We already know that the Keystone XL pipeline is a disaster waiting to happen. But, it turns out that the impact of that tar sands pipeline could be even worse than we thought. According to a new study by the Stockholm Environmental Institute, Keystone could add four times more carbon pollution to our atmosphere than the State Department originally estimated.
EcoWatch.com explained that the State Department's Environmental Impact Statement only considered Keystone's effects on the US, as if oil consumption and carbon pollution somehow magically stops at our borders. The new report from Stockholm considered how the tar sands pipeline would reduce oil prices in the global market, and how those lower prices would effect oil consumption and pollution.
The authors wrote, “for every barrel of increased production, global oil consumption would increase 0.6 barrels [because of] the incremental decrease in global oil prices.” Although the final approval of the Keystone XL has been delayed, building this toxic tar sands project shouldn't even be a possibility.
We should be investing in clean energy and green infrastructure, not enabling further destruction of our environment. From job creation to so-called “American Energy Independence,” - every supposed benefit of the Keystone pipeline has been debunked. The only things we'll get from the tar sands pipeline are more pollution, more oil spills, more global warming, and more environmental disasters.
President Obama has all the evidence he could possibly need to reject this toxic pipeline, so there's no reason to delay. It's time for our nation to invest in a cleaner, greener future, and say “No” to Keystone XL once and for all.
Keystone would be way worse than we thought!
By Thom Hartmann A...