Putting the Grease on Keystone XL

Breaking: Environmentalists cannot be truly surprised by the State Department's supplemental environmental impact statement (SEIS) for the Keystone Pipeline that like the original version finds burning oil strip-mined from the Alberta oil sands is "unlikely to have a substantial impact" on the planet's climate. While the finding is not related to reality, it makes clear the fix is in to build the pipeline. Even the timing of the SEIS Friday afternoon release is suspicious with Secretary Kerry on the other side of the world and official Washington heads up their sequester. B. O'Drama has a few short months to make a final decision, so it will be an uphill battle for Americans who want him to live up to his rhetoric about doing something to counteract climate change. He could make no more decisive first step than denying a permit for the 800,000 barrel a day carbon bomb from the oil industry. Even the lubricating report admits making oil from bituminous sands produces 5 to 19% more greenhouse gas emissions than other crude oil sources.

Normally cautious Time magazine put it bluntly, "There are many climate problems a President cannot solve, but Keystone isn't one of them. It's a choice between Big Oil and a more sustainable planet." Royal Dutch Shell reported in 2006 that its oil sands unit made an after tax profit of $21.75 per barrel, or almost double the company's worldwide profit per barrel. Pressure against approving this disaster in the making has to be applied consistently and often to overcome the paid influence of the oil industry. It is no accident that Secretary Kerry's first official visit in Washington from another foreign leader was the Canadian foreign minister on February 8th. The Canadian government is counting on approval of the pipeline to expand strip-mining of its oil sand deposits, contrary to the State Department's assessment. The Athabasca, Cold Lake, and Peace River deposits in Alberta are enormous. One estimate is the unconventional oil in the sands is seven times that of Saudi Arabia's reserves, and there is an insatiable market for all that oil just south of the border. The problem is how to transport bitumen to the nearest capable refineries cost effectively. XL is intended unlock the oil sands' vast economic value.

Nine refineries at the pipeline's southern terminus are equipped to produce petcoke or synthetic coal, a waste product of refining bitumen that when combusted will emit 13% more CO₂ than the State Department even considered in its recycled SEIS. The largest global petcoke trader in the world is Oxbow Carbon Corporation owned by--wait for it--William Koch brother of Charles and David. The US exported 8.6 million tons of petcoke to China in nine months, most of which was probably burned in coal-fueled power plants because it is 25% cheaper than conventional coal. Oxbow Carbon spent over $1.3 million on Washington lobbyists in 2012 while contributing $4.25 million to GOP super-PACs making it the largest corporate contributor to this relatively new form of political bribery. Tapping into the dirty bitumen now would guarantee the United States will be dependent on oil for generations to come. Public comment on the project is only for a period of 45 days, so you need to make your voice heard if you care about the future of Earth. Send comments to: US Department of State, 2201 C Street NW, Room 2726, Attention: Genevieve Walker, NEPA Coordinator or keystonecomments@state.gov