When it all comes down to it…..everything is about the land. Those of you who have seen “Excalibre”, all about King Arthur, The Knights of the Round Table, Merlin and of course all the bad ones with their own ideas – might well understand why evil is always around us and why we all need to constantly protect “the Land”. We need to be one with the land. We need to take care of our environment, our cities, our counties, our states and our country. Even the world. We cannot simply sit in a box and plainly pretend that things in our environment can’t be harmed or can’t hurt us. We need to be Globally aware! We are the land…and the land is us!
Flows REAL smooth!
President Obama is considering making a concession to Big Oil and allowing the dreaded Keystone Pipeline that would run from Canada to Galveston, Texas. The pipeline however is not just a regular oil pipe that we think is like the Alaskan Sweet Crude we brought in some years back. No this oil is from Tar Sand. It is a purely “bitter pill to swallow”. This is a very corresive mixture which if allowed ot foul our aquafers and bodies of water along the way and will do unrepairable damage to our enviroment. We need to back up however and try and understand why TransCanada, a huge oil company in Canada, wants to send this tough to refine toxic product all the way across the United States to have it made into gasoline for China, India and other areas of the world. None of this oil will be headed or destined for gas tanks in North or South America.
Keystone would start in Hardesty, Alberta and nearly 2000 miles later arrive in Galveston, Texas. American Refiners would create gasoline, put it onto tankers and send it across the world. What seems amazing is that American Refiners have been cutting back the number of Refineries for the last 30 years. As those that pay attention might notice, there are constant references to the fact that there is not enough Refining Capacity and that is what causes Shortages, Price Spikes and in fact leaves little or no time for repairs to these same facilities. Every time a Refinery shuts down for repairs…..the cost of gasoline goes up. There is no over capacity for the domestic market, but in fact much of what is produced in the United States goes out already – as Export fodder.
Hardesty, Alberta is where Keystone would start. It is little more that 500 miles to the coast of Vancover and Victoria, Canada and those ports. The problem seems to be that Canada doesn’t want a bunch of awful, smoke belching refineries mucking up their tourists centers on the west coast of Canada. They plainly do not want the pollution or the potential environmental damage, in case of a break in the oil line or other accident. Hey, if that happens in Nebraska……who cares, think the Canucks? This is a 36 inch pipe…….unprotected from Terrorists, Truckers Gone Wild and Spring Break party people!
The big argument which has President Obama waffling is jobs! How many jobs would be created and for how long if the Keystone Pipeline is created? The most they can come up with is from 2500-4650 part time construction jobs. The US Chamber of Commerce however, says 20,000 jobs. Since the jobs are not centrally located, the multiplier effect on the economy with be far less than for construction jobs in major metropolitan centers and communities. The Keystone XL is a $13 Billion dollar project. It would employ 16 thousand electronic sensors to monitor the pipeline. What about physical security? Will be require guards with eyesight of each other 24 hours a day? Or will they simply employ cameras and drones to surveil the pipeline as they do in Alaska?
This is a very bad idea. If it was so good, TransCanada would have sold it to the Ottawa Government long ago and that pipeline would be going a short 500 miles to the Pacific Ocean and landing in their own Canadian refineries and oil tankers.
But before we go on and on about how foolish the Keystone Pipeline idea would be for America…….we have a bit of our own problem right down the coast near San Clemente. The San Onofre Nuclear Power Plant has been down for quite a while. It is estimated that the shutdown at San Onofre has cost Southern California Edison around $437 Million dollars in lost revenue. It you take the $622 Million for the two new Mitsubishi Steam Generators and Power tubes that have failed in record time, either due to poor design or simply ramping up the power demand curve – beyond its own element and design restrictions. The reality is that after just about a cool $Billion Dollar mistake, the time has come to totally re-tool and do the job – all over again….if we are to get it right the next time!
