[268] This project replaced the earlier proposed alternative Wrangler pipeline project from Cushing to the Gulf Coast. In this case, people willing, hopeful, almost dying for him to be the Barack Obama of 2008. A study published in early 2020, co-authored by TC Energys own scientists, found that the anti-corrosion coating on the projects pipes was damaged from being stored outside and exposed to the elements for the last decade, notes NRDC senior attorney Jaclyn Prange, who spent years working on KXL litigation. [203], On November 30, 2011, a group of Republican senators introduced legislation aimed at forcing the Obama administration to make a decision within 60days. Pipeline spills are not just an environmental concern. Kerry found that there was a "perception" among foreigners that the project would increase greenhouse-gas emissions, and that, whether or not this perception was accurate, the decision would therefore "undercut the credibility and influence of the United States" in climate-change-related negotiations. The Keystone pipeline sprang a new leak. Looking at the spills incidents that happened in the past few years, the answer is a resounding yes. Whats more, the whole process of getting the oil out and making it usable creates three to four times the carbon pollution of conventional crude extraction and processing. [119], In January 2012, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Rep. Steve Cohen (D-Tenn.) requested a new report on the environmental review process. It would have sliced through Montana, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas and Oklahoma to the Texas Gulf Coast, delivering 830,000 barrels of tar sands oil per day. Also Read: What Are The 20+ Reindeer Facts For Kids? NRDC and its partners also found the majority of Keystone XL oil would have been sent to markets overseasaided by a 2015 reversal of a ban on crude oil exports. [169], In October 2009, a suit was filed by the Natural Resources Defense Council that challenged the pipeline on the grounds that its permit was based on a deficient environmental impact statement. By the time President Biden took office in 2021, ready to fulfill his campaign promise to revoke the cross-border permit, the dirty energy pipeline had become one of the foremost climate controversies of our time. The Bakken oil is of a higher quality than the Canadian sand oil and can be sold to east coast refinery at a premium that they would not get sending it to Gulf refineries. [240], On December 7, 2022, TC Energy in Canada initiated a shutdown of the Keystone Pipeline System in response to a 9PM Eastern Time alarm signaling a loss in pressure. [146], Commentator Bill Mann has linked the Keystone postponement to the Michigan Senate's rejection of Canadian funding for the proposed Gordie Howe International Bridge and to other recent instances of "U.S. government actions (and inactions) that show little concern about Canadian concerns". [236][237], In April 2018, Reuters reviewed documents that showed that Keystone had "leaked substantially more oil, and more often, in the United States than the company indicated to regulators in risk assessments before operations began in 2010. [120][121], In September 2015, Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton publicly expressed her opposition to the Keystone XL, citing concerns about climate change. 15 Fun Facts About Stray Kids | Entertainment. [218] On March 4, 2015, the Senate held a vote and failed to override President Obama's veto of the bill; the vote was 62 to 37, less than the two-thirds majority required to override a presidential veto. [19] It would have run through Baker, Montana, where American-produced light crude oil from the Williston Basin (Bakken formation) of Montana and North Dakota would have been added[12] to the Keystone's throughput of synthetic crude oil (syncrude) and diluted bitumen (dilbit) from the oil sands of Canada. On March 28, 2017, his State Department illegally approved a cross-border permit for the pipeline, reversing the Obama administrations prior determination that KXL would not serve the national interest. [245] On June 23, 2010, 50Democrats in Congress in their letter to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton warned that "building this pipeline has the potential to undermine America's clean energy future and international leadership on climate change", referencing the higher input quantity of fossil fuels necessary to take the tar and turn it into a usable fuel product in comparison to other conventionally derived fossil fuels. [113] On June 9, 2021, the project was abandoned by TC Energy. 701 et. [62] The Senate was unable to override the veto by a two-thirds majority, with a 6237 vote. [168] After completion of the Keystone XL line, oil pipelines to the U.S. may run nearly half-empty. "[118] He went on to state that "approving this project would have undercut [the United States'] global leadership" on climate change. While the project may produce some temporary jobs for unemployed people, this project will not be able to create clean energy jobs. [34], On January 22, 2008, ConocoPhillips acquired a 50% stake in the project. [106] It runs through Nemaha, Brown and Doniphan counties in Kansas and Buchanan, Clinton, Caldwell, Montgomery, Lincoln and St. Charles counties in Missouri, before entering Madison County, Illinois. Construction of Phase III, from Cushing, Oklahoma, to Nederland, Texas, in the Gulf Coast area, began in August 2012 as an independent economic utility. [248][249], In December 2010, the No Tar Sands Oil campaign, sponsored by action groups including Corporate Ethics International, NRDC, Sierra Club, 350.org, National Wildlife Federation, Friends of the Earth, Greenpeace, and Rainforest Action Network, was launched. In Alberta, support was at 77%, and in Quebec at 36%. [16] By comparison, production of petroleum in the United States averaged 9.4million barrels (1.5million cubic meters) per day in first-half 2015, with gross exports of 500,000 barrels (79,000m3) per day