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Permalink Reply by P.G. on November 12, 2015 at 6:58

Shipping that oil via Rail is much safer, huh?

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Permalink Reply by Hopeful About Natural Gas on November 17, 2015 at 17:18

Thanks, dbob.  That's an interesting answer. The Canadians will find other ways to ship their oil - and a pipeline is much safer than any other method.

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Permalink Reply by dbob on November 17, 2015 at 17:52

The southern leg of Keystone has I think 5 pump stations in Texas, and a few permanent employees watching over it - it also has folks doing corrosion monitoring, mowing, etc.  But the job count is not large.

OTOH, Angelina County (a representative county) is taxing something like $54,000,000 in value on the pipeline.  That's where the local value really is.in the pipeline.  

I get frustrated when folks don't understand the economics, fungability, and societal costs both of doing and NOT doing something.  If I'm eating a hamburger and its grass fed American beef from the Dakotas - someone had to convert that land from prairie - native grasses might be better.  I can't raise as many cows on that land as I can if the cows are fed corn and poultry byproducts.  There may be herbicides used, possibly fertilizers (from natural gas!) and its an expensive burger.  

So perhaps its "better" for me, but its an elitist burger that is out of reach of the masses.  

Other places raise corn and soy beans, then send those to the feed lots - I can get a lot more beef, a bit cheaper.  But there is run-off from that feedlot and from the fields used to grow the corn and soybeans.  And that run-off ends up in the Mississippi River system, then makes a dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico.  So the good farmers of the midwest and the northern are sending the pollution down to us and exporting their beef to the disconnected folks on the east and west coast.  

So getting back to the point at hand - I think the states should have had more input into Keystone, but ultimately, I think most states would find it in their interest.  We are a big nation and we use a lot of resources.  Getting on a NIMBY soap box just doesn't impress me.  

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