The Keystone XL pipeline is dead. Now what?

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

WITHIN HOURS OF his inauguration on January 20, President Joe Biden walked into the Oval Office, pulled his chair up to the Resolute Desk, and signed a broad executive order to tackle the climate crisis, including a clause that revoked the permit for the Keystone XL pipeline’s construction in the United States.

On paper, at least, the controversial project was dead. TC Energy, the pipeline’s owner, suspended operations on Keystone that day; opponents made celebratory announcements.

The Keystone XL, which is designed to deliver 830,000 barrels a day of crude oil from the Alberta oil sands to refineries in the U.S., has been declared dead before. In 2015 President Barack Obama rejected the initial permit application—but President Donald Trump reversed that decision. Along the way the pipeline has been repeatedly stalled by legal challenges.

In the face of Biden’s order, TC Energy has not yet announced whether it plans to concede and scrap the project, though it does seem likely. Conceivably it could decide to wait for more favorable political conditions that would allow it to resume construction. Its best option might be to seek compensation for its losses from the U.S. government. (The company did not respond to requests to comment on this story.)

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/2021/02/keystone-xl-pipeline-dead-now-what/

[OAITW r.2.0]

1. This was a Dick Cheney boondoogle.....

he was a driving force is this whole Alberta tar sands development fiasco. The worst possible energy choice.

[mr_lebowski]

2. So ... are they now going to transport this same nasty shit via trains and trucks and ships

through our waterways, cities and towns instead, at much higher carbon and monetary costs, and at much higher risk of severe damage?

I assume that is the most pertinent 'now what' in this situation.

[OnlinePoker]

4. They are already doing that to Canadian ports.

TransCanada is also twinning the pipeline from Alberta to the port in Burnaby (Vancouver) and this will increase the tanker traffic in the Straits of Georgia and Juan de Fuca from 1 a week to 7. The issue with trains, most of them run for a large portion of their routes along river valleys so, when there's a derailment, there goes the downstream waterway. At least with pipelines, if a break occurs, it can usually be contained more easily. You also don't have as much danger of massive explosions and death toll like happened in Lac Magantic (sp?), Quebec when these oil cars derail.

[progree]

5. Yup, as long as we keep buying the shit for our SUVs and Ford F-150's, it will get produced

and transported one way or the other. And if they didn't produce and transport it, people would be screaming about the soaring prices and how they are deliberately shutting in production as part of an evil plot to raise prices.

[Under The Radar]

3. They need to divert the pipeline to Phoenix to carry water

Not oil.

[mr_lebowski]

6. Or perhaps Lakes Powell and Mead ...

Even though I'm here in Phoenix, the whole region could use this influx.

Then again, it might be better if people just got the hell out ... there shouldn't be this many people here anyway.

[Under The Radar]

7. Another summer like the last and a few may realize that you have a point

[Thekaspervote]

8. It needed to go!

Only 50 permanent jobs
Yes, approx 1,000 construction jobs..temporary
The oil refiners didn’t want it
It is a terrible pollutant with little crude and lots of waste
Leaks are disastrous
Would run across sacred Indian grounds and possibly spoil an entire water shed
There’s no money in it with the glut of oil world wide

It was no doubt one of the best decisions