“Failure to construct the pipeline would mean more dependence on overseas energy sources as well as fewer jobs and less property tax relief for Nebraskans. Natali Segovia, WPLC Staff Attorney. This story was originally published on April 7, 2017 and has been updated with new information and links. You'll receive your first NRDC action alert and update email soon. “This isn’t your grandfather’s typical oil,” says Anthony Swift, director of NRDC’s Canada project. Suncor Energy hoped to recoup significant construction-related tolls, though the U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission did not rule in their favor. Many had hoped that the disastrous project was finally done for in November 2015, when the Obama administration vetoed the pipeline—acknowledging its pervasive threats to climate, ecosystems, drinking water sources, and public health, and advancing a national commitment to decreasing our reliance on dirty energy. [141][142] TransCanada CEO Russ Girling has argued that "the U.S. needs 10 million barrels a day of imported oil" and the debate over the proposed pipeline "is not a debate of oil versus alternative energy. [116] TransCanada's Pipeline Permit Application to the South Dakota Public Utilities Commission states project impacts that include potential physical disturbance, demolition or removal of "prehistoric or historic archaeological sites, districts, buildings, structures, objects, and locations with traditional cultural value to Native Americans and other groups".[118]. Permit for Keystone XL Pipeline", "Expert Warns That TransCanada's Keystone XL Pipeline Assessments Are Misleading", "Keystone XL Pipeline Safety Standards Not as Rigorous as They Seem", "Gov. [107] By 2011, Koch Industries refined 25% of all crude oil imported into the United States. [116] Many Indigenous women in communities and tribes along this pipeline face a higher risk of sexual violence and violence with the increasing presence of "man camps" in their areas from the pipeline and oil. Meet some of the people who are striving to stop TransCanada’s dirty tar sands oil pipeline once and for all. [129] In August 2014, a study was published that concluded the pipeline could produce up to 4 times more global warming pollution than the State Department's study indicated. TransCanada nearly doubled its construction estimates in October 2007, from $2.8-billion (U.S.) to $5.2-billion. Finally, the pipeline would undermine efforts to minimize global warming and prioritize clean energy like wind and solar. From the time it was proposed in 2008, through more than 10 years of dogged citizen protest and various conflicting legislative and executive orders by the federal government, the path for this controversial oil pipeline has never been smooth. The same poll found the pipeline favored by majorities of men (69%), women (61%), Democrats (51%), Republicans (82%), independents (64%), as well as by those in every division of age, education, economic status, and geographic region. [175][177][126], By August 11, there were over 1000 nonviolent arrests at the White House. Thanks for signing up. [169] Increased oil production in North Dakota has exceeded pipeline capacity since 2010, leading to increasing volumes of crude oil being shipped by truck or rail to refineries. [160], In 2013, United States Democrats were concerned that Keystone XL would not provide petroleum products for domestic use, but simply facilitate getting Alberta oil sands products to American coastal ports on the Gulf of Mexico for export to China and other countries. (For evidence, recall the 2010 tar sands oil spill in Kalamazoo, Michigan, a disaster that cost Enbridge more than a billion dollars in cleanup fees and took six years to settle in court.) [37], February 2010 South Dakota Public Utilities Commission granted a permit to proceed. It was constructed in 2010 and went online in February 2011.[3]. Environmental concerns include the potential for air pollution, and for leaks and spills, that could pollute critical water supplies and cause harm to migratory birds and other wildlife. [147] TransCanada had said that development of oil sands will expand regardless of whether the crude oil is exported to the United States or alternatively to Asian markets through Enbridge Northern Gateway Pipelines or Kinder Morgan's Trans-Mountain line. [250], An Angus Reid Institute poll, published on March 9, 2017, showed that 48% of respondents across Canada supported the Keystone XL revival, while 33% opposed it, and 20% were uncertain. Council v. United States Army Corps of Engineers, "Keystone