President Obama will render a decision on permission to extend the Keystone tar sands pipeline to the Gulf of Mexico by early September. He should deny permission for the pipeline known as the Keystone XL.

Map of Keystone XL Pipeline ( http://bit.ly/pvXY8i)(image source: US Department of State)

Pipeline Safety Disputed

TransCanada the pipeline’s owner predicts, “no more than one spill every seven years” according to Grist: A Beacon in the Smog. In the same article Grist reports “oil has spilled 11 times in the last year.”

The National Resources Defense Council in a position paper notes that tar sands bitumen is heavier and more corrosive than traditional oil. The position paper also says, “Leaks and spills are common occurrences from such pipelines. Between 2000 and 2009, pipeline accidents were responsible for 2,794 significant incidents and 161 fatalities in the United States.”

Opposition from Indigenous Groups

According to Indian Country Today Media Network, both the Association of First Nations of Canada and the National Congress of American Indians oppose the extension.  ICTMN also reports that an “NCAI resolution says that ‘based on the relatively poor environmental record of the first Keystone pipeline, which includes numerous spills, U.S. regulators shut the pipeline down in late May, 2011″ and concludes that “it is probable that further environmental disasters will occur in Indian country if the new pipeline is allowed to be constructed.”’

Climate Scientists Weigh In

Twenty notable climate and earth scientists sent a letter to the president saying that “As scientists, speaking for ourselves and not for any of our institutions, we can say categorically that it’s not only not in the national interest, it’s also not in the planet’s best interest.” In the letter they urge that others join in opposition to approval of a pipeline that is insure exploitation of a resource that poses such risk to the environment.

Is it worth the risk?

The U.S. needs energy. There is no argument on this point. Carbon based fuel is for all practical purposed a finite resource. We will run out of it. Tar sands oil is corrosive; it takes high heat and pressure to push it through a pipe. Look at the proposed pipeline’s path on the map. The pipeline transverses America’s breadbasket, and the aquifers that supply agricultural and drinking water. It is not worth the risk, and is certainly not in the national interest.