President Obama has been doing a great job – in spite of the public relations campaign by the Republicans in and to an opposite position. We ask that the President stay the course that he initially took on Keystone and “Just Say NO!” Ask far as San Onofre Nuclear Facility is concerned, even though Homer Simpson has been laid off…….we strongly believe that you cannot fool with Mother Nature or Nuclear Energy. There are very tough restrictions that need to be followed and there are very strong principles that need to be brought to the table. “You can’t buy your way into a polluted and dangerous environment in the name of the Almighty Dollar!” Sorry Big Oil…….find another wild idea to rip off the energy buying public. Southern California Edision – just do it right and do not try to short cut the system to make a buck. We are always going to be here buying your product…….so take your time ripping us off. We will like you better that way! Earthquakes occur all the time in California and we need to be prepared…..especially if you folks are not going to consider all the consequences of another, not so bright idea.
The Keystone Pipeline and the San Onofre Nuclear Facility are canaries in the coal mine and we should pay serious attention to both!
*A interesting question: Does draining the oil reserves of the world cause earthquakes? No soil or oil engineers have stepped up to answer that question by the way.
http://www.foe.org/keystone-xl-pipeline
If constructed, the pipeline, known as the Keystone XL, will carry one of the … water is dumped into large human-made pools, known as tailing ponds, after it’s used. … of the type of tar sands oil being piped into the U.S. makes spills more likely, …
*Good to read…..
There are a number of issues here. Let’s start with this one:
“This is a very bad idea. If it was so good, TransCanada would have sold it to the Ottawa Government long ago and that pipeline would be going a short 500 miles to the Pacific Ocean and landing in their own Canadian refineries and oil tankers.”
Well, no. There are two mountain ranges in between– the Rockies and the Cascades. Sending the crude down to Texas is pretty much a straight shot down hill.
If you really believe this oil is going to get sent to China and India (which is isn’t), it would be SIGNIFICANTLY cheaper to do so from the West Coast. If you really want to stick with that conspiracy theory, it’d be that the excess gulf cost refining capacity will be used to ship high sulfur gas to central and south america.
I’m sorry, but I must be missing something here. Does the Keystone Pipeline go through California? Is the economy in California better than that in, say, Texas? WHO is “Big Oil?” It is my understanding that actual PEOPLE own stock in “Big Oil.” When California learns to control environmentalism, and balance it with progress, then I thing Orange County may have a better leg to stand on when opposing projects in more “enlightened” states. Hope you can eventually do that.
*Everyone has brought something to the party….and that encourages more dialogue….which is always healthy.
*Richard …Keystone will affect much more than the states its runs through. Refining Capacity will be impacted as well as added Environmental Pollution..both are at stake. Does anyone honestly believe that new refineries will be built by the oil companies to add the needed capacity to ensure domestic supply? If so, that guarantees more not less pollution for us all.
The Crap and Fade concept (Cap & Trade)……just means that Chevron or
Arco…….buys Norwegian Forest Credits……a lot of good that does for anyone.
*Ryan……San Onofre got a wake up call today……4.7 and a notice of intent
from the town of Anza. We certainly don’t need back engineering models to add to the already dangerous prospects.
“Refining Capacity will be impacted as well as added Environmental Pollution..both are at stake. Does anyone honestly believe that new refineries will be built by the oil companies to add the needed capacity to ensure domestic supply? If so, that guarantees more not less pollution for us all.”
Capacity anticipating Keystone has already been built or is being constructed. Expansions include hundreds of thousands of barrels of crude capacity increases as well as new upgrading units to handle increasingly heavy and sour crudes. This is north america wide, but with a significant focus on those refineries that source crude from the hub in Cushing, OK (Keystone destination). The refineries are here (Texas, not CA) and they’re ready for the crude
I’m having a hard time understanding what your desired outcome is: To stop the pipeline on its own merits or to stop production of Canadian crude?
The later is going to happen. The question becomes how to refine the product in the most economic and environmentally responsible ways possible (for some of you that’s an oxymoron, which is understandable.)
So, assuming your aim in this piece is to kill the pipeline, where do you think the oil is going to go?
