Canada pressures US to pass Keystone XL as falling oil prices threaten project

Joe Raedle / Getty Images / AFP

RT | Dec 15, 2014

The Keystone XL pipeline may no longer make economic sense to build, thanks to falling global oil prices. However, Canada's natural resources minister is in Washington to push hard for the project’s construction.

On Friday, the price of crude oil dropped below $60 a barrel, down from a high of $116 in June. Oil demand growth for 2015 was slashed by 230,000 barrels per day, and is set to only increase by one percent, or by 900,000 barrels to 93.3 million barrels per day. In 2014, that number was 92.4 million barrels per day.

The plummeting oil prices are a good thing for environmentalists opposed to the Keystone pipeline extension.
“Oil prices going low gives the president a landing place to reject the pipeline because Canada needs cheap and big infrastructure,” Jane Kleeb, founder of the anti-Keystone group Bold Nebraska, told Politico. “When oil prices are high, producing the expensive and high-carbon tar sands makes sense. But now that oil is low, the only way tar sands will continue to expand is if Canada gets big pipelines.”

The proposed extension would have allowed the transport of crude oil from Canada's tar sands to the Gulf of Mexico, traveling from Hardisty, Alberta in Canada to Steele City, Nebraska in the US. There, it would join the already-built Keystone pipeline, traveling to Patoka, Illinois or Nederland, Texas via Cushing, Oklahoma, through a newly completed extension.

By some estimates, the price of oil has already dropped below what investors in Keystone would need to break even, and some analysts believe further drops are in store, the Los Angeles Times reported.

"The recent decline in [oil] prices has to give the sponsors some pause," Chris Lafakis, a senior economist at Moody's Analytics, told the paper.

A recent State Department study found that when oil is selling for $65-$75 per barrel, it is a "potential danger zone" for oil production in western Canada – the point where transportation costs driven higher by failing to build the pipeline could "have a substantial impact" on the industry's growth, according to Politico.

The price of oil has lost 20 percent since the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries’ (OPEC) last meeting on November 27, when the consortium ‒ heavily influenced by Saudi Arabia ‒ decided not keep the market over-supplied in an attempt to drive out more high-cost producing nations, such as Russia, Venezuela, Iran, Iraq, the US, and Canada.

United Arab Emirates Energy Minister Suhail Al-Mazrouei says OPEC will maintain output at 30 million barrels of oil a day, and wants to monitor the price for three months before even considering a meeting about possible changes.

“We are not going to change our minds because the prices went to $60 or to $40,” Mazrouei told Bloomberg on Sunday at a conference in Dubai.

Within the US, the project faces an uphill battle for approval. In mid-November, the lame-duck US Senate failed to fast-track the Keystone XL pipeline project, falling one vote short of breaking a filibuster against the bill. The Nebraska Supreme Court is expected to rule as early as Friday on ongoing litigation in that could ultimately affect the pipeline route in that state.


It is amid this global setting that Canadian Natural Resources Minister Greg Rickford is in Washington, DC to meet with his American and Mexican counterparts, US Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz and Mexican Secretary of Energy Pedro Joaquin Coldwell. Much of the agenda will focus on energy data and Mexico’s regulatory reforms for its oil and energy sector, but the three “will surely discuss energy infrastructure” as it pertains to the Keystone project, Global News reported.

Rickford told reporters at a Monday press conference that the project to carry oil sands from Alberta to Gulf of Mexico refineries would help the US end its dependence on unreliable sources of oil in the Middle East and elsewhere.

The US Congress is expected to take up the proposed legislation in the new year, once all the newly elected members are in office..

More Than 300 A Year: New Analysis Shows Devastating Impact of Pipeline Spills

A close-up of a leaking pipeline, stuffed with a
tree to stem the oil flow. (Photo: newmy51/cc/flickr)

Common Dreams | Nov 17, 2014 | Deirdre Fulton

'There’s no way to get around the fact that oil and gas pipelines are dangerous and have exacted a devastating toll on people and wildlife,' attorney says

Released one day before the U.S. Senate votes on the Keystone XL pipeline, a new analysis of federal records shows that in just the past year and four months, there have been 372 oil and gas pipeline leaks, spills, and other incidents, leading to 20 deaths, 117 injuries, and more than $256 million in damages.

The Center for Biological Diversity analysis is based on decades of records from the federal Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, which maintains a database of all U.S. pipeline incidents that are classified as "significant"—those resulting in death or injury, damages more than $50,000, more than 5 barrels of highly volatile substances or 50 barrels of other liquid released, or where the liquid exploded or burned.

