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Dept of Energy: No Tar Sands Pipeline Needed
By Kate Colarulli, Sierra Club
Wednesday, February 02, 2011
Read this blog post on the originating site
While we watch Congress and the President draw battle lines over our country’s energy future, another important energy decision is expected sometime this year from the State Department: Is the proposed Keystone XL tar sands pipeline in the national interest of the United States?
The road leading to this decision has been fraught with controversy as water quality activists, farmers from the Heartland, environmentalists, and thousands of citizens living along the pipeline route have teamed up to oppose the project.
Some things are more precious than oil. Nowhere is that more evident than in Nebraska, where the pipeline would threaten the water that supports one-third of American agriculture. And in places like Houston, residents are rightly concerned that importing toxic tar sands oil will ratchet up the already severe cancer rates linked to the Texas oil industry.
In addition to putting American health and water at risk, the mining of oil from tar sands creates three times the carbon emissions as that of conventional oil. As if its global warming pollution were not bad enough, tar sands mining also results in the destruction of the Canadian boreal forest, a vital carbon sink and global bird nesting grounds.
In contrast, investment in clean energy, efficiency, and technology like electric vehicles will create good, lasting, American jobs and help make us a leader in the global clean energy economy.
Keep reading this blog entry on the Sierra Club website
Tagged with: keystone xl, sierra club