through July 2015. Simultaneous 'solidarity' protests were also organized in several other cities across the United States, Europe, and Canada. What some pipeline advocates think is the "Keystone Pipeline" is a 1,700-mile "shortcut" called Keystone XL, or KXL. [111], On January 18, 2018, TransCanada announced they had secured commitments to ship 500,000 barrels (79,000m3) per day for 20 years. [127] Locally caught fish and untreated surface water would be at risk for contamination through oil sands extraction, and are central to the diets of many Indigenous peoples. [12] The Keystone XL pipeline segments were intended to allow American crude oil to enter the XL pipelines at Baker, Montana, on their way to the storage and distribution facilities at Cushing, Oklahoma. [207], In January 2012, President Obama rejected the application amid protests about the pipeline's impact on Nebraska's environmentally sensitive Sandhills region. [219] The review by the State Department is ongoing. [96] This prompted Solicitor General Noel J. Francisco to file an application for stay to the Supreme Court. [33], In October 2007, the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union of Canada asked the Canadian federal government to block regulatory approvals for the pipeline, with union president Dave Coles stating "the Keystone pipeline will exclusively serve US markets, create a permanent employment for very few Canadians, reduce our energy security, and hinder investment and job creation in the Canadian energy sector". [170] Until Canadian crude oil accesses international prices like LLS or Maya crude oil by "getting to tidewater" (south to the U.S. Gulf ports via Keystone XL for example, west to the BC Pacific coast via the proposed Northern Gateway line to ports at Kitimat, BC or north via the northern hamlet of Tuktoyaktuk, on the Beaufort Sea),[174] the Alberta government is losing from $430 billion in tax and royalty revenues as the primary product of the oil sands, Western Canadian Select (WCS), the bitumen crude oil basket, is discounted so heavily against West Texas Intermediate (WTI) while Maya crude oil, a similar product close to tidewater, is reaching peak prices. of State concerning Keystone XL pipeline, "Keystone XL Pipeline: About the project", "Senate Fails to Override Obama's Keystone Pipeline Veto", "GOP Threatens to Subpoena State Department", "TransCanada Requests Suspension of U.S. [64], On November 3, 2015, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry issued a determination that the project was not in the public interest. [70] The order would expedite the environmental review, which Trump described as an "incredibly cumbersome, long, horrible permitting process. The recent downward trend in gas prices further undermines the idea that there's a link between the Keystone XL pipeline and gas prices. [53], On November 10, 2011, the Department of State postponed a final decision while investigating "potential alternative routes around the Sandhills in Nebraska" in response to concerns that the project was not in the United States' national interest. [54] In its response, TransCanada pointed out fourteen different routes for Keystone XL were being studied, eight that impacted Nebraska. At every turn, the Tar Sands Invasion would put people and the environment in harm's way. "All U.S. This has proved to be untrue. [250], In September 2011, Joe Oliver, Canada's Minister of Natural Resources, sharply criticized opponents of oil sands development in a speech to the Canadian Club of Toronto, arguing that oil sands account for about 0.1% of global greenhouse-gas emissions, coal power plants powered in the U.S. generate almost 40 times more greenhouse-gas emissions than Canada's oil sands and California bitumen is more GHG-intensive than the oil sands. This story was originally published on April 7, 2017, and has been updated with new information and links. Indeed, moving crude by rail to the Gulf costs substantially more than moving it by pipe. (After the June 2010 spill of more than 800,000 US gallons (3,000m, "Realistic calculations yield worst-case spill estimates of more than 180,000 barrels (29,000m, "Contaminants from a release at the Missouri or Yellowstone River crossing would enter, "The worst-case site for such a spill is in the, Gallup (March 2012): 57% government should approve, 29% government should not approve, Pew Center (September 2013): 65% favor, 30% oppose, Rasmussen (January 2014): 57% favor, 28% oppose (of likely voters), USA Today (January 2014): 56% favor, 41% oppose, Washington PostABC News (April 2014): 65% government should approve, 22% government should not approve, CBS News Roper (May 2014): 56% favor, 28% oppose, This page was last edited on 25 February 2023, at 19:48. The Keystone pipeline spill in a creek running through rural pastureland in Washington County, Kansas, about 150 miles (240 kilometers) northwest of Kansas City, also was the biggest in the system . [citation needed] From January 2018 through December 31, 2019, Keystone XL development costs were $1.5 billion. Dealing in tar sands oil is an expensive endeavor. While American Petroleum Institute has stated that this project will create jobs for over half a million American people, the truth is these are all false claims. [77][78], In February 2019, District Judge Morris denied a request by TransCanada Corporation to begin constructing worker camps for pipeline although the company could begin construction of pipe storage and container yards as long as they were outside the proposed pipeline's right-of-way. [281], In early January 2016, TransCanada announced it would initiate an ISDS claim under NAFTA against the United States, seeking $15 billion in damages and calling the denial of a permit for Keystone XL "arbitrary and unjustified". Reporters still fumbling numbers in wake of pipeline's rejection", "Keystone pipeline: How many jobs really at stake? [239] This occurred while the South Dakota Water Management Board was in the middle of hearings on whether or not to allow