In total there have been more than 8,700 significant incidents with U.S. pipelines involving death, injury, and economic and environmental damage since 1986, the Center reports—more than 300 per year.

"There’s no way to get around the fact that oil and gas pipelines are dangerous and have exacted a devastating toll on people and wildlife. It’s appalling to see Congress seriously considering giving the green light to Keystone XL," said Bill Snape, senior counsel with the Center for Biological Diversity. "The Obama administration’s own analysis says Keystone XL will spill oil, so it’s really troubling to see politicians wanting to add to this dangerous legacy of failed pipelines."

The time-lapse video below includes every "significant pipeline" incident in the continental United States—along with their human and financial costs—from 1986 to Oct. 1, 2014. On average one significant pipeline incident occurs in the country every 30 hours, according to the data.

350.org caught up in fossil fuel ‘divestment’ hypocrisy

Watts Up With That | Sep 25, 2014 | Anthony Watts

In a blast of publicity, the Rockefellers Brothers Fund (RBF) announced it would “begin” divesting all fossil fuel investments. The Rockefellers brothers, offspring of the founder of the industry, were said to be marking a major turning point in the great trajectory of climate change. Except, they still have holdings they aren’t talking about.

Note that RBF and 350.org are refusing to comment about the findings of Oil Sands Fact Check today.
First, two must read pieces on RBF, published in the past 24 hours.

• http://www.cfact.org/2014/09/25/rockefeller-divestment-is-shameless-climate-summit-eyewash/
• http://business.financialpost.com/2014/09/23/rockefellers-baby-boycott-why-nobody-in-4-65-trillion-fossil-fuel-business-will-even-notice/

And now this, the natives are getting restless:

KXL backers question timing of Rockefeller divestment
Manuel Quiñones, E&E reporter
Published: Thursday, September 25, 2014

Backers of the Keystone XL oil pipeline are questioning the timing of the Rockefeller Brothers Fund’s decision to divest from most fossil fuel holdings.

The website Oil Sands Fact Check, an industry-backed repository of information in favor of the transboundary pipeline, noted that the fund has significant fossil fuel holdings at the same time it was funding anti-fossil-fuel activities. The fund announced its change of investment strategy earlier this week (Greenwire, Sept. 22).

“Given that board members of RBF are heirs to the Rockefeller oil fortune, the media was led to believe that divestment from fossil fuels was a drastic change in practice for the foundation,” says a new post.

“Yet anyone who knows the least bit about RBF is well aware that the foundation has given millions to groups that oppose fossil fuels for years,” the post says.

KXL backers are focusing on the fund’s longtime support for the group 350.org, which has been a major force in opposition to the pipeline.

RBF has given 350.org $800,000 in recent years and almost $2 million to the 1Sky Education Fund, now part of 350.org, according to foundation records.

And beyond 350.org, RBF has funded other groups critical of fossil fuel interests through its sustainable development program. Its mission statement is to advance “social change that contributes to a more just, sustainable and peaceful world.”

But Oil Sands Fact Check says,

RBF said the fossil fuel divestment process has been an ongoing effort to better align its finances with its goals. “Our immediate focus will be on coal and tar sands, two of the most intensive sources of carbon emissions,” it said.

The group 350.org did not respond to a request for comment in time for publication.

Fossil fuel interests have made similar claims about billionaire climate activist and political donor Tom Steyer, who invested heavily in fossil fuels during his time as a hedge fund manager (Greenwire, July 15).

Steyer took to the pages of Politico to respond, saying the threat of climate change altered his thinking. “The past is the past,” he wrote, “and I am working as hard as I can to change our collective future.”

Source: http://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2014/09/25/stories/1060006453

Big Oil Threatens Maine City After Tar Sands Export Ban

© PopularResistance.org

PopularResistance.org | Jul 25, 2014 | Andy Rowell

Big Oil has always been a bad, bad loser.

And it is therefore no surprise that it has threatened to sue a small coastal city in Maine which on Monday night struck an historical blow against the industry by banning the export of tar sands from its harbour.

The decision by South Portland to approve, by 6-1, to ban tar sands exports, has catapulted this small coastal town which is famous for its scenic light-houses against the collective might of the oil industry and Canadian government.

The decision is another blow to the tar sands industry which is desperate to find ways of getting its dirty carbon-munching oil to market.

It effectively bars any attempt by the oil industry to bring oil from Alberta to the city’s port, the second-largest oil terminal on the east coast of the US.

The move has ramifications for the tar sands industry, because it was planning to reverse the flow of the Portland-Montreal pipeline to carry tar sands to the coast.

