Keystone Xl Pipeline

Cameron Nyblom

Mark Mitch

Environmental Science

Position Paper #1

Keystone XL Pipeline

The Keystone XL Pipeline is a proposal sent to the President of the United States, Department of State, and many other highly recognized offices in the US, in an attempt to run a pipe from Canadian tar sands through Nebraska and down to the Gulf of Mexico. This project would cost the government roughly 7 million dollars and has created a widespread controversy, especially since it will run through 6 different states and run through potential personal property. With such a large project being proposed, there are without a doubt two sides to each proposal, pro’s and con’s for each side.

On one side, the government and offices trying to get this proposal approved believe that this pipeline will gives us easier access to more sufficient amounts of oil. With prices of oil and gasoline being so high, it is believe that with the additional 900,000 barrels of oil (potentially) coming in each day, amounting to 19 million gallons of gasoline daily, the government would be able to lower prices at the pumps. The US government and special agencies also believe that by allowing this project to take place, it would give the president one less thing to worry about, because less time would be spent trying to find large amounts of untouched oil. They also believe that by spending the money now for all the construction, will eventually lead to us saving money in future oil cost, of searching, drilling, extracting, and exporting.

But the other side brings strong arguments of environmental concerns, which ultimately lead to the President’s decision to say no to this proposal. Environmentalists from many leading universities and agencies all pooled together to research the environmental damage this pipeline could potentially inflict. There were many different areas they found this pipeline could affect, and the most dangerous and potential most destruction came from the mass increased...