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The Keystone XL Pipeline is a

proposed 1,179-mile (1,897 km),
36-inch-diameter crude oil
pipeline beginning in Hardisty,
Alberta in Canada and extending south
to Steele City, Nebraska. The
southern section already extends to Port
Arthur, Texas. 2
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This southern section to the Gulf opened in January 2014

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The company that owns and is developing the project
is TransCanada Corporation.

It says:
This pipeline is a critical
infrastructure project for the
energy security of the United
States and for strengthening
the American economy.
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 What the Pipeline will carry
Bitumen
Bitumen is a low-grade petroleum.

Petroleum is a mixture of hydrocarbons

and it is refined and distilled to make fuels like
gasoline and kerosene as well as other products
such as paraffin which is used to make candles,
cosmetics, polishes, asphalt, building materials,
paint, sealing agents, etc. 8
Environmental Issues

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 According to the Congressional
Research Service, bitumen emits
17% more greenhouse gases
than the average barrel of crude oil
that is refined in America.

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 According to the Global Forest Watch, so far,
2 million acres of the
Western Canada Boreal Forest has been
cleared or degraded for oil extraction.

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A boreal forest is one that is dry, cold, coniferous (of evergreen plants;
pines, firs, spruces, cone-bearing trees and shrubs).

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 Woodland
Caribou

2 million acres is more than six

times the size of New York
City. The Woodland Caribou avoids cut
lines and wont cross a logged forests. In
recent years their population has
declined significantly. The species is
listed as threatened by the
Canadian government.
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Bitumen Layer

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Tar Sands

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The tarry mixture of sand, water, clay
and bitumen is first brought to mills to
separate the bitumen from the sand.
The waste is then dumped into
lakes of polluted sludge.
Pollutants in these lakes are
leaking into groundwater and
into the Athabasca River.
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Air pollution from bitumen mining has
blackened winter snows with
particulates dozens of miles from the
Athabasca mines. In the spring when
the snow melts, these pollutants rush
into the Athabasca River.
A growing ring of mercury
contamination surrounds the project.

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Athabasca
River
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 Most of the bitumen lies so deep in the frozen
ground that it must be melted with steam and
then pumped to the surface for processing. This
requires steam injection plants that blast
scalding steam into the ground through wells.
The steam injection plants are powered by
natural gas which is collected via fracking which
also presents its own environmental problems.

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If the project is successful, the pipeline will carry
830,000 barrels of heavy crude
(unrefined oil) a day.

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Bitumen mining requires about three
barrels of water to produce one
barrel of oil.

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Economics

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 America's oil industry is thriving again -- an unforeseen
turnaround that is allowing the U.S. to continue its
recent, less dependent relationship with
Organization of Petroleum Exporting
Countries (OPEC).
The United States recently and suddenly emerged as the
third largest producer of petroleum in the world,
behind Russia and Saudi Arabia -- a surprise for the
industry.

Much of the increased production has come from the use

of hydraulic fracturing to force natural gas and crude
oil out of deeply buried shale. North Dakota's
economy in particular has boomed because of it.
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 Recently, U.S. oil prices recently fell below
$75 a barrel (lowest price in four
years, adjusted for inflation).
U.S. petroleum production topped 9 million
barrels a day for a full week this
month (November).
This year will culminate in the highest
level of domestic production of
petroleum in almost 30 years.
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LegisLation

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The United States House of Representatives
voted in approval of the project on Friday,
November 14th:
252 for
161 against

It was not the first time the house had voted to

approve the project.

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The U.S. Senate voted on Tuesday, November
18th in rejection of the project.
59 for
41 against

One vote short of the 60 that was needed

for it to pass.
45 Republicans and 14 Democrats
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 In January, there will be more
Republicans than Democrats in the
Senate, and Republicans who lost last week
vowed to resubmit the bill next year to be voted
on again.

President Barrack Obama insinuated

that he would veto the bill if it were to pass in
the Senate.

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