South Portland Mayor Jerry Jalbert told Reuters the vote was an exercise in local democracy. “From the perspective of a locally elected official, it’s a simple issue. People fear this product could be damaging to the community, and they have asked us to act.”

Hundreds of supporters, wearing light blue T-shirts had packed into the hall where the vote was taking place. They were part of the so-called “Clear Skies Ordinance” worried about local spills and the impact of the tar sands on climate change.

One of the activists, Peg Dilley, from Casco, Maine, said: “This is not just a South Portland issue. This is not just a great state of Maine issue. This is an international issue.”

After the vote, activists were ecstatic, standing to applause the local councillors. “This victory sends an important message to communities around the country,” said Lisa Pohlmann, executive director of the Natural Resources Council of Maine. “It shows that we can stand up against a dirty, toxic form of energy, and that it’s not inevitable.”

“We may be a small city, but, boy, we’ve done a big thing,” added Mary-Jane Ferrier, spokeswoman for Protect South Portland, who led the campaign. “We know it may not be over yet, and we’re committed to defend this victory from oil industry attacks.”

It is only a matter of time before those legal attacks start coming. The oil industry’s main lobbying organisation and attack-dog, the American Petroleum Institute, earlier this year had warned South Portland officials they would “face strong legal challenges,” if they voted to ban oil exports.

Yesterday, they were said to be considering their options. Tom Hardison, vice president of the company that runs the pipeline, said the vote was “against jobs, energy and the waterfront,” and called it a “rush to judgment.”

One local energy association has also claimed that “The fight is not over.”

Source: www.priceofoil.org

US pushing tar sands into Europe despite EU proposed block

Global Justice Ecology Project | Jul 19, 2014

IPS reports on US efforts to push tar sands oil into the EU despite resistance in Europe.

Thousands of acres of trees and plants, in
an area the size of Florida, must be stripped away
and the ground torn apart to mine for tar sands oil.

Newly publicized internal documents suggest that U.S. negotiators are working to permanently block a landmark regulatory proposal in the European Union aimed at addressing climate change, and instead to force European countries to import particularly dirty forms of oil.

Current negotiating texts for the TTIP talks are unavailable. But critics say the negotiations are forcing open the massive E.U. market for a particularly heavy form of petroleum known as tar sands oil, significant deposits of which are in the Canadian province of Alberta.

The oil industry has repeatedly expressed concern over the European Union’s potential tightening of regulations around transport fuel emissions, first proposed in 2009 for what’s known as the Fuel Quality Directive (FQD). Yet according to a report released Thursday by Friends of the Earth Europe, the sector now appears to have convinced the U.S. government to work to permanently block the implementation of this standard.

Opposition To KXL, Protests & Blockades Choking Tar Sands Industry

Popular Resistance | Jun 12, 2014 | Danielle Droitsch

$11 Billion Project Put On Hold Indefinitely: “This announcement severely undercuts oil industry arguments that the expansion of tar sands development is unavoidable.”

Yesterday, a major tar sands company Total E&P – who is also a confirmed shipper for the proposed and now delayed Keystone XL tar sands pipeline – announced it would put on hold indefinitely its plans for the massive tar sands Joslyn mine.   The company said the economics for the $11 billion plan no longer added up.   Over its lifetime, the tar sands mine would have pumped hundreds of millions of metric tons of carbon pollution into the air equivalent to putting 2.4 million cars on the road for 45 years according to Oil Change International.  This announcement severely undercuts oil industry arguments that the expansion of tar sands development is unavoidable. In fact, there is clear and compelling evidence that the growth of the tar sands industry is directly linked to the availability of pipelines like Keystone XL.  It is why the State Department must reject tar sands pipeline projects like Keystone XL because they it would directly enable the growth of the carbon polluting tar sands industry.

The plans for the Joslyn tar sands mine were approved by the Government of Canada in 2011 and would have produced 874 million barrels of bitumen over its life span (production rate of 100,000 barrels/day).  The mine would have commenced production in 2020.  The announcement to indefinitely suspend the project came only a few months after the process for the proposed Keystone XL tar sands pipeline was put on hold as the State of Nebraska resolves legal issues over the route of the pipeline through the state.  Was this a coincidence?  Perhaps not.  Total E&P is a confirmed Keystone XL shipper and the costs of transporting tar sands is an integral indicator to determine whether a tar sands operation is profitable given the industry is landlocked and critically dependent on transport to move its product to markets.

