Tar Sands pipeline

[joeydb]

"Let me be Clear"
"Make No Mistake"
"Health care"
"Working families"
"I inherited this"
"The previous administration"

[geeker2]

"I shall not seek, and I will not accept, the nomination of my party for another term as your president"

[Riot]

So ... Canada will not approve or build this pipeline to either of their coasts (they are not idiots). But we should.

There have already been 11 oils spills with this field. Spills are virtually guaranteed due to type of corrosive crude being sent through pipeline.

TransCanada has already repeatedly lied to Nebraskans regarding taking their property (telling them they already had permits to build, that the neighbors had already sold out, offering too little for land, etc)

Many Republicans oppose this project (it cuts through only red states)

This will raise oil prices in the US midwest (by removing the current overabundance locally that suppresses prices)

Ogallalala. That would be the end of the US as the "bread basket" of the world on the great plains.

The climate damage and forest damage will be irreversible.

This is why our country is in the handbasket, wondering why we are getting warmer every day.

[Cannon Shell]

Originally Posted by Riot

So ... Canada will not approve or build this pipeline to either of their coasts (they are not idiots). But we should.

There have already been 11 oils spills with this field. Spills are virtually guaranteed due to type of corrosive crude being sent through pipeline.

TransCanada has already repeatedly lied to Nebraskans regarding taking their property (telling them they already had permits to build, that the neighbors had already sold out, offering too little for land, etc)

Many Republicans oppose this project (it cuts through only red states)

This will raise oil prices in the US midwest (by removing the current overabundance locally that suppresses prices)

Ogallalala. That would be the end of the US as the "bread basket" of the world on the great plains.

The climate damage and forest damage will be irreversible.

This is why our country is in the handbasket, wondering why we are getting warmer every day.

[Storm Cadet]

Drill Baby Drill

[dellinger63]

Everyone knows the ND-SD-NE-KS-OK-TX corridor is America's forest. Well maybe not?

Farmers/ranchers, by large, are VERY protective of their land. I'd listen to them.

[Danzig]

i looked up the subject, the wash post article i read said the state dept study claims this would have a minimal impact on the environment. seems to me that this is probably a done deal.

[Riot]

Originally Posted by dellinger63

Everyone knows the ND-SD-NE-KS-OK-TX corridor is America's forest. Well maybe not?

No, they are talking about the Canadian forests they are destroying. The oil sands are in Canada. Canada won't let them build a pipeline to get to west or east coasts. So the private company wants us to allow them to build a pipeline through the US.

Farmers/ranchers, by large, are VERY protective of their land. I'd listen to them.

Alot of them are saying no way.

[joeydb]

Originally Posted by Storm Cadet

Drill Baby Drill

[Riot]

http://thinkprogress.org/romm/2011/0...sands-climate/

The Canadian tar sands are substantially dirtier than conventional oil as the chart above shows (longer analysis here).

They may contain enough carbon-intensive fuel to make stabilizing atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide at non-catastrophic levels all but impossible.

The environmental impacts of tar sands development include:
irreversible effects on biodiversity and the natural environment
reduced water quality
destruction of fragile pristine Boreal Forest
destruction of associated wetlands, aquatic and watershed mismanagement
habitat fragmentation
habitat loss
disruption to life cycles of endemic wildlife particularly bird and Caribou migration
fish deformities
negative impacts on the human health in downstream communities

An overwhelming objection is that exploitation of tar sands would make it implausible to stabilize climate and avoid disastrous global climate impacts.

The tar sands are estimated (e.g., see IPCC Fourth Assessment Report) to contain at least 400 GtC (equivalent to about 200 ppm CO2). Easily available reserves of conventional oil and gas are enough to take atmospheric CO2 well above 400 ppm, which is unsafe for life on earth.

However, if emissions from coal are phased out over the next few decades and if unconventional fossil fuels including tar sands are left in the ground, it is conceivable to stabilize earth’s climate.

Phase out of emissions from coal is itself an enormous challenge. However, if the tar sands are thrown into the mix, it is essentially game over.

There is no practical way to capture the CO2 emitted while burning oil, which is used principally in vehicles.

Governments are acting as if they are oblivious to the fact that there is a limit on how much fossil fuel carbon we can put into the air. Fossil fuel carbon injected into the atmosphere will stay in surface reservoirs for millennia. We can extract a fraction of the excess CO2 via improved agricultural and forestry practices, but we cannot get back to a safe CO2 level if all coal is used without carbon capture or if unconventional fossil fuels, like tar sands are exploited.