The Keystone XL Pipeline
will have a negative
impact on the
environment if the
proposal to build it passes.
By Darrel Bagiotti
The Issue!
 The Keystone XL Pipeline is a proposed business plan by
TransCanada a leading energy company in Canada, to pump crude
oil from Albert, Canada’s tar sands to Texas’s Gulf Coast.
 The project will connect underground pipes 1,700 miles across the
nation carrying the expected 900,000 barrels of oil daily.
 It is a heated debate because one side argues the economic benefits
to having foreign oil pumped directly into the United States,
compared to the opposing side arguing the Keystone XL Pipeline
will have a negative impact on the environmental.
 Knowing the dirty truth about the negative environmental impacts
due to tar sands, it doesn’t seem like our best judgment to use it.
 If the Keystone XL Pipeline proposal is signed it will have a
negative impact on the environment.
The science and technology behind the
issue.
 Technology in the context I am using it may be different then what
some may think when they hear the word. Amy E. Wendling
author of Karl Marx on Technology and Alienation quotes Marx in
stating, “technology exemplifies the interaction between human
beings and nature” (Wendling 1). In relation to the Keystone XL
Pipeline this definition of technology is exactly what this issue is
about, conflict between humans and nature.
 I prefer the definition from Jeffrey A. Lee author of the book The
Scientific Endeavor who writes “Science is a way of learning about
things; it is a process we use to improve our understanding of the
universe and all that is in it” (Lee 1). Using data and information
collected about tar sands and the negative impact they have on the
environment, I don’t think we are improving our understanding of
all things if we know something we are doing is bad but continue
to do it.
The Science
What are tar sands?
Tar sands are a combination of clay, sand,
water, and bitumen, a very black viscous oil.
Tar sands extraction emits more GHG
emissions then any other energy extraction
process.
Knowing what tar sands are and how they have
a negative impact on our environment, I don’t
think we are paying attention to the data and
statistics scientist have been putting out about
tar sands.
Technology
 Open pit mining.
 Enormous shovels dig up the tar sands and
transfer the tar sands in giant trucks to the
extraction plant.
. At the extraction plant, the hot water process
separates the bitumen form sand, water, and
minerals. The separation takes place in
separation cells, the combination of hot water
and agitation releases bitumen from the oil
sand, and causes tiny air bubbles to attach to
the bitumen droplets, that float to the top of the
separation vessel, where the bitumen can be
skimmed off. The bitumen is then brought to
another station where it is eventually upgraded
into synthetic crude oil (EIS 1).
Fun Facts about the
Keystone XL Pipeline
 Tar sands emits 3x more GHG compared to
conventional oil extraction.
 Tar sands extraction requires strip mining huge
tracts of pristine forest. An area the size of Florida
is slated for extraction.
 In its 2006 pipeline risk assessment for the U.S.
State Department permit application,
TransCanada predicted that Keystone would see
one spill in 7 years. There has been 12 spills in
one year.
Ethical Views
Over 1,100 people have been arrested
protesting against the project.
Is it worth the risk having this pipeline run
across our nation near major aquifers that
provide adequate drinking water for millions
of people?
People argue though that we need jobs in
America and this project will create thousands
of jobs in the U.S.
Economics
 $13 billion dollar project
 Canada’s economy relies on crude oil and the
United States relies on the crude oil to support
our demand for oil.
 The project will create 20,000 direct high wage
jobs.
 States along the projected pipeline will receive
$5.2billion in property taxes.
Crunching the Numbers
 The pipeline is expected to flow 900,000
barrels of oil daily and with one barrel of oil in
the U.S costing roughly $100, TransCanada
will make $900 million every ten days.
 About two tons of tar sands are required to
produce one barrel of crude oil. This means
roughly 1.8million tons of tar sands are
required to meet the 900,000 barrels of oil
daily.
 Trucks carry up to 320 tons of tar sands per
load. This means 5,625 trucks will be needed
to carry the 1.8 million tons of tar sands daily.
The Future
Use alternative energy sources such as wind
turbines, they have been around since 900
A.D and they are a eco-friendly way to
produce energy.
Cuba survived peak oil, so there is hope that
a nation can go through peak oil and come
out strong.
Stop the megaload now!!
http://www.wearepowershift.org/
Protest agaisnt the Keystone XL Pipeline
Work Cited

"Alberta Energy: Facts and Statistics." Alberta Energy:. 9 Sept. 2011. Web. 28 Sept.
2011. <http://www.energy.alberta.ca/OilSands/791.asp>.

Drug Gangsters, Zetas. "Goldman Sachs Drives Up Oil Futures | Culture of Life News."
Culture of Life News | Culture of Life News: the Blog Is Mightier than the Sword.
Ruthless Analysis of History and Modern Events. 4 June 2009. Web. 29 Sept.
2011. <http://emsnews.wordpress.com/2009/06/04/goldman-sachs-drives-upoil-futures/>.

Feed, Sam Abuelsamid RSS. "Shell Plans to Quadruple Canadian Oil Sands
Production." AutoblogGreen -- We Obsessively Cover the Green Scene. 27 June 2007.
Web. 29 Sept. 2011. <http://green.autoblog.com/2007/01/27/shell-plans-to-quadruplecanadian-oil-sands-production/>.

Katusa, Marin. "Securing the Insecure: U.S. Oil Imports - Undesignated - Resource
Investor."
Resource Investor - News and Investment Insights on Mining, Drilling and Piping Sectors, Products
and Companies. 7 Oct. 2008. Web. 28 Sept. 2011.
<http://www.resourceinvestor.com/News/2008/7/Pages/Securing-the-Insecure--U-S--OilImports.aspx>.

Tar Sands Basics. (2003). Oil Shale and Tar Sands Information Center. ESI. Retrieved
September 23, 2011, from http://ostseis.anl.gov/guide/tarsands/index.cfm

Keystone Pipeline Project. (2011, August 29). TransCanada Corporation Home. Retrieved
September 08, 2011, from http://www.transcanada.com/keystone.html
Lee, J. A. (2000). The scientific endeavor: a primer on scientific principles and practice.
San Francisco, CA, CA: Benjamin Cummings.
Wendling, A. E. (2009). Karl Marx on Technology And Alienation. Basingstoke, NY:
Palgrave


Macmillan.