This announcement should have a direct bearing on the State Department’s evaluation of whether Keystone XL is in the national interest.    Instead of assuming the tar sands industry will have no problem expanding with or without Keystone XL (a conclusion that was unfortunately made in the State Department’s environmental review) this announcement should wake up the Obama administration to the fact Alberta’s tar sands industry is likely very dependent on cheap pipeline infrastructure to grow.

Overall, the tar sands industry is facing multiple economic challenges.  It is currently facing rising labor costs and shortages of workers as well as a significant discount for the low grade tar sands oil.  Industry has behind closed doors complained of how economically marginal it is to develop tar sands projects.  These factors combined with limited avenues for tar sands pipeline – favored by industry as far less expensive than rail – have made tar sands production more risky. Total E&P CEO Andre Goffart confirmed  this challenge for the entire tar sands industry, “As a general comment, I would say that Joslyn is facing the same challenge as most of the industry worldwide in the sense that costs are continuing to inflate when the oil price and specifically the netbacks for the oilsands are stable at best, squeezing the margins.”

The announcement has been welcome by Canadian organizations who have long opposed the project based on its environmental impacts have welcomed the news.  Greenpeace campaigner Mike Hudema said,  “This project would create over 12.5 billion litres of toxic tailings waste per year after it was fully producing and, of course, it would also contribute greenhouse gas emissions.”

Hannah McKinnon of Environmental Defence Canada was quick to point out it was no coincidence this announcement was made shortly after the Keystone XL process. “Tar sands are high cost, high risk, and high carbon. Josyln North’s mothballing is the latest in a developing trend that doesn’t bode well for the industry’s future. The economics of the tar sands are marginal today. And in a carbon constrained world, they become increasingly unviable.”

In the end, there are any number of reasons why a massive expansion of the tar sands industry doesn’t make sense in a world where we are aiming to limit carbon pollution and fight catastrophic climate change.  Right now, the tar sands industry wants to triple production until 2020 and then eventually quintuple production in the longer term.  But one of the key determinants to that growth is the availability of pipeline infrastructure like massive pipelines like Keystone X. We have seen clear and transparent evidence that the lack of new tar sands pipeline (an outgrowth from massive public opposition in Canada and the United States) is preventing industry from building new mines.  It is time the Obama administration recognizes this and understands that its decision over the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline will have a direct bearing on the future growth of this carbon polluting industry.

Fracking Hell: The Untold Story

Sott.net | Jan 11, 2011

An original investigative report by Earth Focus and UK's Ecologist Film Unit looks at the risks of natural gas development in the Marcellus Shale. From toxic chemicals in drinking water to unregulated interstate dumping of potentially radioactive waste that experts fear can contaminate water supplies in major population centers including New York City, are the health consequences worth the economic gains?

Marcellus Shale contains enough natural gas to supply all US gas needs for 14 years. But as gas drilling takes place, using a process called hydraulic fracturing or "fracking," toxic chemicals and methane gas seep into drinking water. Now experts fear that unacceptable levels of radioactive Radium 226 in gas development waste.

Fracking chemicals are linked to bone, liver and breast cancers, gastrointestinal, circulatory, respiratory, developmental as well as brain and nervous system disorders. Such chemicals are present in frack waste and may find their way into drinking water and air.


Waste from Pennsylvania gas wells -- waste that may also contain unacceptable levels of radium -- is routinely dumped across state lines into landfills in New York, Ohio and West Virginia. New York does not require testing waste for radioactivity prior to dumping or treatment. So drill cuttings from Pennsylvania have been dumped in New York's Chemung and other counties and liquid waste is shipped to treatment plants in Auburn and Watertown New York. How radioactive is this waste? Experts are calling are for testing to find out.

New York State may have been the first state in the nation to put a temporary hold on fracking pending a safety review, but it allows other states to dump toxic frack waste within its boundaries.

With a gas production boom underway in the Marcellus Shale and plans for some 400,000 wells in the coming decades, the cumulative impact of dumping potential lethal waste without adequate oversight is a catastrophe waiting to happen. And now U.S. companies are exporting fracking to Europe.

Watch more Earth Focus here.

'Cowboy Indian Alliance' Steps Forward in Earth's Time of Need

Common Dreams | Apr 20, 2014 | Jon Queally

We are writing a new history by standing on common ground.' 

In the week ahead, a coalition of tribal communities, ranchers, farmers and allies calling itself the 'Cowboy Indian Alliance' plans to lead a series of protests, ceremonies, and direct actions in the heart of Washington, DC in order to drive home their united opposition to the Keystone XL pipeline and the destructive expansion of tar sands mining and fossil fuel dependence it represents.

