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State Dept. report is bad news for Keystone pipeline foes

By   /   March 1, 2013  /   28 Comments

By Deena Winter | Nebraska Watchdog

Updated 6:35 p.m. Friday

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The U.S. State Department released a draft Friday of its environmental review of the Keystone XL oil pipeline — dealing a blow to environmentalists by concluding the pipeline wouldn’t have a big impact on the rate of extraction of tar sands oil in Canada or demand for heavy crude oil at U.S. refineries.

The report said limitations on pipeline transport would force more crude oil to be transported through other means, such as rail, which would probably be more expensive. Environmentalists were disappointed in the report, but hopeful that President Obama or Secretary of State John Kerry could still reject the pipeline’s federal permit.

“You know the news is bad when it’s buried at 4 o’clock on a Friday afternoon,” Michael Brune, executive director of the Sierra Club, told reporters in a conference call.

The State Department report does not recommend whether to proceed with the Keystone XL pipeline or not. AP Photo

The State Department report does not recommend whether to proceed with the Keystone XL pipeline or not. Environmentalists are hoping President Obama will still reject the pipeline. AP Photo

Assistant Secretary for Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs Kerri-Ann Jones said a public meeting will be held in Nebraska sometime during the ensuing 45-day public comment period.

Jones said the pipeline’s impact on greenhouse gases is a “very important topic” that was looked at in a number of ways.

“The report said the increase in U.S. crude oil is unlikely to dampen the demand for heavy crude oil at Gulf Coast refineries, and even if the Keystone XL isn’t built, the industry will still find a way to get the Canadian oil to markets – perhaps by rail to Oklahoma, where it could enter a pipeline.

Bill McKibben, founder of the environmentalist group 350.org, said the report is at odds with what most leading climate scientists say.

“Everyone knows that without Keystone, they won’t be able to expand the tar sands,” he said in a conference call with reporters Friday. “It’s actually pretty astonishing.”

McKibben said more people have to gone to jail over the pipeline than any movement in the past 30 years – including several Nebraskans who were involved in a White House protest last month – and it is a “travesty” to have their concerns dismissed.

The Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement, or SEIS, is a technical review of the potential environmental impact of the pipeline, not a decision on whether to approve the project.

The report looked at alternatives to the pipeline, including not building the Keystone XL (and instead using rail, barges and other pipelines to get the oil to the Gulf Coast), other pipeline routes to get the oil to Steele City, Neb., and minor route changes or pipeline designs.

The Keystone XL project would move tar sands oil from Canada to Texas, including 195 miles through nine Nebraska counties.

The report mentions two possible alternative routes to the route now under consideration (which was revised due to Nebraska opposition):

• The original pipeline route proposed in 2011 but rejected by Nebraskans because it crossed the ecologically fragile Sandhills.

• An I-90 Alternative that would follow the original path until it intersects with Interstate 90 in South Dakota – where instead of continuing south to Nebraska, it would head east to Emery, S.D., where it would intersection the Keystone One pipeline right-of-way and be built parallel to that pipeline for 254 miles to Steele City, Neb.

When pressed by reporters to give a verdict on environmental concerns about the project, Jones said, “We’re really looking for the public debate at this point.”

“We’re not going to sort of come out and make those conclusions at this point until we engage with the public,” she said. The report shows potential environmental impacts and potential mitigation if the project goes forward.

Danielle Droitsch, Canada project director for the NRDC, said the pipeline would carry “dirty, polluting tar sands” for 50 years or more.

After the public comment period ends, the State Department will produce a final environmental impact report and determine whether the project is in the national interest because the pipe would cross a national border en route from Alberta, Canada, to Texas.

President Obama’s administration must decide whether to live up to his promises to combat climate change even though labor unions have generally supported the pipeline and jobs it would bring.

Contact Deena Winter at deena@nebraskawatchdog.org.

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Deena Winter

  • Bam

    “…Until we engage with the public”? Haven’t they already done this ad infinitum?

    The question is who pulls more weight with Obama and the State Dept.: the unions, who have no more elections to give to Obama and are thus useless, or Warren Buffett, who owns the railroads that will more dangerously move the oil than this pipeline ever would.

    Since the State Dept. is now headed by John Kerry – who just came into some serious Berkshire-Hathaway stock – you’ve got to believe Obama will kill the line. And the rich will get richer while the working class in Nebraska gets poorer.

  • http://www.facebook.com/duane.ruh Duane A. Ruh

    Canada is a foreign country which means we will still be buying foreign oil. Why is it the news media keeps saying it will reduce our dependency on foreign oil. Get a clue people.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/David-Harbert/100001406372795 David Harbert

    The thing you’ve got to remember is that most of the regulating agencies have become no more than representatives of the industries they are supposed to regulate. (the latest example is the new, “bought and paid for” Sec. of the treasury)
    I’ve heard the real scientific community refer to this approval as malpractice! I think they may be right.