XL Pipeline Stays Blocked in U.S. Supreme Court Order", https://www.supremecourt.gov/orders/courtorders/070620zr_2d83.pdf, "Biden nixes Keystone XL permit, halts Arctic refuge leasing", "TransCanada: Keystone Construction to Begin in Spring", "TransCanada begins Keystone pipeline in Texas", "The politics of pipe: Keystone's troubled route", Media Notes on Keystone XL Pipeline Project Review Process: Decision to Seek Additional Information, Level IV Ecoregions of Kansas and Nebraska, "Alberta to pursue compensation through NAFTA for U.S. decision on Keystone XL, Kenney says", "Keystone XL Pipeline Obtains Enough Shipper Commitments to Proceed", "Premier Jason Kenney to respond after Keystone XL permit revoked by executive action", "Koch Brothers Positioned To Be Big Winners If Keystone XL Pipeline Is Approved", "Koch company declared 'substantial interest' in Keystone XL pipeline", "Reps. Waxman and Rush Urge Committee to Request Documents from Koch Industries Regarding Keystone XL Pipeline", "Statement by the President on the Keystone XL Pipeline", "Keystone XL pipeline rejection signals US taking lead on climate change fight", "Hillary Clinton opposes Keystone XL pipeline", "Trump seeks to revive Dakota Access, Keystone XL oil pipelines", "Keystone XL Pipeline and Indigenous Peoples", "First Nations and Native American Leaders Arrested In Front Of White House To Protest Keystone XL Pipeline", "Application to the South Dakota Public Utilities Commission for a Permit for the Keystone XL Pipeline Under the Energy Conversion and Transmission Facility Act", "A Study of Water and Sediment Quality as Related to Public Health Issues", "Earl Hatley: Portrait of an Oklahoma activist", "Community, Aboriginal and Native American Relations", "Eminent Domain Fight Has a Canadian Twist", "Daryl Hannah freed following arrest in pipeline protest", "Pipeline Review Is Faced With Question of Conflict", "Keystone XL: State Department cleared of conflict, not ineptness", "Keystone XL pipeline report slammed by activists and scientists", "EXCLUSIVE: State Dept. Governor, environmental group reacts to halt of Keystone XL Pipeline President Joe Biden signs his first executive order in the Oval … The Keystone XL pipeline extension, proposed by energy infrastructure company TC Energy (formerly TransCanada) in 2008, was designed to transport the planet’s dirtiest fossil fuel to market—fast. [4][5][100] Oil producers in the U.S. pushed for this phase so the glut of oil can be distributed out of the large oil tank farms and distribution center in Cushing. [55] [242], TransCanada Corporation responded with a letter by President and CEO Russel K. Girling stating that TransCanada "rejects the EPA inference that at lower oil prices the [Keystone XL Pipeline] Project will increase the rate of oil sands production growth and accompanying greenhouse gas emissions". Indeed, one study found that between 2007 and 2010, pipelines moving tar sands oil in Midwestern states spilled three times more per mile than the U.S. national average for pipelines carrying conventional crude. According to transition documents, Biden is planning to cancel the permit for the nine-billion dollar Keystone XL pipeline as President. [50], The US Gulf Coast has a large concentration of refineries designed to process very heavy crude oil. [154], In July 2013, President Obama stated "The most realistic estimates are this might create maybe 2,000 jobs during the construction of the pipeline, which might take a year or two, and then after that we're talking about somewhere between 50 and 100 jobs in an economy of 150 million working people." [164] By May 2012, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper had spent $9 million and $16.5 million by May 2013 to promote Keystone XL. It also included approximately 373 kilometres (232 mi) of new 30-inch-diameter (760 mm) pipeline, 16 pump stations and the Keystone Hardisty Terminal. ... but still clip a portion of the Ogallala Aquifer… [99] It runs through Nemaha, Brown and Doniphan counties in Kansas and Buchanan, Clinton, Caldwell, Montgomery, Lincoln and St. Charles counties in Missouri, before entering Madison County, Illinois. “It sets the stage for a more prosperous future powered by clean energy.”