Move ahead on pipeline from Canada
http://www.thespec.com/opinion/editorial/article/595483--move-ahead-on-pipeline-from-canada
Chicago Tribune (excerpt)
It’s a boom time in the Canadian province of Alberta, where technological advances and sky-high commodity prices have turned the region’s oilsands into a sticky, tarry gold mine.
Here’s a safe prediction: The U.S. will share in this bounty, one way or another. Canada will ship oil to its largest trading partner via rail, barge or truck, if need be. And the U.S., thirsty for energy, will soak up every drop from its reliable neighbour to the north.
That common interest leads to an obvious conclusion. The Obama administration should grant its approval without further delay for a proposed pipeline stretching 2,754 kilometres from Canada’s deposits to the U.S. refineries and terminals along the Gulf of Mexico. A pipeline is the safest and most efficient method for moving crude by the millions of barrels.
Yes, the scale of the project is enormous. It could make Canada the world’s second-largest producer of oil after Saudi Arabia. Americans should be celebrating a development that will reduce the dependence on oil from less-congenial foreign sources.
Yet the proposed Keystone XL pipeline has run into heated opposition. Some environmentalists are determined to stop it.
Opponents object for two main reasons: First, they want to discourage the mining of oilsands. The other big worry is more of a scare tactic. Pipelines can leak. The fear-mongering has no basis in reality. Plans call for a state-of-the-art system. America already has oil and gas pipelines criss-crossing the country and the Canadian border.
Canada has threatened to build a pipeline to the Pacific and divert the bulk of its oil to China instead. The U.S. State Department recently reaffirmed Keystone’s minimal environmental impact. After a public comment period closes in the weeks ahead, the Obama administration can seal the deal.
Maybe someday we’ll all be driving solar-powered cars. Meantime, get that pipeline built. We’re going to need it.
http://www.thespec.com/opinion/editorial/article/595483--move-ahead-on-pipeline-from-canada