Under the banner 'Reject and Project,' the five-day long event will kick off on this year's Earth Day—Tuesday, April 23—and culminate on Saturday with a ceremony and procession expected to draw thousands.

“We are writing a new history by standing on common ground by preventing the black snake of Keystone XL from risking our land and water," said Faith Spotted Eagle of the Yankton Sioux tribe and a spokesperson for the Cowboy Indian Alliance (C.I.A.). "We have thousands of Native sacred sites that will be affected adversely. The Americans facing eminent domain now know what it felt like for us to lose land to a foreign country. There is no fairness or rationale to justify the risk of polluting our waterways with benzene and other carcinogens. Native people are ready to speak for the four-leggeds and the grandchildren who cannot speak for themselves. The answer is no pipeline.”

The coalition, though made up of those from specifically impacted communities, makes a point to say that because "everyone is needed" in the fight against tar sands, "everyone is welcome" in the events, ceremonies, and actions that will take place.

Roger Milk, a member of the Rosebud Sioux, makes it clear: “This just isn’t an Indian thing," he says. "We all drink the same water.”

“Each of us is put here in this time and this place to personally decide the future of mankind," adds coalition member Chief Arvol Looking Horse, spiritual leader among the Dakota, Lakota, and Nakota people. "Do you think that the creator would create unnecessary people in a time of danger? Know that you are essential to this world. The biggest cancer spreading upon Mother Earth is the tar sands.”

The series of events, says the coalition, will ask President Obama a single, but fundamental question: "Is an export pipeline for dirty tar sands worth risking our sacred land and water for the next seven generations?"

According to their call to action, the organizers say it past time for Obama to acknowledge whether or not he truly understands the stakes involved if this pipeline proceed.

The Cowboy and Indian Alliance (C.I.A) brings together tribal communities with ranchers and farmers living along the Keystone XL pipeline proposed route. Farmers and ranchers know the risk first-hand. They work the land every day. Tribes know the risk first-hand. They protect the sacred water, and defend sacred sites of their ancestors every day. They have united out of love and respect for the land and water on which we all depend.

This is not the first time Cowboys and Indians have come together to stop projects that risk our land and water. In the 80s, they came together to protect water and the Black Hills from uranium mining and risky munitions testing. In the American imagination, cowboys and Indians are still at odds. However, in reality, opposition to the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline has brought communities together like few causes in our history. Tribes, farmers and ranchers are all people of the land, who consider it their duty as stewards to conserve the land and protect the water for future generations.

Jane Kleeb, executive director of Bold Nebraska, promises the diverse but unified coalition representing front-line communities will bring their "pipeline fighting spirit" to Washington, DC and the Obama White House.

"The President said he wants to be able to look at his daughters and say ‘yes he did’ do everything he could to combat climate change," said Kleeb. "We intend to ensure he honors his word.”

Details and the schedule of the week-long 'Reject and Protect' event are available on the coalition's website and updates on Twitter are trending under the hashtag #RejectandProtect:

Judge: Nebraska governor exceeded authority in approving Keystone pipeline

Signs attached to a fence on the property of Jim Tarnick, a
farmer opposed to the controversial Keystone XL pipeline,
are pictured April 17, 2013 in Fullerton, Nebraska.
(AFP Photo / Guillaume Meyer)

Judge: Nebraska governor exceeded authority in approving Keystone pipeline
Feb 19, 2014 | RT

A judge has ruled against a Nebraska law that allowed the construction of the Keystone XL pipeline through the state in order to transport crude tar sands oil from western Canada to the Gulf Coast.

Lancaster County Judge Stephanie Stacy struck down Nebraska Gov. Dave Heineman’s approval of the pipeline route on Wednesday. Stacy said that jurisdiction over such a decision belongs to the pertinent state regulator, the Nebraska Public Service Commission.

Gov. Heineman said later Wednesday he would appeal the state court ruling, Reuters reported.

Three Nebraska landowners opposed to the pipeline filed the lawsuit.

"Under the Court's ruling, [pipeline owner] TransCanada has no approved route in Nebraska," Dave Domina, the landowners' attorney, said in a statement, according to AP. "TransCanada is not authorized to condemn the property against Nebraska landowners. The pipeline project is at standstill in this state."
 
AP reported that TransCanada could not be reached for comment.

In January 2013, Heineman sent a letter to President Barack Obama confirming that he would allow the controversial pipeline through the state. The decision came amid much opposition from landowners and others warning that the pipeline could contaminate the Ogallala aquifer, a major groundwater supply. Opponents said the governor did not have the authority to approve the route.