. The study found that the pipeline would have limited adverse environmental impacts, but was authored by a firm that had "previously worked on projects with TransCanada and describes the pipeline company as a 'major client' in its marketing materials". [61], November 3, 2015 U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry issued a determination that the project was not in the public interest. “America is now a global leader when it comes to taking serious action to fight climate change,” President Obama said. [212], TransCanada claims that they will take 100% responsibility for any potential environmental problems. Reporters still fumbling numbers in wake of pipeline's rejection", "Keystone pipeline: How many jobs really at stake? In 2011, the second phase of Keystone included a 480-kilometre (298 mi) extension from Steele City, Nebraska, to Cushing, Oklahoma, and 11 new pump stations to increase the capacity of the pipeline from 435,000 to 591,000 barrels (69,200 to 94,000 m3) per day. [8] This phase has generated the greatest controversy because of its routing over the Sandhills in Nebraska. [34], September 2009The NEB – replaced in 2019 by the Canadian Energy Regulator (CER) – started hearings. [167] A report by the Cornell University Global Labor Institute noted of the 2010 Enbridge Tar Oil Spill along the Kalamazoo River in Michigan: "The experience of Kalamazoo residents and businesses provides an insight into some of the ways a community can be affected by a tar sands pipeline spill. [45] The pipeline restarted at a reduced operating pressure on April 10 after the U.S. regulator approved the companies corrective actions and plan. Pat Handlin, WPLC Board Member. [207] Despite some records being posted by consulted agencies such as the EPA, the State Department has not responded to the request. These sands contain bitumen, a gooey type of petroleum that can be converted into fuel. [263], In June 2012, Sierra Club, Clean Energy Future Oklahoma, and the East Texas Sub Regional Planning Commission filed a joint complaint in the United States District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma seeking injunctive relief and petitioning for a review of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' action in issuing Nationwide Permit 12 permits for the Cushing, Oklahoma, to the Gulf Coast portion of the pipeline. This included the shortening of the pipeline to 875 miles (1,408 km); its avoidance of "crossing the NDEQ-identified Sandhills Region" and "reduction of the length of pipeline crossing the Northern High Plains Aquifer system, which includes the Ogallala formation". “President Biden's decision to reject the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline on his first day turns the page on a twelve-year fight over the energy future of our country,” said Swift just before Biden’s inauguration. TransCanada asked Nebraska to reconsider this decision[72] and worked with Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) to determine the structural cause of a leak in South Dakota on November 21, 2017. Oil trains won’t get better brakes, air conditioners won’t get safer chemicals, and children lose their EPA advocate. [117], On September 19, 2011, a number of Indigenous tribal leaders in the United States and Canada were arrested for protesting the Keystone XL outside the White House. The first, a southern leg, has already been completed and runs between Cushing, Oklahoma, and Port Arthur, Texas. Here’s an overview of the tar sands export pipeline that’s become one of the foremost climate controversies of our time. The tarp represented an oil spill, and many protesters dressed in white jumpsuits covered in black ink, symbolizing oil-covered hazmat suits, laid down upon the tarp. At the time of the poll, only 17% of Democrats favored the pipeline. Environmental concerns include the potential for air pollution, and for leaks and spills, that could pollute critical water supplies and cause harm to migratory birds and other wildlife. The suit alleges that, contrary to the federal Administrative Procedure Act, 5 U.S.C. "However, ... such a change is not likely to occur. May 28, 2020 The United States Court of Appeals of the Ninth Circuit denied a motion to stay the District Judge's ruling. The first, a southern leg, has already been completed and runs between Cushing, Oklahoma, and Port Arthur, Texas. How an unlikely coalition of environmental activists stopped the destructive tar sands oil pipeline. In 2013, the first two phases had the capacity to deliver up to 590,000 barrels (94,000 m3) per day of oil into the Midwest refineries. In a February 2015, the US EPA responded to the U.S. Department of State's Final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (Final SEIS) for the Keystone XL Pipeline Project,[238] that the pipeline will significantly increase greenhouse gas emissions because it will lead to the expansion of Alberta's carbon intensive