Cornell University Questions the Economic Benefits of the Keystone XL Pipeline

Claims about the economic benefits of the Keystone XL pipeline have been contradicted by an economic analysis from economists at Cornell University’s Global Labor Institute. The new Cornell fact sheet analyzing the latest economic data about Keystone XL, concludes that the project is far too risky to undertake in a fragile economic climate.

“The idea that Keystone XL is a “game changer” in terms of generating jobs and stimulating economic growth is a massive overstatement … However, building the Keystone XL pipeline represents a serious and long term commitment (valued at $14 billion) on the part of the U.S. to dirty fossil fuels—a commitment that will having a chilling effect on economic activity based on clean and renewable energy,” the report said.

In addition, the risk of economic damage from spills and other pollution pose a long term threat to traditional economic activity that has supported local communities along the pipeline route for generations.

Read the entire report here.

© 2011, Richard Matthews. All rights reserved.

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Oil Spills Add to Concerns about the Keystone XL Pipeline

In addition to its massive footprint, resistance to the Keystone XL pipeline is due to concerns about the environmental destruction that would result from a spill. TreeHugger has called Canadian Tar Sands oil exploitation one of the most destructive projects on earth. If fully developed, the Alberta tar sands would be the second largest source of global warming gases in the world.

We have seen a major spill in the Gulf of Mexico which spewed oil for months before finally being capped on July 15 and more recently the North Sea. The proposed tar sands pipeline is even more problematic as it comes with a host of additional problems. Not only are the tar sands one of the dirtiest energy sources on Earth, pipelines used to transport the oil are commonly subject to spills.

TransCanada's existing Keystone I pipeline, which would connect to the XL, has leaked 14 times in its first year of operation.

The recent Yellowstone River oil spill by ExxonMobil, has spread out over 240 miles. The Keystone XL pipeline could result in a spill twenty times more catastrophic than the Yellowstone River oil spill. That would mean up to 1,000,000 barrels of oil spilled which could travel 4,800 miles.

By some estimates we can expect an average of almost 2 spills per year over the course of the fifty-year life of the Keystone line. Even TransCanada's own estimates indicate a possible eleven spills over the life of the pipeline.

An oil spill in the Keystone XL pipeline also risks contaminating the Ogallala Aquifer, the main source of fresh water for the Great Plains. In addition there are concerns for Nebraska's fragile Sandhills, which lie above the aquifer. This concern has led Nebraska's Republican Gov. Dave Heineman to reject the present course of the pipeline.

© 2011, Richard Matthews. All rights reserved.

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Another Offshore Oil Leak this Time from Shell

There has been another offshore oil spill, this time it is in the Gannet field of the North Sea. The Gannet field is co-owned with Exxon and operated by Shell. A leak in the platform flow line operated by a British subsidiary of Royal Dutch Shell has already dumped 110 tons of oil into the water, and there is an oil slick about 20 miles long and 2.5 miles wide. So far there is no indication that the leak has been fully stopped.
In an email statement, oil campaigner Ben Ayliffe said "North Sea [offshore oil] is supposed to be ultra-safe, we're told spills can't happen there." In 1988, 167 workers on the Piper Alpha, a platform owned by Occidental Petroleum, were killed in the North Sea. Last year’s BP Deepwater Horizon disaster spewed nearly 5 million barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico.

Shell announced the spill on Friday, August 12, but according to their press release the company had been trying to control the leak since at least Wednesday, August 10.

Shell has not been forthcoming in reporting details of the leak and environmental organizations like Greenpeace want the company to disclose more information so that contingency and clean-up plans can be formulated.

For its part Shell does not appear to be mounting a cleanup. In an online statement Shell said, “our current expectation is it will be naturally dispersed through wave action and will not reach shore.”

© 2011, Richard Matthews. All rights reserved.

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Canadian Federal Provincial Energy Conference on Resource Exploitation

In the middle of July Canada's energy ministers met in Kananaskis, Alberta to discuss creating a national energy strategy and opportunities in the mining sector. The annual conference between federal, provincial and territorial officials was held between July 16th and 19th.

Predictably, Conservative Federal Minister of Natural Resources Joe Oliver said it was "in the interest of all Canadians, from coast to coast, to exploit the enormous natural resources we have."

For pro-oil Conservatives, now is the time to push ahead with an environmentally hazardous resource exploitation policy. After the Conservative election victory earlier this year, many companies associated with the old energy economy are counting on a regulatory environment that expedites the exploitation of Canada's natural resources.


Prior to the meeting, Sierra Club's executive director, John Bennett, indicated that he wants to see a change in the whole focus of the meeting. Rather than trying to increase the country's oil exports, the ministers should discuss ways to reduce reliance on fossil fuels and contribute to the war on climate change.