  • resistwemuch

    Has anyone compared the likelihood of a tank car derailment and resultling leak(s) and probable fire as opposed to a leak from a monitored pipeline?

  • Joan

    Bam, could you direct me to the printed information that states that Mr & Mrs John Kerry upon selling the Heinz Ketchup Company to Warren Buffett received Bershire-Hathaway stock instead of money? And how do you tie this transaction into President Obama, whom I hope does kill the XL Pipeline and all it’s dirty, polluting tar sands oil? Statistics by the way, show that in the last two decades the rich have been getting richer and the middle and poor class have been getting poorer. It is a Republican behavior, “We can’t raise taxes, we signed up with Grover Norquist!”.

  • VerifiableTruthMatters

    RIGHT WING NEED TO BE INDICTED FOR CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY, BREACH OF NATIONAL SECURITY, MASS MURDER OF TENS OF MILLIONS SINCE 2010 FROM SEA LEVEL RISE, SEVERE WEATHER EVENTS, FOOD CROP FAILURES FROM THOSE EVENTS WHICH HAVE SHOVED 500 MILLION PEOPLE INTO STARVATION AND MALNUTRITION.

    BIG OIL & GOP fund 3 decades of lies about Global Warming, now the DAMAGE REPORT is in. TENS of MILLIONS murdered, HUNDREDS of BILLIONS in damages that will be TRILLIONS by 2020. A 1 degree C increase produced that REPORT. It took 100 yrs to get that 1 degree increase, slightly more than a decade for the 2nd degree increase. We reach a 2 degree C increase 2025, w exponential damage. Philippines had 18 severe weather events 2012 w Bopha killing 2000, leaving 1 million homeless. So next time it’s 2, 3, 4 dozen events, also happening everywhere else. BIG OIL, especially KOCH, Exxon, think TRILLIONS$$$$$ is more important, so let them think about it in prison, along w thousands of others in this corruption, deceit game. If Obama, Kerry approve tar sands oil shale, they also are mass murderers.

    The only thing that stops this Right Wing “HUMAN EXTINCTION PROGRAM” is getting to 80% renewable energy by 2025 to shut down these horrific accelerations: tar sands, oil shale, methane cloud already over the Atlantic, 23X more destructive. Otherwise by 2015 it’s completely out-of-control & TENS of MILLIONS becomes HUNDREDS of MILLIONS, then 7 BILLION murders. That’s where this is currently headed because of 30 years of lies, deceit, corruption.

    It’s about PHYSICS and these LAWS do NOT TOLERATE being violated and they’ve been violated for decades. PHYSICS RULES, PHYSICS WINS, WHEN IT’S VIOLATED IT DESTROYS. They’re every bit as powerful as gravity, called THE GREENHOUSE EFFECT. Small scale=cars parked in sunlight w windows rolled up, heating passive homes for decades. large scale, pollution in an atmosphere that only tolerates 350/parts/million then heat can’t get out and it chemically binds. The above accelerants cause self-propelling loops.

    Oceans absorb 94% of the heat from the atmosphere and 33% of the acidity. That drives more moisture off the water which destabilizes the atmosphere and jet stream, which causes more storms and makes weather unpredictable. 40 degrees in Alaska and below freezing in Florida, destroying crops. Severer storms: larger, stronger, greater storm surge, don’t disapate over land. With accelerants in atmosphere this cycle becomes self-propelling loop. Warmer waters wash against glaciers, warmer air melts from above. Glaciers now receding more in 3 years than previous 100. Most of that becomes sea level rise, now to be 60 feet by 2100 or 3 ft by 2025. Major U.S. cities, world coast lines begin flooding in next decade, TRILLIONS in damage or mitigation. Waters are 30% acidic at 1 degree C increase, already killing fish larva and 20% of food supply is in the oceans, which will all be dead, just a matter of time.

    There’s thousands of pages of documentation, because it’s PHYSICS. These LAWS do not tolerate being violated. Violation of Physics is the cause of all accidents, and virtually all tragedies and the Greenhouse Effect has been violated now by the Right Wing for decades. So it’s a HUMAN EXTINCTION PROGRAM that’s underway. The Physics is going to play out, unless there’s intervention in a quickly closing window to get to 80% renewable energy by 2025. That’s what it’s going to take to shut down these horrific accelerations.

    The Right Wing, several thousands of them are already MASS MURDERERS and if Obama and Kerry want to ignore the physics then they will be murderers too.