oilsands. [128] Critics say that a major leak could ruin drinking water and devastate the mid-western U.S. economy. [12] The Keystone XL pipeline segments were intended to allow American crude oil to enter the XL pipelines at Baker, Montana, on their way to the storage and distribution facilities at Cushing, Oklahoma. [195] The deadline for the decision had "prevented a full assessment of the pipeline's impact". The proposed route of the pipeline crosses the eastern part of the Nebraska Sandhills; opponents of the route cite the risk to the Ogallala Aquifer posed by the possibility of contamination from spilled dilute bitumen. [259], The Enbridge "Alberta Clipper" expansion of the existing cross-border Line 67 pipeline has been continuing since late 2013. [32] 398 arrests were made of people tying themselves to the White House fence with zip-ties and lying on a black tarp in front of the fence. The overall results of polls on the Keystone XL pipeline taken by independent national polling organizations from 2012 to 2014 were as follows: In contrast, Pew's February 2017 poll showed that support for the pipeline had fallen to only 42%, with 48% of polled respondents opposing the pipeline, a 17 percentage point drop in support since 2014, with the majority of the shift due to a sharp decline in support among Democrats and Democrat-leaning independents. If ever there was an environmental battle exemplifying a game of ping pong, it would be the stop-start story of the Keystone XL pipeline, also known as KXL. [200], In April 2013, the EPA challenged the U.S. State Department report's conclusion that the pipeline would not result in greater oil sand production, noting that "while informative, [it] is not based on an updated energy-economic modeling effort". [127] The report prompted 14 senators and congressmen to ask the State Department inspector general on October 26, 2011 "to investigate whether conflicts of interest tainted the process" for reviewing environmental impact. [252] It began reversed operations on May 17, 2012. [184] [126] Fairchild has owned the land since 1983 and refused to sign any agreements with TransCanada. Some 3 million miles of oil and gas pipelines already run through our country. [215][216], In 2016, about 400 barrels (64 m3) were released from the original Keystone pipe network via leaks, which federal investigators said resulted from a "weld anomaly". [215] In its March 2010 report, the NRDC stated that "the Keystone XL Pipeline undermines the U.S. commitment to a clean energy economy", instead "delivering dirty fuel at high costs". February 2011The Keystone-Cushing extension (Phase II) was completed running 468 kilometres (291 mi) from Steele City to a tank farm in Cushing, Oklahoma. [26] [16] The Keystone XL Pipeline Project (Phase IV) revised proposal in 2012 consists of a new 36-inch (910 mm) pipeline from Hardisty, Alberta, through Montana and South Dakota to Steele City, Nebraska, to "transport of up to 830,000 barrels per day (132,000 m3/d) of crude oil from the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin in Alberta, Canada, and from the Williston Basin (Bakken) region in Montana and North Dakota, primarily to refineries in the Gulf Coast area". The second segment is the currently contested 1,209-mile northern leg—a shortcut of sorts—that would run from Hardisty, Alberta, through Montana and South Dakota to Steele City, Nebraska. [102], Since 2010, there were concerns that a pipeline spill could threaten the Ogallala Aquifer, one of the world's largest fresh water reserves. [41][42] [65] Financial commitment towards completion of the pipeline was weakened by a number of technological factors as well. [145], TransCanada's Girling has also argued that if Canadian oil doesn't reach the Gulf through an environmentally friendly buried pipeline, that the alternative is oil that will be brought in by tanker, a mode of transportation that produces higher greenhouse-gas emissions and that puts the environment at greater risk. [citation needed], In September 2015, Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton publicly expressed her opposition to the Keystone XL, citing concerns about climate change. [52][53], March 2012 Obama endorsed the building of the southern segment (Gulf Coast Extension or Phase III) that begins in Cushing, Oklahoma. [41] One of the major concerns was the way in which the original route crossed the Sandhills, the large wetland ecosystem in Nebraska, and the Ogallala Aquifer, one of the largest reserves of fresh water in the world. [48], August 26, 2011 The final environmental impact