Take action to stop the Pipeline!

The State Department recently issued an environmental review of the proposed Keystone XL Pipeline. Advocates are concerned that the review ignores the far-reaching impacts the pipeline will have on wildlife, habitat, and climate change.

“Oil sands mining is licensed to use twice the amount of fresh water than the entire city of Calgary uses in a year. At least 90% of the fresh water used in the oil sands ends up in tailing ponds so toxic that propane cannons are used to keep ducks from landing. Processing the oil sands uses enough natural gas in a day to heat 3 million homes. -The toxic holding ponds are considered one of the largest human-made structures in the world. -The ponds span 50 square kilometers and can be seen from space.-Producing a barrel of oil from the oil sands produces three times more greenhouse gas emissions than a barrel of conventional oil.” - Environmental Defense Fund.

Now, it's up to us to make sure these impacts are considered before President Obama makes his ultimate decision on whether to permit the Keystone XL Pipeline to be built.

Despite all that its developers’ promise, the Keystone XL Pipeline offers very little benefit:

• Jobs: According to the U.S. State Department the pipeline would create at most 3,900 temporary construction jobs. TransCanada, the Canadian company that wants to build the pipeline, estimates that only a small number of permanent jobs will remain.
• Energy Independence: The pipeline will not decrease American energy prices because all of the oil produced would be available to the international market. This oil will not belong to the United States.

So what will we see?

• Increased risk of environmental disasters: The proposed 875-mile Keystone XL Pipeline would cross more than 1000 water bodies, including 50 rivers and streams, and several aquifers, including the Ogallala, which is the heart of our nation's bread basket. It would also come within a mile of approximately 2500 water wells.
• Indigenous Perspective: The pipeline is strongly opposed by the Native Peoples of both Canada and the United States.
• CO2: A Canadian think tank estimates that the process of extracting and refining tar sands results in greenhouse gas emissions that are 37% higher than conventional oil production.

The pipeline will certainly benefit oil companies financially, especially the TransCanada Corporation. Yet it is Americans who will bear the risks of tar sands oil spills in our rivers and our aquifers and the consequences of worsening climate change.

During his State of the Union address, President Obama pledged to address catastrophic climate change. Let us remind him of this promise and urge him to stand strong for the environment!

Learn more about the Keystone XL Pipeline and access other opportunities to take action for the earth through the UCC’s Mission 4/1 Earth Campaign.

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