No comment on SNO. Maybe you had a different Ryan in mind.
*Ryan our man, you will have to direct our attention to specific new refineries and where they are located and by what oil companies or their subsidaries.
Tar Sand…..it not exactly “Sweet Saudi Crude”. Let’s talk about what differences there are in cracking Tar Sand vs. Sweet Saudi Crude. How much more pollution will be caused?
Let’s take best case senario – the Cracking Facility utilizes all the latest pollution containment technology. Who is going to pay the ongoing cost of maintaining that facility? The American users are…..not the Oil Companies…..they will be getting the huge tax write off in the sky for Exporting Products out of the country. The actual cost of production will be paid by us at the pump.
No….if it was such a great deal…..two little mountains in the way of shipping it out of Vancover would be no problem for the techno’s and those hosers in Alberta. They are just doing us a big favor are they?
Pushing a little hard to make us want to buy their Canadian Encyclopedia.
The desired outcome is NO Keystone Pipeline and No under engineered San Onofre Power Plant. We suggest that sometimes it is better to err on the side of conservatism.
*Forgot the big one Ryan…..why have they been closing Refineries in North America not building them in the last 20 years? Guess the new facilities are more efficient? Not likely…….with 1890’s technology. Well, except for the holding tanks of course!
1890’s technology indeed.
Yes, the new facilities are significantly more efficient, but the main reason is that they’re making the old facilities much, much bigger.
The efficiency point you mention is the exact reason why exactly zero drops of gasoline or diesel made in the United States of America will ever go to India or China. They make refineries there much bigger and MUCH more efficient than ours.
Like this one in India (built exclusively to *export* finished product): http://www.ril.com/html/aboutus/manufact_jamnagar.html
Sure. There’s some expansion on the West coast, particularly in WA– but here are few who have expanded crude throughput and added upgrading units to process heavy and or sour crude:
Detroit– Marathon
Toledo– BP
Whiting– BP
Baytown– Exxon
Motiva-Port Arthur– Shell
List goes on and on . . .
Keystone XL will also transport North Dakota Bakken Crude, which is very similar to ANS or Arab Light. The buitman crudes are very similar to the many existing sour and heavy grades already being refined. They’re not replacing Saudi Light– they’re replacing Mayan Heavy and other imported crudes that take similar energy inclusion to finish.
In fact, so much new continental light-sweet crude is coming on line from “fracking” that a good chunk of the investment that Big Oil has made over the last 20 years might not actually turn a profit. Nonetheless, the upgrading capacity is there.
You’re right about who’s going to pay for it. Stopping the pipeline will result in higher gas prices for a good chunk of the country. If we decide that’s what we want to do, fine– we all share in that cost.
But at least get the facts right. Stopping Keystone just sends the crude to China via the West Coast. It means they’re refine it over there, which means we all get to benefit from the CO2 to put in on a ship as well as the CO2 to fill refineries here with some other water borne crude– from Africa, from Venezuela, from Russia . . .
If you really want to stop oil sand production, killing the pipe isn’t the answer. You need to find something else for the Canadians to do.
Still wishing, hoping, and dreaming for change I see. Looking for a brighter future with safe and clean energy is laudable. Use better facts to get there, please. I can’t convince you that I give a hoot about the environment or that I really do know what I’m talking about (above) in the space of a blog comment, but I hope you’ll consider chucking the nonsense about exporting finished product so the oil companies can make a buck. The pipeline is about energy independence, getting energy from people who like us and not giving money to people who don’t. Weighing that against the environment is important, but be realistic about energy demand for the next 25 years. Hydrocarbons aren’t going anywhere.
*Ryan…you do offer some interesting thoughts. The problem however will be finding the truth in all the rhetorical crosstalk. We have yet to see a definitive policy statement directly related to Keystone other than that of the US Chamber of Commerce which simply tauts its new jobs and cash input to the economy….mentioning none of Export Policy questions.
