I just don't get it

<$BlogMetaData$>June 8th, 2011


I just don’t get it

For the life of me, I just don’t get it about the pro’s of the keystone XL pipeline and the arguments people are trying to jam down our throats about how wonderful this will be. Baloney! Pete Carrels of the Sierra Club sent me a great article about the goings on in Nebraska with the pipeline and I’m using parts to enhance my viewpoint about this whole stupid mess.

Meanwhile, other supporters of the pipeline held a press conference in Lincoln, Neb., to make their case that the project would wean the United States off of foreign oil, and create thousands of jobs along the construction route(1). I would be more apt to believe those that tout these wonderful jobs if it was a job that was stable and permanent, but these jobs will be nomadic, far from permanent and dangerous. That is of course unless you choose this type of life as your vocation. If you are young, single and want to wander for a couple of years, then maybe this could be the job for you, but this is not the case. The other part of that statement really galls me. CANADA IS A FOREIGN COUNTRY for crying out loud!

Just for kicks and grins let’s say you want the best for your family and sign up to work for XL. Next week maybe you start work in North Dakota and will work your way down to Texas, and this will span the course of 2 or 3 or 4 years. Then what? Your job is finished, and what do you do now? When you are working, you will be working 12 hour shifts for days on end. Will you have time for your family? Yes if they are traveling with you, otherwise, Nah ain’t gonna happen. This is not something I’m pulling out of my hat, this is what Preston Phillips says employees at the refinery will be doing, and the pipeline won’t be any different. Is this your idea of a job? Certainly isn’t my idea of a grandiose work environment if you ask me.

I think it would be nice if we could hear from those that are directly involved in this type of operation rather than lobbyists. These lobbyists don’t know squat and are just doing what they are paid to do and that is get XL through. Nebraska is flooded with them right now trying to convince lawmakers this is a good deal. I wouldn’t give you 2 cents for betting that the pipeline is not going to leak into the Ogallala aquifer. There goes the water quality in 5 states from manipulators who are looking for endorsements of putting this through northwest Nebraska. Guess who is the decision maker on this pipeline? – Hillary Rodham Clinton, Secretary of State for the United States of America. Argh-h-h-h-h-h..

Here is the State Department standing on the XL Pipeline (2) - The department found in the recent statement that oil-sands oil does have a higher carbon footprint in the production process than traditional oil, but concluded that those emissions don't need to be considered as part of its decision on the $7 billion project. Hello-o-o-o-o Hillary, what part of Carbon Dioxide pollution don’t you understand? Hyperion will be emitting 19 million tons of the stuff on a yearly basis. What do you think the rest of the refineries are going to be doing, spewing perfume?

Just to refresh your memory, Keystone has been in operation for only a year and already they have had 12 oil incidents. They (keystone) say this is normal, and previous statements on file with the state of South Dakota say that leaks of this type are normal because the amount of oil spilled is minimal and within the specs of the operation. After the entire pipeline is only under 1400 PSI and the walls are surely thick enough. What about the welds? It only takes one mistake and kaboom.

Oh what’s a few million tons of carbon dioxide? It’s just a greenhouse gas. What the heck. I think they call it climate change. Now don’t go telling me there isn’t such a thing either because that is just B.S., because it is happening. You might as well throw the other word in as well, because it is synonymous, Global warming. There I said it. Climate change and Global warming are fact, and if we don’t do something we may live to regret it.

We can start here by doing several things right off the bat. Quit making those unnecessary trips with your car and conserve water, electricity and the land. That last part is a slam dunk, but don’t get me going there. Start a garden, drive slower, turn up the temp on the air conditioner in the summer and turn down the heat in the winter. When I was a kid, the only cool place was under a shade tree. I’m getting off track here, sorry.

Why is it that all things that are bad for us are being dangled in front of us like a carrot that it is good? That is like Michael Douglas in the movie ‘wall street’ “Greed is good”… that is like saying Hyperion and XL is wonderful and will create life ever after.

If you put lipstick on a pig, it is still a pig.

(1)(2) LOBBYING: Fight over oil sands pipeline broadens (06/02/2011)

Christa Marshall, E&E reporter