Heineman had opposed the pipeline running through the state’s Sandhills region, which is full of grassy sand dunes that are at high risk for erosion. Yet he said in the letter to Obama that the 195-mile route through Nebraska would avoid the area. He said any spills of the crude tar sands would be localized, and that TranCanada would fulfill cleanup responsibilities.

The ruling will likely cause further delays in completing the 1,179-mile, $7 billion pipeline.

Obama is expected to make a final decision on the pipeline by mid-2014. The southern leg of the pipeline began operations last month.

Much of the resistance to the pipeline centers around increased greenhouse gas emissions connected with crude tar sands development. This requires a more energy-intensive process than the production of plain crude oil, since a substance known as bitumen must be extracted from the Alberta tar sands through means such as surface mining or injecting steam into the ground.

Opponents of Keystone XL have several concerns regarding the pipeline – including the carbon-intensive impact from tar sands extraction, which they believe will worsen the effects of climate change. They are also concerned that the pipeline will put nearby communities at risk of oil spills into water supplies.

Critics have also pointed out that most of the oil that will travel through Keystone XL will go to growing economies overseas - like China - that have an increasing demand for more fossil fuels. The pipeline, detractors say, is unlikely to lower the price of gasoline in the US.

Proponents echo TransCanada and the Canadian government, saying the project will create tens of thousands of jobs for the communities near the pipeline in the US. The State Department has made a far more modest prediction, estimating that the pipeline will create an immediate 5,000 to 6,000 jobs. Others, however, have said that long-term job creation is nowhere near either estimate. President Obama said as much last March.

"The most realistic estimates are this might create maybe 2,000 jobs during the construction of the pipeline, which might take a year or two, and then after that we're talking about somewhere between 50 and 100 jobs in an economy of 150 million working people,” he said.

Late last month, the US State Department issued a report – prepared by a research company with ties to TransCanada – on the environmental impact of Keystone XL, raising few objections to the prospective ecological damage and harm to human health caused by the pipeline and its functions. While not taking a stance on the pipeline, the State Department said in the report that negating it would not impact the movement of oil from Alberta to Texas. It also suggested that it would be safer to transport 830,000 barrels per day (bpd) of crude by pipeline than by rail.

Sachs: Approval of Keystone XL Would Be A Disastrous Move

Sachs: Approval of Keystone XL Would Be A Disastrous Move
Feb 4, 2014 | TheRealNews

Renowned economist Jeffery Sachs discusses why the State Department's Environmental Impact Statement for the Keystone XL pipeline brings humanity one step closer to climate disaster

Toxic carcinogens from tar sands oil production underestimated - report

The Syncrude tar sands mine north of
Fort McMurray, Alberta (Reuters / Todd Korol)

Toxic carcinogens from tar sands oil production underestimated - report
Feb 4, 2014 | RT

Production of crude oil in western Canada emits more harmful carcinogens into the environment than official estimates let on, according to a new study. The Keystone XL pipeline would, if approved, move tar sands oil from Alberta through the US to Texas.

A new study by the University of Toronto-Scarborough published Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences reported that Canadian officials may have underestimated emissions of harmful carcinogens known as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) from Alberta tar sands.

Specifically, the report cited the emission levels of PAHs as being one hundred to one thousand times greater than previously believed. High levels of PAHs are not imminently dangerous, though they are quite higher than reported by the mining industry’s environmental impact assessments and Canada’s own National Pollutant Release Inventory. The Canadian government has used these favorable assessments to boost new tar sands development in Alberta’s Athabasca oil sand region.

PAHs are not associated with greenhouse gases, thus do not directly impact climate change. Much of the discussion surrounding the controversial Keystone XL oil pipeline - currently pending approval in the US - has centered around its effects on increased greenhouse gas emissions connected with crude tar sands development. This requires a more energy-intensive process than the production of plain crude oil since a substance known as bitumen must be extracted from the Alberta tar sands, for instance, through means such as surface mining or injecting steam into the ground.

Either way, the operation already uses an excessive amount of water, releases toxic metals into the local environment, and unleashes an estimated 14 to 17 percent more greenhouse gas emissions than regular crude.

Yet PAHs include phenanthrene, pyrene and benzo(a)pyrene, which “are among the most toxic hydrocarbons,” said Jules M. Blais, a University of Ottawa chemical and toxicology professor, according to Climate Central. “They’re some of the worst things out there.”
 
PAHs should be of concern to anyone living along the Keystone XL route, and those in the nearby vicinity of the Alberta tar sands region are especially at risk. 

