The ultimate FAQ for American politics.
The ultimate FAQ for American politics.
The Keystone Pipeline is a 36 inch diameter pipeline, proposed to carry crude oil from an area of Alberta, Canada to key refineries across the mid-western United States. Partially completed, the Keystone Pipeline’s roadmap for development now consists of five phases that will spiderweb out across Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma and Texas. This map of the pipeline proposal and its current locations shows how more than half of this project is already completed. When people refer to the Keystone Pipeline XL, they are actually referring to parts of the third along with the entire fourth and last phase of the Keystone proposal.
On January, 18 2012, President Barack Obama was advised by the State Department to deny the proposal for the Keystone XL Pipeline on the grounds that it is does not serve the “national interest”. This is a murky subject but understanding comes from looking at this from multiple angles. First of all, the right to build a pipeline of this size requires a stack of permits and the ability to redistribute land ownership utilizing eminent domain. Keystone was well on its way to finalizing its paperwork when an outcry of public concern made its original route through the delicate Sand Hills region of Nebraska. It could be said that the environmentalists started voicing their concerns first which was the beginning of the snowball. The Natural Resources Defense Council was pretty vocal about possible damage to the Sand Hills and the surrounding area in the event of an accident. The plans had this pipeline going through an area that has a history of earthquakes and it was thought that a strong enough earthquake could create a natural disaster. A busted pipeline in the Sand Hills region would quickly seep into the local water table and wreak havoc on the entire region. In short, it would be devastating.
Athabasca oil sands. Image via Wikipedia.
The partisan agenda then took up the cause. Liberals saw this as an opportunity to shut down the pipeline operation. It was thought that if the Obama administration did not take a stand against this pipeline, then it would be simply expanding our dependence of oil at a time when we should be expanding energy alternatives instead. It seemed they thought that if the US was unable to buy the oil from Athabasca oil sands in Canada, then the business would simply dry up. They were wrong. Keystone officials quickly returned fire and announced that they had other interested buyers if the US was not interested.
Keep in mind, at this time, there was already an active pipeline from the oil sands of Canada to the United States. This is isn’t exactly a widely known fact. The pipe ends in Wood River, Illinois and it had already been pumping crude for a few weeks by then. This fact doesn’t dispel their argument, but it’s obvious why people opposed to this pipeline wouldn’t actively bring it up. Why weren’t they this vocal when the first pipeline was in its planning stages? The answer is simple: politics.
So at this point, the Keystone people are scrambling. They are rerouting plans for their pipeline to safer locations and making preparations to get it approved. Meanwhile, political tension is raising and the primary process is well underway. The always hard-nosed Republican establishment decided that they wanted to use Keystone XL as a makeshift sledgehammer. In December 2011, Congress voted in a Republican-led effort to set up a 60-day deadline for the President’s decision on whether or not to approve the project. According to the administration, this was not enough time to analyze the cost-benefit of the proposal. Since the Keystone XL route has changed, this required a whole other round of environmental studies. Those studies required more time to come to a conclusion and process it through the bureaucratic system.
So the Republicans knew that this deadline could never be reached when their 60-day line in the sand was drawn. This was a calculated maneuver to force President Obama into a situation where he had to make a decision prior to the elections. They already knew his decision would have to be to deny the permit due to pressure from his environmentalist supporters. In the end, the Keystone XL has been a victim of the political system. The Republicans effectively delayed its approval by forcing the issue like they did. It was all so they could claim the president its “anti-jobs” and “against lower fuel prices”. It was also so they could point to him and say,”See? The enviro-crazies are at it again!” In truth, it was simply politics as usual for both sides involved. This time, there was no clear winner.
