Why the rush to fast-track the Keystone pipeline, and do these 4 pipeline leaks color your answer at all?

840,000 gallons is roughly equivalent to 20,000 barrels?

Well if they can get it shoved through while Obama is still in office,then if anything goes wrong with it in the next 15 to 20 years they can still try and put the blame all on Obama.

Congress pushes this forward because they are in the pay of the oil and pipeline corporations. They have been bribed.

That said, I am actually pro-pipeline. Here’s why: if the oil doesn’t flow in the pipeline, it will be transported by rail. And rail transport has its own, serious drawbacks. Trains wreck. And oil leaks.

TO me, the lesser of the evils is the pipeline. Both are evil, but the overall risk is less.

@elbanditoroso I would be more in favor of pipelines if their purpose was not to provide additional oil and natural gas exports. If Canada wants to sell their tar-sand oil, they should build their own refineries near the Hudson Bay.

The welding techniques from the 1950’s have been proven inadequate. Numerous pipeline failures have occurred at weld points that used this method. Unfortunately, some welding on pipes today still use this proven faulty procedure.

Considering the number of crumbling infrastructures (water lines, bridges, and such), it is obvious that municipalities and corporations to have been reluctant to spend the money necessary provide regular maintenance and upgrading. It seems unlikely that those who profit or will profit from selling fuels overseas will be inclined to be more responsible.

I think we should try to find a way to get the Canadians to leave the crappy oil in the ground for now. The longer they leave it, the more valuable it will get, and the better the technology to transport and refine the oil.

We tried all three directions and protesters have said no. Can’t go through British Columbia, cant go south and can’t go east through Ontario. All that is left is north, and though the ice,

The real answer is build a refinery at the tar sands,and refine it to a state that is not so harmful to the environment ,in case of a pipe line fail, or train derailment.
Personally I would like to see our Canadian east coast refineries get it instead of shipping it to the states.

After 6 years I can’t see how anything has been cut short. Pipelines are the safest least environmentally dangerous way to send oil. I can’t see why this is even under debate. Build the pipeline and get the jobs. We need them.

What does the number of years have to do with it, @Jaxk?
Is there EPA approval or not?

@ibstubro – after 6 years of studying I would think a decision would be in order. We used to call this analysis – paralysis. We have 185,000 miles of petroleum pipeline in the US and another 320,000 miles of gas pipeline with an additional 2 million miles of gas distribution pipelines. It would seem that there is a big enough sample that even the idiots at the EPA could figure it out. The only issue here is whether we truck the oil down or send it by pipeline. Stalling is a political issue not an environmental one.

@Jaxk We used to call this analysis – paralysis.

I think now the term for it would be Congressional – Paralysis!