  • Bam

    No – do the homework yourself, Joan. And I already said the rich get richer and the working class get poorer. If you can’t do your own research and just repeat previous posts, you shouldn’t be on here.

    That said, I couldn’t be more delighted with the turn of events yesterday!

  • Olivia

    Nowhere in this EIS is there a “Health Impact Statement”, which should surely be a part of the ‘social’ impact. In light of Love Canal and its aftermath many years ago, and the more recent Enbridge spill in Kalamazoo, have they learned nothing?!

    Also, in the report, it states, “The analyses of potential impacts…during NORMAL operation…” (my caps)

    I think most of us would prefer that this not be built at all, but even if we had to accept its construction, no matter where, “NORMAL operation” is NOT our great and grave concern! It’s the problem of slow, small, and undetectable leaks permeating any and everything surrounding the pipe.

    This is a great point to hammer home.

  • ToucheTurtle

    I doubt it . . . they don’t want to think what would happen if 50 or 100 railroad cars were to “crash and burn” when traveling across Nebraska. But it sure does make one stop and think about the consequences of this option. Of course, it would greatly benefit Warren Buffet and the BNSF . . . maybe THAT is indeed the real point! Maybe someone should point out that in many cases RR tracks run right along side rivers and other waterways besides the Ogallala Aquifer!

  • ToucheTurtle

    Are you as concerned about the Nuclear Power Plant at Fort Calhoun??? After all, it sits right on the Missouri River and impacts thousands of people all the way to the Gulf of Mexico!! I am a lot more worried about the thousands of years of residual damage from a nuclear accident than an oil spill!

  • ToucheTurtle

    Maybe we could just burn them at the oil stake, or how about lining them up like the Jews were in Germany during WWII!!! You are right on point . . . progressives hate anyone who disagrees with them, and it is quite apparent that nothing would be better than to kill the bastards who disagree with you!!!!

  • ToucheTurtle

    Would you share the source of your percentage of risk of an oil spill? I find it interesting that you put that “100%” out there without a point of reference. I would be interested in ready the article that accompanied it. Thank you !

  • ToucheTurtle

    Bam . . . you are on the $$$$!! I have been saying for some time that the reason the pipeline may not be approved has absolutely NOTHING to do with the environment and EVERYTHING to with rewarding a “faithful donating benefactor!” And who is that BIG benefactor from Nebraska that would benefit greatly if that “dirty tar sand oil” went across the State in rail cars rather than through a pipeline? Well, it has to the the “Buffett Rule Guy” who said his secy paid more taxes than he did. Of course, he FORGOT to mention that the taxes SHE pays is based upon her salary, and HIS taxes are based income he receives from investments he already paid the tax on! Of course, if Mr. Buffett would sign an agreement to personally cover all costs of clean-up and reparation to land owners “just in case,” I might just be for his hauling it!

    As for Buffett’s purchase of Heinz Ketchup, MRS. Kerry would be a FOOL to take her money in cash v.s. Berkshire-Hathaway stocks. WHY would anyone take cash and then have to pay all those capital gains since SHE inherited the business from her father!!! That is just good business, and even Good Old Joan should know that!!!! And what is a little quid-pro-quo among friends . . .

  • ToucheTurtle

    What is it that they say, “Money talks, and B*llshit walks!” It is ALWAYS about the money! I love it when the progressives scream about “the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer” . . . in this case it is happening on THEIR side of the isle, and they still blame Republicans!!! I am quite sure there were literally HUNDREDS of Republicans lined up and twisting the arm of MRS. Kerry to make her do that deal . . . and get RICHER by the minute!!! (Remember, MRS. Kerry is a very wealthy woman and probably smart enough to make Good Old John sign a pre-nup before he put that ring – she probably paid for – on her finger!)

    Check it out, Joanie, and find out how many filthy RICH Dems there are in D.C. and then ask yourself WHERE they got their money because most of them came to the job with little more than chump change in their pockets! THAT should make your head spin when you figure out that it isn’t just Republicans!! They all are nothing but a bunch of thieves, Democrats and Republicans alike!

    Why don’t you get off your duff and hold THEIR feet to the fire to stop the process you apparently so abhor? Or just MAYBE it is ONLY when Republicans do it that you hate it so much!

  • Olivia

    I am wondering why you would assume that I might not be concerned about the environmental impact of nuclear waste, or anything else related. This particular discussion is about the EIS re: KXL pipeline. Don’t deflect from the point of discussion. Attempting to ‘water down’ a point doesn’t make it any less valid.

  • Bam

    Do you even know what Love Canal was? It was a toxic waste dump, not a state-of-the-art pipeline! Of course they’ve learned something – this line will be far safer, stronger and more monitored than any of the hundreds of miles of pipeline already running under Nebraska. Surveys say most of us WOULD prefer this line be built.

