to the NASA world-reknowned climate expert guy arrested late this week (would have to look up his name again) They call it, "a carbon bomb with a 1700-mile fuse"

Secondly, the loss of all that forest diminishes the planet's capacity to counteract emissions via the forest (like when the threat was to eliminate the rain forest previously, we lost so much oxygenating capacity)

Third, the dirty, sandy oil is extremely expensive and polluting to extract out. That's where the "a gallon of this tar sand used in a Prius is the same pollution as a gallon of gas used in a Hummer" comes from.

And lastly, the oil is very thick, sandy, corrosive, yet they don't have any plans to really change the pipeline construction to prevent the anticipated increased leakage (many leaks already this project in Canada) and they are running the pipeline through the middle of the huge aquafier that provides water to the middle third of the United States. Even a small leak into that would irretrieviably harm the aquifier and leave 1/3 of our nation without water (and don't forget the west already is running out)

And: this oil that is being sent through our country and refined (more dirty than other oil products via pollution) is not going to be sold to us, it's being sold overseas.

Although our midwest oil production can use this pipeline, we are told, which will increase the oil prices in the midwest due to ceasing the constant glut there now due to lack of easy transport other than via Great Lakes (oil produced in the midwest tends to stay in the midwest)

[Danzig]

what does who buys the oil have to do with it? and every country imports and exports. i even read that a company here makes chopsticks that china imports.
at any rate, the customer isnt important. what is important is if the product is too harmful to make it worth extracting. based on the fact they are already extracting it that answer must be no. does the fact that a nasa guy who is a foe of fossil fuels is against this bother me? no. i find us using food as fuel while people starve far more bothersome. will this pipeline create needed jobs? yes, and that is regardless of who buys.
since you believe we elect our officials to take care of us, and theyve signed off on it, i dont see how you can complain. surely they have done their due diligence, have considered environmental impacts, whether there really is a danger that is too great, or whether they feel that proper engineering and construction can handle this task.