Keystone XL Pipeline posts, articles, and infographics

Facts, Not Excuses, Should Guide Decision on Re-Routed Keystone XL

May 7, 2012 by Mark Green
with 106 views

It’s good to hear that TransCanada has submitted its new application for a presidential permit to build the Keystone XL pipeline. The application comes just weeks after the Nebraska legislature approved a bill to move forward with a new route in that state that avoids the sensitive Sand Hills region.Even better news would be that the... [read more]

New Keystone XL Tar Sands Pipeline Permit Rejected by Nebraska Residents

May 5, 2012 by Rocky Kistner
with 314 views

TransCanada’s latest Keystone XL tar sands pipeline plan filed with the U.S. State Department has done nothing to quell local Nebraska opposition to the controversial project to pipe tar sands oil all the way to the Gulf for export. Nebraska residents say the massive pipeline plan still jeopardizes the world’s largest fresh... [read more]

Wind Developers Have Same Problems as Keystone XL

April 27, 2012 by Amy Myers Jaffe
with 678 views

One of the most prominent arguments against expanded oil and natural gas drilling and major infrastructure projects like Keystone XL is that the United States should for environmental reasons focus on production of energy from renewables rather than sustain the use of oil and natural gas. But the reality is that local community activists... [read more]

Lakotas Launch Hunger Strike Against Tar Sands Pipelines

April 7, 2012 by Rocky Kistner
with 271 views

In the Dakotas, members of the proud Lakota Nation rose in protest this week to join a 48-hour hunger strike in opposition to the Keystone XL pipeline—and all tar sands pipelines—they say will destroy precious water resources and ancestral lands in the U.S and in Canada. On Sunday, dozens of hunger strikers and... [read more]

Texans Say No to the Keystone XL Tar Sands Pipeline

April 3, 2012 by Rocky Kistner
with 264 views

With news that President Obama will fast track the building of the southern leg of the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline, Texans in its path say their health and property rights are endangered by a torrent of corrosive tar sands oil from Canada. From landowners in the northern parts of the state to residents in the... [read more]

Texans to Future Tar Sands Refineries: Do They Care?

March 18, 2012 by Rocky Kistner
with 477 views

Gloria Trevino doesn’t need a Washington politician to tell her that a daily gusher of Canadian tar sands crude won’t do her air in south Houston any favors. Surrounded by massive petrochemical plants, she and her neighbors in this industrial community already breathe some of the dirtiest air in the country. Her small one-... [read more]

Texans Fight to Protect Their Land from the Keystone XL Pipeline

March 11, 2012 by Rocky Kistner
with 374 views

Down in Texas there’s an old saying; “You can put your boots in the oven but it don’t make them biscuits.” That’s an expression Washington politicians and their Keystone XL tar sands pipeline allies should take to heart. Texas landowners say they are fed up with the exaggerated claims and false arguments that Big Oil boosters are... [read more]

On Gas Prices & the Keystone XL Pipeline

March 9, 2012 by Robert Rapier
with 203 views

In this week’s episode of R-Squared Energy TV, I answer more questions about gas prices, and discuss the Keystone XL pipeline and future development of Canada’s oil sands. Some of the topics discussed are: The EROEI for producing oil sands The emissions profile of shipping the oil sands to China versus refining it in the U.S. Why I... [read more]

Far from DC, Michigan Residents Fight Their Own Tar Sands Pipeline Battles

March 1, 2012 by Rocky Kistner
with 184 views

As TransCanada announced it would begin building the southern leg of its Keystone XL tar sands oil pipeline from Oklahoma to Texas—setting the stage for a new Congressional battle over the transnational pipeline—Michigan residents are worried about a massive tar sands oil spill that persists in their backyards. ... [read more]

Protesters to Keystone XL Pipeline: Don't Mess With Texas

February 26, 2012 by Rocky Kistner
with 603 views

As Congressional Republicans and Big Oil allies in Washington try to resuscitate the massive Keystone XL tar sands pipeline, people on the frontlines have opened a new campaign to stop the massive $7 billion project. In Texas, landowners are locking arms to fight would-be pipeline builder TransCanada ... [read more]

Bill McKibben Talks Keystone XL on the Colbert Report

February 14, 2012 by Joseph Romm
with 299 views

Environmental Activist and 350.org Founder Bill McKibben had a lot to be excited about when he walked onto the Colbert Report last night. After wondering publicly whether the environmental movement could accumulate 500,000 messages in 24-hours from citizens opposed to the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline, by last night he announced that... [read more]

No Free Lunch in Our Energy Options

February 14, 2012 by Robert Rapier
with 595 views

If I had to describe the theme of my upcoming book with just one phrase, it would be “There is no free lunch in our energy options.” Sometimes the costs are obvious, as when an oil spill occurs or a nuclear accident happens. Other times, the costs are not so obvious, but the trade-offs are always there. [read more]

Why I am opposed to Northern Gateway

February 6, 2012 by Simon Donner
with 202 views

After a few months of thinking, I came to the conclusion that there is no choice but to oppose the construction of the Northern Gateway pipeline. There are many worthy arguments on either side of this issue, from the economy to First Nations rights, and from the preservation of the BC coastline to the reality of oil consumption here and... [read more]

Are Republicans Turning Congress Into A Permitting Body?

February 1, 2012 by Frances Beinecke
with 155 views

House Republicans are once again talking about weighing down the tax relief bill with riders designed to force the approval of the Keystone XL pipeline and block clean air standards. But, even these lawmakers seem to recognize the public won’t like their political maneuverings. Despite the trouble they got into in December over holding... [read more]

Refinery Closures Lead to Rising Gas Prices and Job Losses

January 31, 2012 by Robert Rapier
with 175 views

Refinery Closures and the Keystone Pipeline There have been several announcements in recent months of refinery closures that will likely impact gasoline supplies (and prices) on the East Coast. Some of those closures have been on the East Coast. Others — such as the Hovensa refinery in the Virgin Islands and some European refineries —... [read more]