Roger Gibbins, president of the Canada West Foundation, a non-profit, public policy organization which represents Manitoba, Alberta, Saskatchewan, and British Columbia, said the diversity of energy sources in this country make a national strategy worthwhile. However, Gibbins conceded that Alberta's massive oil reserves, particularly the toxic tar sands, put Alberta in the driver's seat when it comes to energy policy.

Alberta and the Federal government share a common desire to exploit the tar sands, and many other provinces seem prepared to accept the environmental havoc it will wreak.

© 2011, Richard Matthews. All rights reserved.

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Obama's Call for an End to Oil Subsidies and Big Oil's Suggestion

To make cuts in American government spending the President has once again proposed ending oil subsidies. On Wednesday June 29, President Barack Obama, indicated that it reasonable to expect oil and gas companies that “have done so well” in the current economy to give up some breaks to help close federal deficits. “I don’t think that’s real radical,” he said.

In response to calls to end oil subsidies, Jack Gerard, president of the American Petroleum Institute, told Washington Wire, rather than cutting subsidies or raising taxes on the oil and gas industry, America should increase their exploitation of domestic petroleum resources.

The industry has been pushing for more production in places such as the Gulf of Mexico and Alaska. Big Oil is seemingly oblivious to the environmental costs. These risks are particularly great as they apply to offshore oil.

Last summer we witnessed a massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico and Alaska has seen its share of devastating oil spills. The 1989, Exxon Valdez spill in Alaska impacted over 1100 miles of non-continuous coastline in Alaska. Despite miles of booms, scores of skimming ships and armies of beach washers, only 14 percent of the oil was ever cleaned up.

In the 2010 Gulf of Mexico spill, more than 700 million liters of crude oil leaked into the water. Some have suggested that efforts to address the spill have exacerbated the problem. Dispersants used to reduce the size of the oil slick also impacting upon marine ecosystems. A break in a BP-owned pipeline on the North Coast of Alaska spewed 200,000 gallons of oil in March 2006.

The fact that fossil fuels are the leading cause of climate change make taking advice from Big Oil sort of like asking a thief about security. Its would be a great idea if they did not want to steal from you.

© 2011, Richard Matthews. All rights reserved.

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Independence Day 2011: Declaration of Freedom from Fossil Fuels

Independence Day 2011: Declaration of Freedom from Fossil Fuels

Two hundred and thirty five years ago, the colonies freed themselves from the injustice of British rule, now America needs to free itself from the injustice of fossil fuels.

The United States' Declaration of Independence is a statement adopted by the Continental Congress on July 4, 1776. On that day, thirteen American colonies proclaimed their freedom from Great Britain. On the fourth of July 2010, America needs a declaration of freedom from fossil fuels.

A few years after the American revolution, the industrial revolution dawned, beginning America's meteoric rise to global dominance. However, the engine that drove this growth is also the leading cause of climate change.

This Independence day, as the Congress is working on budget cuts, Americans have some important choices to make.

We must rethink some of the basic notions of the old economy. We need to move towards more efficient and sustainable visions of the future. It is time for Americans to declare their independence and begin working towards a future free of fossil fuels.© 2011, Richard Matthews. All rights reserved.

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Video: The Alberta Tar Sands Dirty Oil

Dirty Oil - A Documentary on The Alberta Tar Sands, is a film written and directed by Leslie Iwerks. This 2009 documentary explores Canada's role as the largest supplier of American oil. It also exposes the dishonesty and greed of the Canadian and Alberta governments as well as the oil companies.

Governments and oil companies make astronomical profits at the expense of the environment, the wildlife, and the native communities who live near the tar sands of northern Alberta.

The film indicates that renewable sources of energy offer a way out of our dependence on destructive fossil fuels. It cites America's mobilization at the beginning of World War ll despite being a recessionary economy. At the start of World War ll, Franklin Delano Roosevelt said, "Let no man say it cannot be done, it must be done, and we are undertaking to do it."

We are at a crossroads, we can either engage the struggle to reduce our footprints or ignore it at our own peril. The film also encourages personal responsibility as a way out of the environmental calamity we face.

The film concludes by quoting President Obama who said, "We must end the age of oil in our time, energy independence will require an all hands on deck effort from America , efforts from scientists, and entrepreneurs, from businesses and from every American citizen."

"Its going to take leadership and its going to take a vision and its goinng to take action by each of us, saving civilization is not a spectator sport. We all have to get involved, we all have a stake in it."

© 2011, Richard Matthews. All rights reserved.

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