    You haven’t a clue, Olivia. You shouldn’t even attempt to contribute to the discussion.

  • Bam

    Not to mention the filthy rich Dems (Buffett, Holland) who are fighting against the pipeline by hiring air-headed shills (J. Kleeb) to keep their hands clean.

  • http://www.facebook.com/duane.ruh Duane A. Ruh

    Touche Turtle Quit trying to turn this into Democrate vs Republican. If you would do some checking you would find the lawsuit that was filed to stop TransCanada was filed by three Nebraska Repulicans. So get a clue. The railroad employs more Nebraskans than the pipeline will ever employ, The railroad is a much safer way of transporting this toxic blend than the pipeline and the railroad is not buried in the Ogallala Aquifer like the Keystone XL pipeline will be. I’m not against buying oil from Canada, but I am against taking a chance on damaging our most valuable resource, water. Without the Ogallala Aquifer our state would be in big trouble during this drought. Don’t forget, farming is still the main business in this state. Crops will grow without the oil from Canada, but they won’t grow without water……..

  • Bam

    Duane, you know nothing about safety. How is moving oil above ground by rail – through hundreds of tanker cars crossing roads and bridges at great speed, exposed to weather and operator error – safer than underground pipelines? By your reasoning, exposed electrical wire must be the way to go in your house.

    P.S. How come you said Touche Turtle made this a political debate? He didn’t say anything about parties or politicians – that was you!

  • Jazzee

    Lordy right wing ONLY??? suggest you check some facts dude

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Peggy-Lang/1009627061 Peggy Lang

    The KXL is not all about Enviornment. It will cut into lands addressed in TREATIES with Native (First Peoples) Americans (it already does in Canada) and will in the USA as well. There are numbers of Burial Sites, Resevrvations and The Pawnee Nation, as well as The TRAIL of TEARS. The Spiritual cost is unfathomable . The “THUG” like approach by KXL toward our citizens is a Para-Military Regeime denying the Constitutional Rights of Amaericans to Redress their grievences. The final observation being , in it’s percieved condition, there islittle to object too but (if made by man it will break) thus the Mother of All Diasters! Imagine Millions of Hevy Crude with the most dangerous Toxins knkown to man FLOWING THROUGH THE CENTER OF OUR COUNTRY.

  • ProgessiveOasis

    What all you anti-oil, anti-pipeline enviro-proggie morons seem to ignore is that there is a serious competitive proposal to the KeystoneXL to take the tar sands oil west for export in an all-Canada route. Keystone’s current shippers have already started signing tentative capacity agreements for that pipeline and their current KeystoneXL capacity contracts contain provisions that give them an “out” if there are any further regulatory/legal delays. So you can kiss the XL goodbye and watch all the investment dollars, jobs and oil exports dollars be 100% Canadian instead of the US getting the lion’s share. So much for progress…LOL!
    Who is John Galt???

  • Olivia

    I do have a clue…Have you ever cared for a patient with a benzene exposure? I have. Be careful with your personal assessments without pertinent facts. In fact, generally those who make such statements as you have do so when on defense.

  • Bam

    Have you ever stopped to think how many hundreds of miles of pipelines already exist in Nebraska WITHOUT the safeguards of this pipeline? Have you given any thought to how many thousands of gallons of fuel, fertilizer and other chemicals have been spilled in this state without monitoring this line will have? No, you haven’t, Olivia. Those facts have relevancy to the discussion – your flippant line about benzene exposure doesn’t. You DON’T have a clue.

  • Olivia

    Defense!

  • Bam

    You bet – I’ll always put up a fight against mindless, emotion-based, idiotic statements.

  • Pat Boyle

    TT, what I’m trying to explain is that there can not an oil spill if there is no pipeline. So, the odds (probability) of an oil spill in Nebraska if there is no XL is 0%. OR the odds (likelihood) of an oil spill in Nebraska goes up 100% if there is a pipeline.
    I’m still at 60-40.

  • Don

    Most Liberals are not smart enough to look into the fact there is Millions and Million of miles of pipe lines running under ground across this Country and have been for better than 75 years carrying every thing from gasoline, natural gas and in Eastern Nebraska a lot of electrical power is under ground if there wasn’t the price of gas would be 20-30 dollars a gallon to get it hauled from refinery’s, as far as natural gas goes the transport of gas under ground has made to cost heating homes dirt cheap compared to the days of coal, heating oil or chopping down your neighbors trees to heat your house. I understand that schools don’t like to teach much about history anymore but if you want to know how it was before pipe lines talk to your Grandparent’s. If your against under ground pipelines fine don’t use any thing that they carry it will make you and the rest of the nuts feel better when your walking to your job and trying to keep warm at night.