Keystone pipeline canceled after Biden had blocked permit

[Eugene]

Source: Associated Press

BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — The sponsor of the Keystone XL crude oil pipeline said Wednesday it is pulling the plug on the contentious project after Canadian officials failed to persuade President Joe Biden to reverse his cancellation of its permit on the day he took office.

Calgary-based TC Energy said it would work with government agencies “to ensure a safe termination of and exit from” the partially built line, which was to transport crude from the oil sand fields of western Canada to Steele City, Nebraska.

Construction on the 1,200-mile (1,930-kilometer) pipeline began last year when former President Donald Trump revived the long-delayed project after it had stalled under the Obama administration.

It would have moved up to 830,000 barrels (35 million gallons) of crude daily, connecting in Nebraska to other pipelines that feed oil refineries on the U.S. Gulf Coast.

-snip-

By MATTHEW BROWN
13 minutes ago


Read more: https://apnews.com/article/donald-trump-joe-biden-keystone-pipeline-canada-environment-and-nature-141eabd7cca6449dfbd2dab8165812f2

[Lonestarblue]

1. Excellent news!

[Submariner]

2. It would have moved up to 830,000 barrels (35 million gallons) of crude daily

Picture those quartz granules in the Tar Sand mix scouring the inside lining of that pipe until it erodes through into a spectacular oil spill that the piping company will be very sorry for, that no one could have foreseen, yada...yada...yada

[OneCrazyDiamond]

3. I think Canada will find another way to bring the tar sands to market.

Still, I am glad we are not accomplices in their effort

[Cobalt Violet]

18. They're trying to right now.

They're trying to steal more Indigenous land as we speak.

https://www.stopline3.org/#intro

[BobTheSubgenius]

8. It's not a question of IF the pipeline will lose structural integrity.

It's a question of when...and how bad.

[SunSeeker]

11. And how long it would take to discover the leak, since the pipeline would have been underground.

That's why pipeline leaks are so disastrous. They go on for days, weeks, months, or even years before they are discovered. By then the oil has seeped into groundwater aquifers, and cleanup is basically impossible.

[BobTheSubgenius]

30. I hadn't even considered the "underground" part.

My (very) bad. I believe telemetry is good enough to detect a leak, but I don't know how much flow change that would require, nor how it might be pinpointed.

My car knows when the gas cap isn't screwed down completely tight. It's all a matter of how much money is required and the will to make it happen.

[SunSeeker]

32. We rely on the oil companies' gauges and sensors to detect a leak.

Last edited Sat Jun 12, 2021, 02:40 PM - Edit history (2)

That's like relying on criminals to tell you when they rob a bank.

My experience with underground oil pipe leaks in the Santa Maria and Santa Barbara areas of California has cemented my belief that oil pipelines are an unacceptable danger to the environment. In the Santa Barbara leak, the instruments failed (or were never maintained) and the leak went on for months, not being discovered until it surfaced on the beach and fouled the beach and ocean.

Oil pipelines regularly fail in California. Federal pipeline data shows there were 621 pipeline incidents in California from 1986 through 2014, causing 200 injuries, 48 fatalities and almost $800 million in property damage. A Center analysis of federal pipeline data found pipeline failures are most common after 30 years and shortly after they’re completed, as a result of faulty welds and other construction-related problems.

https://www.biologicaldiversity.org/news/press_releases/2019/plains-all-american-pipeline-04-25-2019.php

[BobTheSubgenius]

34. Those are some very bad numbers, indeed.

Well, at least the executives cashed the bonus cheques, right?

[Imallin4Joe]

4. Another Biden victory!! nt

[Gidney N Cloyd]

5. Love ya, Canada, but run that shit through your own back yard.

[AllaN01Bear]

6. now compensate the ppl whose land you stole using eminant domain

and release the ones in jail that who refused u and or protested u. good news .

[pazzyanne]

13. + 1,000 nt

[calimary]

7. Whew! GOOD!!!

Put that damn thing AWAY. PERIOD!!!

