The Keystone XL (KXL) pipeline is a 1,179-mile pipeline that would carry oil from Canada to Nebraska. It is modeled after the original Keystone pipeline, built-in 2010. The KXL pipeline would carry 830,000 barrels of oil every day to the United States (US). Canada already exports 550,000 barrels of oil per day to the US.
This has been an ongoing battle since former President Barack Obama was in office. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) advised him not to because of how much land it would cover, which will affect habitats, waterways and sacred Native American ground. One argument for this pipeline is that Alberta, Canada is landlocked and cannot export oil without international trade.
Personally, 280,000 more barrels of oil does not seem like a worthy cause over countless lives of wildlife, the safety of our water or indigenous lands. Another argument is the jobs it will cost. The building of the pipeline would take around two years to build, so those jobs would only exist for that time and only around eight employees would be needed after that.
If we are concerned about jobs, President Joe Biden plans on employing over 3 million people for his green energy initiative while KXL would only temporarily employ 42,000 people. Only 1,000 jobs, both Canadian and American have been created so far, so the people stating that 42,000 have been lost are just regurgitating propaganda for the pipeline.
It would not lower the price of fuel in the US, the Natural Resources Defence Council (NRDC) found that the majority of KXL oil would actually be sent overseas. Most of the arguments for KXL are very easily disputed and can simply be found to be false.
The argument for money, however, can be considered relevant. The only problem with this argument is that it is clear where morals lie. People care more about money than anything else.
The consistent joke about the US is that as soon as any country has oil, we want to be involved. While some people can laugh, what we do for oil is getting ridiculous.
Most of the oil from this pipeline will not even go to the US, so why are people so strongly for it? We’re not getting oil, lower fuel prices or long term jobs. There seems to be some disconnect between why people want it and what it actually entails.
Biden was in the right to cancel this project, he is listening to his constituents and taking advice from qualified agencies. A president should always do those two things, they should not be taking the power into their own hands and ignoring those who tell them not to do something because the repercussions will be bigger than the gain.
Environmental and societal consequences should always take precedence over the want for money. Money that will not even benefit working-class citizens, only the higher-ups. We need to stop voting for things that are not in anyone’s best interest.