TC Energy to use millions of gallons of water to build camps to house temporary construction workers for Keystone XL construction. At the time the presidential cross-border permit was revoked, construction of the 1,120-mile Keystone XL segment was on track to be completed in 2022, with operations starting in early 2023. They included one potential alternative route in Nebraska that would have avoided the entire Sandhills region and Ogallala Aquifer and six alternatives that would have reduced pipeline mileage crossing the Sandhills or the aquifer. "[188], In August 2012, the Tar Sands Blockade launched an indefinite tree sit in East Texas;[189] Naomi Klein credits these blockades and direct action against the pipeline in general with popularising the global anti-extractivist Blockadia movement. But environmental reviews by both the Obama and Trump administrations concluded that the Keystone XL pipeline would not have lowered gasoline prices. (That effort failed.) [214][215] Overall, the EPA rated the SEIS with their category "EO-2" (EO for "environmental objections" and 2 for "insufficient information"). We would score a victory, and it would have huge ramifications for holding off construction at critical times, says NRDC attorney Cecilia Segal, who has worked on KXL litigation since 2017. In July 2013, Obama said "The most realistic estimates are this might create maybe 2,000 jobs during the construction of the pipeline, which might take a year or two, and then after that we're talking about somewhere between 50 and 100 jobs in an economy of 150 million working people." Pipeline under construction in Alberta, Canada. [49] A 9,700 barrels (1,540m3) leak occurred in Marshall County, South Dakota in November 2017. This pipeline has a strong chance of leaking, and if so, it could contaminate the water. This project will certainly increase the possibility of spills through the periodic need for maintenance in the future. [63] DAPL may be underway, but the water protectors at Standing Rock taught us a lot about going up against the fossil fuel industry. Fact: TransCanada is interested in this project for one reason: to explore global markets through this pipeline. While an 11-volume State Department report on the Keystone XL pipeline found in 2014 that it would not significantly contribute to carbon pollution, critics say the project threatens Alberta's. One of the central arguments made by pipeline pushers was that tar sands expansion will move forward with or without Keystone XL. The Cushing MarketLink pipeline phase started at Cushing, Oklahoma, where American-produced oil is added to the pipeline, then runs south 435 miles (700km) to a delivery point near terminals in Nederland, Texas, to serve refineries in the Port Arthur, Texas, area. [A]pproval or denial of any one crude oil transport project, including the proposed Project, is unlikely to significantly impact the rate of extraction in the oil sands, or the continued demand for heavy crude oil. How an unlikely coalition of environmental activists stopped the destructive tar sands oil pipeline. When you sign up you'll become a member of NRDC's Activist Network. They included one potential alternative route in Nebraska that would have avoided the entire Sandhills region and Ogallala Aquifer and six alternatives that would have reduced pipeline mileage crossing the Sandhills or the aquifer. [171][172], Due to a 2011 exemption the state of Kansas gave TransCanada, the local authorities would lose $50million public revenue from property taxes for a decade. [98] In response, TC Energy stated that the U.S. part of the project would be reassessed (but not abandoned); the Canadian part would proceed as before. [55][56], In March 2012, Obama endorsed the building of the southern segment (Gulf Coast Extension or Phase III) that begins in Cushing, Oklahoma. For those of you who have heard this claim that organized labor is in support of this pipeline, heres the shocking truth. [217] On April 18, 2014, the Obama administration announced that the review of the controversial Keystone XL oil pipeline has been extended indefinitely, pending the result of a legal challenge to a Nebraska pipeline siting law that could change the route. [43], In 2012, the US State Department estimated that the pipeline would create about 5,000 to 6,000 temporary jobs in the US during the two-year construction period, would increase gasoline availability to the Northeast and expand the Gulf refining industry. [6] TC Energy declared a force majeure upon news of the leak.[10]. However, people, environmental activities, and organizations working on climate change strongly oppose this project. These sands contain bitumen, a gooey type of petroleum that can be converted into fuel. But Nebraskas got a slew of public hearings on the calendar, and legal challenges loom large. They tried to cover this by making up such keystone pipeline facts and myths, but the truth is energy prices will hike up at some point. On March 9, 2017, the Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Premier of Alberta Rachel Notley attended North America's largest energy conference CERAWeek in Houston, Texas. [8] This phase generated the greatest controversy because of its routing over the Sandhills in Nebraska. While the tar sands industry was once seen as an unbeatable opponent in a David-and-Goliath fight, the victory against Keystone XL shows that the tables have begun to turnand that more power now lies with the advocates for climate justice than ever before. On November 2, 2015, TransCanada asked the Obama administration to suspend its permit application for the Keystone XL. [52], In September 2011, Cornell ILR Global Labor Institute released the results of the GLI Keystone XL Report, which evaluated the pipeline's impact on employment, the environment, energy independence, the economy, and other critical areas. A 6237 vote clean Energy jobs, 2008, ConocoPhillips acquired keystone pipeline facts 2022 50 % stake in the.! 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