report was released on stating that the pipeline would pose "no significant impacts" to most resources if environmental protection measures are followed, but it would present "significant adverse effects to certain cultural resources". Innovations in fracking had increased domestic production of oil and, according to the EIA, reduced annual demand of oil from foreign countries to an all-time low since 1985. [65] When TC Energy said the pipeline would create nearly 119,000 jobs, a State Department report instead concluded the project would require fewer than 2,000 two-year construction jobs and that the number of jobs would hover around 35 after construction. The pipeline became well known when Phase IV KXL attracted opposition from environmentalists, becoming a symbol of the battle over climate change and fossil fuels. [60] [65] The pollsters said that the support for the Keystone pipeline project by provincial NDP government and the federal Liberal government under Trudeau had a positive impact on Canadians' attitudes of the project. The Keystone XL Pipeline has gone through several policy changes since it was first proposed in 2008. [78][79], June 2019 The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit granted the Justice Department's motion to lift the injunction blocking construction and found that the new permit mooted the prior Montana lawsuit. [56], February 24, 2015 President Obama vetoed a bill that approved the construction of the Keystone XL Pipeline, saying that the decision of approval should rest with the Executive Branch. They accuse TransCanada of misleading them when they signed shipping contracts in the summer of 2007. One such protest, a historic act of civil disobedience outside the White House in August 2011, resulted in the arrest of more than 1,200 demonstrators. “Keystone XL is a critical part of putting together an all-of-the-above strategy for North American energy independence,” said Gov. [89], March 31, 2020 CEO Russ Girling announced that TC Energy "will proceed with construction of the Keystone XL Pipeline" and thanked President Donald Trump, Alberta Premier Jason Kenney, and other government officials for "support and advocacy" for Keystone XL. But it would cut through areas that are ecologically similar to the Sandhills, and it would still cross the Ogallala Aquifer, as this map from the Lincoln Journal Star illustrates: [ … That number made it the seventh-largest onshore oil spill since 2002. [133] An investigation by the magazine Mother Jones revealed that the State Department had redacted the biographies of the study's authors to hide their previous contract work for TransCanada and other oil companies with an economic interest in the project. Yes, Trump has green-lighted the controversial Keystone XL pipeline. In short, tar sands oil represents no small threat to our environment, and our best stance against it, as the rallying cry goes, is to “keep it in the ground.”. In 2010 Glen Perry, a petroleum engineer for Adira Energy, warned that including the Alberta Clipper pipeline owned by TransCanada's competitor Enbridge, there is an extensive overcapacity of oil pipelines from Canada. [105], On January 20, 2021, President Joe Biden revoked the permit for the pipeline on his first day in office. On November 6, 2015, President Obama rejected Keystone XL citing the urgency of climate change as a key reason behind his decision. How a single pipeline project became the epicenter of an enormous environmental, public health, and civil rights battle. TC Energy is applying for permits to tap the Cheyenne River, White River (South Dakota), and Bad River (South Dakota) for use during construction primarily for drilling to install pipe, to build pump stations and to control dust. This is one exciting and important step toward ending the project but for the Keystone XL pipeline to truly be finished, the Biden administration must revoke other permits, including the Bureau of Land Management’s right-of-way permit—and prepare for the legal battles that will likely follow. On January 24, 2017, President Donald Trump took action intended to permit the pipeline's completion. A crude oil pipeline built in 1923 crossed many more miles of … [127] However, the Department of State's Office of the Inspector General conducted an investigation of the potential conflict of interest, and its February 2012 report of that investigation states there was no conflict of interest either in the selection of the contractor or in the preparation of the environmental impact statement.

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