[OKC] FW: [ok-sus] Meeting on Tar Sands Pipeline May 4, 2010, from 7 to 9 p.m. at the Best Western Motor Lodge in Stroud, Oklahoma.

[Shauna Lawyer Struby]

FYI .

 

From: ok-sus-bounces at lists.oksustainability.org
[mailto:ok-sus-bounces at lists.oksustainability.org] On Behalf Of Harlan
Hentges
Sent: Monday, May 03, 2010 3:58 PM
To: okc at sustainableokc.org; 'Sustainability Issues in Oklahoma'
Subject: [ok-sus] Meeting on Tar Sands Pipeline May 4, 2010, from 7 to 9
p.m. at the Best Western Motor Lodge in Stroud, Oklahoma.

 

Sorry for the short notice. 

 

 

Canada's Tar Sands Oil Will Hurt Oklahoma 

 

Americans want clean energy, energy security and a safe environment. In
Oklahoma this means wind power, solar power and natural gas. So why is the
Obama administration about to approve a pipeline that would import tar sands
oil (the dirtiest oil there is) from Canada. This pipeline, known as the
Keystone XL, will have a direct and negative impact on Oklahoma's economy,
environmental and its people all the way from the Kansas border to the Red
River. 

 

The State Department is holding a public meeting on Keystone XL pipeline on
May 4, 2010, from 7 to 9 p.m. at the Best Western Motor Lodge in Stroud,
Oklahoma. The purpose of the meeting is to hear from the public on the
impacts of this pipeline.  

 

On April 16, 2010, the Department of State released its Draft Environmental
Impact Statement (DEIS) for a massive pipeline designed to carry tar sands
from Canada into the U.S. The Keystone Pipeline would be a 1,380 miles long,
36-inch diameter pipe that would enter the U.S. in Montana and cross through
South Dakota and Nebraska in order to send its 700,000 barrel/day supply of
tar sands to stations in Oklahoma and Texas where it would be refined into
gasoline. 

 

Approval of the Keystone XL pipeline will increase U.S. dependence on
Canadian oil and threaten our national security. The Canadian Tar Sands is
one of the most expensive sources of oil on Earth. Greater reliance on this
expensive source of oil is a national security issue. According to Jonathan
Powers of the Truman National Security Project, every $5 increase in the
global price of crude oil represents an additional $7.9 billion for Iran and
President Ahmadinejad and an additional $4.7 billion for Venezuela and
President Chavez. This means that buying expensive Tar Sand Crude from our
friendly neighbor to the north drives up global prices that enrich
unfriendly countries.

 

The Canadian government has been pressuring the U.S. government to increase
our dependence on this dirty, expensive, foreign fuel. The owner of the
pipeline, TransCanada, has been lobbying our state and county governments as
well. This foreign owned company convinced Kansas to give it property tax
breaks at the expense of Kansas citizens. Already in Oklahoma, TransCanada
has repeatedly used the power of eminent domain to take privately owned land
and force farmers and ranchers out of its way. 

 

Tar sands oil directly competes with homegrown jobs in clean energy as well
as domestic oil and gas production. This pipeline will take away
opportunities for Oklahoma and America to transition to an independent
energy sector.

 

Anyone who cares about water should be concerned about this project. The
pipeline crosses the Ogallala aquifer, the single most important source of
water in the High Plains region. The pipeline crosses 554 acres of wetlands
and 91 streams that support recreational or commercial fisheries (18 in
Montana, 10 in South Dakota, 15 in Nebraska, 16 in Oklahoma, and 32 in
Texas). 

An accident in this oil pipeline would jeopardize sensitive environmental
areas, especially wetlands, flowing streams and rivers that supply water for
municipalities and commercial/industrial users. David Kromm, an expert on
groundwater management, writes, "the future economy of the High Plains
depends heavily on the Ogallala Aquifer, the main source of water for all
uses. The Ogallala will continue to be the lifeblood of the region only if
it is managed properly to limit both depletion and contamination."

 

The State Department has not include a "full and fair discussion" of all
"direct," "indirect," and "cumulative" effects of this project. Most
importantly, the Department of State did not consider the option of not
approving this pipeline. Our government's own Energy Information
Administration (EIA) finds that demand for oil has decreased and will be
flat through 2030 in the United States. The U.S. Energy Information
Administration (EIA) projects that net imports of U.S. crude oil and
petroleum products will decline from 12.1 MMbd in 2007 to 8.3 MMbd in 2030.
U.S. petroleum consumption is expected to remain relatively flat out to
2030. Disturbingly, the Department of State's document fails to consider
that we do not need this pipeline.   

 

Tar sands crude is not the same as conventional crude - most studies
estimate that the synthetic crude oil produced from tar sands emits 20% more
pollution than conventional oil. As a result, the pollution from this
project is staggering. Building this one pipeline would result in
approximately 38 million metric tons of additional emissions per year, the
equivalent of adding over six million cars to the road! The tar sands are
found beneath the Canadian Boreal Forest. The Keystone XL pipeline, which
would increase the import of foreign oil to the United States, will also
increase destruction of the forest and draining of huge peat-bogs in the
Boreal Forest. 

 

The Domestic Energy Producers Association has come out strongly against the
project. Supporters of clean energy are against the project. Native
Americans from Canada to Texas oppose this pipeline. The farmers and
ranchers whose land is being taken oppose the project.   

 

In Oklahoma, farmers, cowmen, Indians, oil producers, gas producers and
environmentalists all oppose this pipeline. The State Department needs to
listen to the people impacted by the pipeline and it needs to reject the
Keystone XL Pipeline project. To add your voice to the opposition to this
pipeline visit come to the Keystone XL Hearing on May 4, 2010, 7 to 9 p.m.
at the Best Western Motor Lodge in Stroud, Oklahoma. 

 

 

Harlan Hentges (405) 808-7669

Rosemary Crawford (405) 206-3979

Center for Energy Matters

1015 G Waterwood Parkway

Suite C-1

Edmond Oklahoma 73034

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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