“From the standpoint of Keystone, the concerns are regarding potential breaches that could contaminate soils,” Blais said. “The same kinds of things that are getting into the Athabasca River could be relevant to Keystone.”
 
The University of Toronto study - conducted by environmental scientists Frank Wania and Abha Parajulee - used computer models to analyze the plausibility of how many PAHs Canadian officials have estimated are in the Athabasca tar sands region as opposed to the actual measurements of PAH concentrations found there.
 
"We found that these estimates are insufficient to explain what's being measured in the environment," Wania said, according to Smithsonian.com. “The concentrations of PAHs that should be out there, based on these assumptions, are far too low."
 
When trying to discern why previous estimates had been so low, the research team found that tar sands tailings ponds - storage ponds used for dumping toxic mining waste - may very well be the culprit.
 
“In our second set of model calculations, we included tailings ponds and allowed evaporation of PAHs to occur,” Wania said. “The concentration we calculated was closer to what is being measured, so it indicates that quite possibly tailings pond emissions are part of the explanation of why the emissions are too low.”
 
And since these kinds of emission sources may not have been included in official assessments, the PAHs’ risk to environmental and human health may have been underestimated, Wania said.

“The implication of these results is that the emissions from tailing ponds are being underreported,” said Blais, who is not associated with the study. “We can explain this a number of ways. These emissions from tailing ponds can be very difficult to estimate. They could be occurring below the surface of the ground. They could be below surface, below grade. They could be following fissures or fractures in the rock.”
 
The US State Department released on Friday a report on the environmental impact of Keystone XL, raising few objections to the prospective ecological damage and harm to human health caused by the pipeline and its functions.

The report said that the $7 billion project will not impact the pace of Canadian oil sands development or its contribution to climate change. It also suggested that it would be safer to transport 830,000 barrels per day (bpd) of crude by pipeline than by rail.

“Adding 830,000 bpd to the yearly transport mode volume would result in an estimated 49 additional injuries and six additional fatalities for the No Action rail scenarios compared to one additional injury and no fatalities for the proposed Project on an annual basis,” the report reads. ‘No Action’ scenarios here refer to the possibility of President Barack Obama not approving the pipeline project.

While the State Department took no position on the project and stopped short of recommending if the line should be built, it did claim the pipeline is more environmentally sound than other options. Obama is expected to make a final decision on the pipeline by mid-2014.

Fracking Profits: Oil lobby pushes for bill to deregulate shale industry

"Propaganda Film"
© RT

Fracking Profits: Oil lobby pushes for bill to deregulate shale industry
Nov 22, 2013 | RT

Protesting could soon become a thing of luxury at any drill site in the United States - courtesy of new laws co-crafted by the oil lobby.

Aside from forcing demonstrators to shell out 5 thousand dollars for a rally permit... the bill would also excuse the federal government from regulating the fracking industry. Gayane Chichakyan reports.

Noam Chomsky warns Canada’s shale gas energy plans will have dire consequences

© Raw Story

Noam Chomsky warns Canada’s shale gas energy plans will have dire consequences
Nov 1, 2013 | By Martin Lukacs, The Guardian

Canada’s rush to exploit its tar sands and shale gas resources will destroy the environment “as fast as possible”, according to Noam Chomsky.

In an interview with the Guardian, the linguist and author criticised the energy policies of the Canadian government under Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

He said: “It means taking every drop of hydrocarbon out of the ground, whether it’s shale gas in New Brunswick or tar sands in Alberta and trying to destroy the environment as fast as possible, with barely a question raised about what the world will look like as a result.”

But indigenous peoples in Canada blocking fossil fuel developments are taking the lead in combatting climate change, he said. Chomsky highlighted indigenous opposition to the Alberta tar sands, the oil deposit that is Canada’s fastest growing source of carbon emissions and is slated for massive expansion despite attracting international criticism and protest.

“It is pretty ironic that the so-called ‘least advanced’ people are the ones taking the lead in trying to protect all of us, while the richest and most powerful among us are the ones who are trying to drive the society to destruction,” said Chomsky.

Chomsky expressed concern about an indigenous community in New Brunswick whose encampment blockading shale gas exploration was raided by a heavily armed Canadian police force two weeks ago.

Those protests come on the heels of the indigenous-led Idle No More movement that sprang up in late 2012 in response to the Harper government’s repeal of numerous environmental protections and aggressive promotion of resource projects, often on indigenous lands.

Chomsky was in Montreal last weekend to give a lecture and celebrate the 50th anniversary of the magazine Canadian Dimension.

