Keystone pipeline expansion won't help Minnesota
by Leigh Pomeroy
Some Minnesotans have argued that the controversial Keystone pipeline expansion will be a boon to the state's economy. Nothing could be further from the truth.
The purpose of the proposed pipeline is to send a slurry of toxic oil-bearing material from the Canadian tar sands to refineries in Texas, much for export. Minnesotans need to realize that creating a new market for tar sands oil only creates more competition for it, which inevitably means higher prices.
Minnesotans also need to realize that tar sands oil is one of the most environmentally destructive energy resources on the planet, eclipsed only perhaps by coal. Thousands of acres of pristine forest must be destroyed and millions of gallons of water used and polluted to extract this oil. Were a price to be put on this destruction, mining the tar sands would not be economically feasible.
Tar sands mining is also a huge source of carbon dioxide release into the atmosphere. It does this by destroying forests, which are natural carbon sinks (absorbers); by unearthing and heating millions of cubic feet of soil, dirt and sand, which releases more CO2; and by perpetuating our civilization's dependence on burning fossil fuels, the largest single source of human-made CO2.
Scientists who specialize in the study of man-made climate change have called further expansion of tar sands mining essentially "game over" for preserving our climate as anything like what we have today.
Instead of supporting costly and environmentally destructive tar sands development, Minnesotans need to get behind homegrown energy solutions such as wind, solar, geothermal and biomass, all of which grow our economy, create local jobs, and make us less dependent on other countries and multinational corporations for our energy.
(A version of this article was published in the Mankato Free Press here. For more information on how the proposed pipeline will NOT be an overall job creator, see this study from the Cornell University Global Labor Institute.)
Some Minnesotans have argued that the controversial Keystone pipeline expansion will be a boon to the state's economy. Nothing could be further from the truth.
The purpose of the proposed pipeline is to send a slurry of toxic oil-bearing material from the Canadian tar sands to refineries in Texas, much for export. Minnesotans need to realize that creating a new market for tar sands oil only creates more competition for it, which inevitably means higher prices.
Minnesotans also need to realize that tar sands oil is one of the most environmentally destructive energy resources on the planet, eclipsed only perhaps by coal. Thousands of acres of pristine forest must be destroyed and millions of gallons of water used and polluted to extract this oil. Were a price to be put on this destruction, mining the tar sands would not be economically feasible.
Tar sands mining is also a huge source of carbon dioxide release into the atmosphere. It does this by destroying forests, which are natural carbon sinks (absorbers); by unearthing and heating millions of cubic feet of soil, dirt and sand, which releases more CO2; and by perpetuating our civilization's dependence on burning fossil fuels, the largest single source of human-made CO2.
Scientists who specialize in the study of man-made climate change have called further expansion of tar sands mining essentially "game over" for preserving our climate as anything like what we have today.
Instead of supporting costly and environmentally destructive tar sands development, Minnesotans need to get behind homegrown energy solutions such as wind, solar, geothermal and biomass, all of which grow our economy, create local jobs, and make us less dependent on other countries and multinational corporations for our energy.
(A version of this article was published in the Mankato Free Press here. For more information on how the proposed pipeline will NOT be an overall job creator, see this study from the Cornell University Global Labor Institute.)
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