[keithsw]

9. Of course the Repubs

are going to take this and run with it. " Biden cost America thousands of good union jobs! " Like they give a fuck about Union people

[SunSeeker]

12. If they cared about union jobs, they'd pass Biden's infrastructure bill.

The XL pipeline would have created a few thousand temporary construction jobs, while devastating the environment. Biden’s infrastructure bill would create 2.7 million permanent new jobs, and help save the environment.

[sellitman]

10. Best news of the day.

I'll take it!!!!

[Piratedog]

14. Yippee!!

[cilla4progress]

15. Thank effing

gawd!!!!!

Best news in a long time.

[70sEraVet]

16. The leak at a ND farm in 2013 ruined over 7 acres of farm land

The leak wasn't discovered by the oil company - it was discovered by the farmer when he began harvesting his fields. For some unknowable reason, the oil company had no way of knowing that the amount of oil coming OUT of the pipeline was less than the amount going INTO the pipeline!
https://oilprice.com/The-Environment/Oil-Spills/North-Dakota-Farmer-Stumbles-on-Massive-Oil-Leak.html

[patphil]

17. Why don't the Canadians build a refinery and process the crude in their own country?

[BumRushDaShow]

19. Wow wow.

What a saga and sad journey this has been but it shows the power of the people who kept up with the protests to protect the land. I just remember all the images posted on DU of those making their stand.

And now the victory is almost anti-climatic (pun not intended).

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

20. Great!!!

[jalan48]

21. Glad to see we've come around on this.

[marble falls]

22. Took over 25 years.

[electric_blue68]

23. W000000t!!!!

[iluvtennis]

24. It's such a happy day!

[twodogsbarking]

25. But what about the starving oil executives?

Maybe a gofundme page or a bake sale.

[Mysterian]

26. Averting an environmental disaster

Thank you, President Biden!

[Cafe Cat]

27. I just don't have words for this.

[Marthe48]

28. If oil producers could be convinced

that renewable sources of energy would be worth the R&D, worth building infrastructure, beyond their wildest dreams, and show them how well startups in renewables are doing, maybe they would stop beating their dead horse and get on board.

How much did it cost to move from whale oil to kerosene to electricity? How hard was it to switch from coal to natural gas?

Instead of dragging their feet, oil producers and power companies all over the world should be embracing and supporting new technology. It is here, it is going to supersede oil and gasoline. Cut the transition period and let's get on with it.

[queenmandy85]

29. Opportunities from the Keystone cancellation

We currently have the opportunity to transition away from fossil fuels to nuclear power. Solar power is an important element in energy generation but it is insufficient to support future needs. Initially, uranium fuelled generators are necessary to bridge the gap until thorium LFTR's can replace them.
While, there is some resistance to uranium generation plants, that is an indictment of the education system. Four times more Americans died yesterday, June 9, 2021, from covid 19, than have been killed in nuclear power plant accidents in the 75+ years of nuclear power generation. Chernobyl was the worst accident, accounting for most of the 100+ deaths from nuclear power accidents. Fukushima had one fatality. A worker died of a heart attack.
Thorium has no military applications, will not melt down and produces far less waste.
The transition to nuclear power means a lot of union jobs, from generation to expansion and electrification of the rail network.
It also means Canada can preserve it's coal and oil resources for future generations of Canadians. The 10's of thousands of products made from coal and oil are far more valuable than burning it.
Cancelling Keystone was the best decision President Biden could have made.

[roamer65]

31. Now to kill Enbridge line 5 running through the Straits of Mackinac.

[Judi Lynn]

33. Righteous! Thank you. ⭐️

[Calista241]

35. I'm of mixed feelings about this.

On the one hand, I'm glad that stuff isn't coming here, and leaks of the pipeline into our land won't happen.

On the other hand, they're still going to dig up and mine the tar sand. They'll just export those it to other countries for processing into oil, rather than having us do it here. Those other countries most likely won't have the environmental controls that we do.