In unfortunate news for the climate, TransCanada has filed papers Monday that will allow the opening of the southern leg of its Keystone XL pipeline to begin Jan. 3.?This leg of the pipeline would carry 700,000 barrels of dirty oil from Cushing, Okla., to Port Arthur, Tex. The announcement should drive activists (and all citizens concerned with averting climate disaster) to reinvigorate their efforts against opening the primary northern stretch of the Keystone XL pipeline.
The Huffington Post article that announced this issue takes an underhandedly biased tone that warrants a call-out.
For example:
There has been an oil glut at the Cushing terminal, and the pipeline will help to relieve that, moving U.S. oil to coastal ports and giving it access to global markets.
This claim implies that oil must be released into the planet, because it’s just oh-so pent up. When solar and wind are thriving in the United States and throughout the world, there’s no need to feed our gluttonous addiction to oil.
U.S. oil production has been booming, thanks to new methods of oil extraction in North Dakota and Texas, and that makes the U.S.’s approval of the main leg of Keystone XL less likely.
The comparison ought to be between renewable energy and oil, coupled with a reminder that tar sands oil is the dirtiest oil on the planet. This centrist argument in favor of other sources of oil risks losing focus of just how grave the climate crisis is and the extent of policy changes necessary.
Finally, the article sites the State Dept. report that failed to identify the pipeline’s severe risk without acknowledging the State Dept authors? former employment with TransCanada.
Ultimately, truthful highlighting of facts including but not limited to the high likelihood of a leak and refuting the emphasized ?jobs? message of pipeline backers are the foundation climate activists have of building a large enough movement that would convince President Obama to finally take decisive action against the main stretch of the Keystone XL pipeline.
Edited/Published by: SB