So, let’s get this straight….your argument is that NONE of the Keystone TAR SAND shipped through the pipeline will be sent out of the country? Additionally, you are saying that Light Crude will travel through the same pipeline…or will it be shipped or trucked in to the various Refineries for cracking? Additionally, you are suggesting that somehow the Natural Gas we are getting out of the Fracking Wells is going to go down the same Keystone pipeline …..along with extra deep slant oil recovered by earthquake fracking?
Whew…..those Oil Companies certainly are amazing. Of course we know they can do incredible things….in 1959 they were already drilling slant wells in the Saudi Desert…….we learned that while playing Bridge in the Trojan Grilll with Oil Engineering Grad Students.
Sounds a little too pat for our taste. Perhaps, you are right and we are simply environmental alarmists that can’t get our facts straight. Hey, anything is possible ….we suppose, but then with all the Pollution Credits that someone will be buying….maybe the answer will eventually be found when we finally find out….who buys what for where and how much?
Third (or eighth, whatever it is . . .) time’s the charm, right?
“So, let’s get this straight….your argument is that NONE of the Keystone TAR SAND shipped through the pipeline will be sent out of the country?”
Yes.
“Additionally, you are saying that Light Crude will travel through the same pipeline…or will it be shipped or trucked in to the various Refineries for cracking?”
Yes. The crude is already being trucked or railed (at a cost and impact more significant than a pipeline) to various refineries in advance of the pipeline being commissioned– particularly the Bakkan Shale Crudes.)
“Additionally, you are suggesting that somehow the Natural Gas we are getting out of the Fracking Wells is going to go down the same Keystone pipeline …..along with extra deep slant oil recovered by earthquake fracking?”
No. Natural gas and oil don’t ride in the same pipe. There’s no slant oil . . . I suppose you mean “in place” horizontal drilling with enhanced recovery . . . then yes. If it’s produced near Montana, it’ll be in the pipe.
Keystone Pipeline – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keystone_Pipeline
Type, Crude oil … After the Keystone XL pipeline segments are completed, American crude oil would enter the XL … If completed, the Keystone XL would add 510,000 barrels per day (81,000 m3/d) increasing the total ….. Mann drew attention to a Maclean’s’ article sub-titled “we used to be friends” about U.S./Canada …
Description – Partnership – History – Original and extended route
Keystone XL pipeline
http://www.foe.org/keystone-xl-pipeline
If constructed, the pipeline, known as the Keystone XL, will carry one of the … water is dumped into large human-made pools, known as tailing ponds, after it’s used. … of the type of tar sands oil being piped into the U.S. makes spills more likely, …
Keystone XL pipeline … – Blog – Read our statement here
Keystone XL Pipeline Project
http://www.transcanada.com › Key Projects › Oil Pipelines
The link will direct you to the Adobe Flash installer page in a new window. … Key Projects » Oil Pipelines » Keystone XL Pipeline Project Printer-Friendly Page …
Stop the Keystone XL Pipeline Project | NRDC
http://www.nrdc.org/energy/keystone-pipeline/
The proposed Keystone XL pipeline would transport raw, toxic tar sands oil right … increased production of one of the dirtiest, most polluting forms of oil over the …
Best Winship article that I can recall.
The only thing to criticize is that they are the first ones to comment on their own report. But we love that about them.
Bravo!
I second that! And add that I am absolutely perplexed as to why our representatives aren’t as outraged as us. They only seem to act AFTER a catastrophy, and sometimes not even then.
The San Clemente Green is reminding the public that ” today is the 2nd anniversary of the terrible events in Japan and the unresolved meltdowns that continue to radiate from Fukushima. ”
A Symposium is taking place in The New York Academy of Medicine, New York City, NY: The Medical and Ecological Consequences of the Fukushima Nuclear Accident March 11-12, 2013. ” Live stream link: http://www.totalwebcasting.com/view/?id=hcf
Thanks Ron & Anna for pointing out the San Onofre’s safety issues. Hopefully, the right lessons from Fukushima will be applied here.