Will Saying No to Keystone XL Save The Environment?

By executive order President Biden shut down construction of the Keystone XL on day one of his administration.

The irony here is that for the supporters who see themselves as "environmentalists" this will only make things worse.

The oil is coming from the Tar Sands region of Canada. This is a natural oil spill that has devastated a very large area. Oil companies are scooping up the polluted sands, cleaning it of oil, then sending the oil to be refined and used. The cleaned sand is put back where it came from and seeded. Nature is now able to return to the area.

Tar Sands will still be harvested for oil and this oil will still get to Texas, just not as quickly without the pipeline. It will also be more dangerous and harder on the environment to transport since it will be hauled by truck and train.

As for those environmentalists concerned about CO2 emissions, this policy has just made things worse, yet again.

The Obama State Department found five separate times that the pipeline would have no material impact on greenhouse gas emissions since crude would still be extracted. Shipping bitumen by rail or tanker would result in 28% to 42% higher CO2 emissions and more leaks. (WSJ)

At first count the job losses are 11,000 U.S., including 8,000 union jobs. That's just on the American side, almost 3000 jobs have been lost on the Canadian side.

But those are just the people working on the pipeline itself. Let's have a look at supporting jobs.

Reports from Wisconsin are that hundreds of jobs will be lost in that state. Companies in the Dakotas, Montana, and Wyoming will provide materials and labor. That's all before even looking to the folks down in Texas where that oil is to be refined.