He told the Guardian that progressives “should work climate change into their efforts to organise”, but in a way that emphasises how addressing climate change can improve rather than worsen peoples’ lives.

“If it’s a prophecy of doom, it will act as a dampener, and people’s reaction will be ok, I’ll enjoy myself for a couple of years while there’s still a chance. But as a call to action, it can be energising. Like, do you want your children, and grandchildren, to have a decent life?”

While supporting the principles of the “degrowth” movement that aims to reign in over-production and over-consumption, Chomsky cited mass transportation, localised agriculture, and energy efficiency improvements as useful forms of growth that could mitigate climate change and improve quality of living.

“If you could take a subway from the suburbs in Boston, where I live, to downtown in 10 minutes, that improves your life over sitting in a traffic jam. People should see that.”

Chomsky said that a “major issue” behind climate change is the deficiencies of the market system.
“Markets are lethal, if only because of ignoring externalities, the impacts of their transactions on the environment,” he said.

“When you turn to energy production, in market exchanges each participant is asking what can I gain from it? You don’t ask what are the costs to others. In this case the cost to others is the destruction of the environment. So the externalities are not trivial.”

Chomsky said during the 2008 financial crisis, the big banks could “forget the fact that they’re supposed to believe in markets, run cap in hand to the government and say bail us out”.

“In the case of the environment there’s no one to bail it out.”

guardian.co.uk © Guardian News and Media 2013

New mass of tar on Louisiana coast linked to 2010 BP oil spill

Fire boat response crews battle the blazing remnants of
the offshore oil rig Deepwater Horizon, off Louisiana, in
this April 21, 2010 file handout image.
(Reuters/U.S. Coast Guard/Files)

New mass of tar on Louisiana coast linked to 2010 BP oil spill
Oct 17, 2013 | RT

The US Coast Guard has discovered a 4,100-pound tar mat under the sand around Louisiana’s southernmost port. It is believed to be left over from the 2010 BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill.

The tar mat was uncovered while the Gulf Coast Incident Management team combed the coast following Tropical Storm Karen, which developed in southern portions of the Gulf of Mexico in early October.

According to a team spokesman, the mass on Fourchon Beach is 80 to 90 percent sand, shell, and water and 10 to 20 percent oil.

Petty Officer 1st Class Michael Anderson said the exact size of the tar mat has not been determined, though he does not expect it to be as large as one found near the Isle of Grand Terre in June, which weighed in at 40,000 pounds.

Following the discovery at Grand Terre, BP estimated in June that over 2.7 million pounds of tar from the spill had been collected in 2013 at that point.

Cleanup efforts have begun at Fourchon, as tar balls have been collected on other parts of the state’s coast following the relatively weak Tropical Storm Karen.

The discovery of more tar on the coast comes as the second phase of the civil trial against BP continues in New Orleans. The trial is assessing the oil company’s level of negligence following the Deepwater Horizon rig explosion in April 2010.

This phase of the trial aims to determine whether actions taken by BP following the explosion and collapse of rig - which killed 11 workers and eventually became one of the worst environmental disasters in US history - were sufficient, and to discover just how much oil bled from the Macondo well out into the Gulf.

Various engineers and oil flow experts were called as witnesses by BP early this week. They have been grilled by government attorneys about various methods used and assessments made to determine the leak’s severity.

Findings in the trial will inform US District Judge Carl Barbier’s determinations on how much BP will be fined in relation to the Clean Water Act and other federal laws appropriate to the spill’s damage.

Should Barbier find BP and its contractors simply “negligent” in the spill aftermath, the Clean Water Act allows for up to $1,100 for each barrel of oil leaked into the ocean. Should he determine “gross negligence” or “willful misconduct,” BP could face maximum fines of $4,300 per barrel of oil.

BP says that 2.45 million barrels of oil were released into the Gulf - which would result in maximum fines of $2.7 billion for negligence and $10.5 billion for gross negligence.

US Justice Department lawyers say that 4.2 million barrels leaked out. Their estimates come out to fines of $4.6 billion for negligence and $18 billion for gross negligence.

Barbier will consider all efforts taken to stem the flow of oil, as well as the impact of any fines on the businesses involved.

In separate New Orleans US District Court proceedings, a former Halliburton cementing technology director pleaded guilty Tuesday to destroying evidence following the Deepwater Horizon explosion. Halliburton was BP’s cement contractor on the rig.

Prosecutors say Anthony Badalamenti told two Halliburton employees to erase data during a post-spill review of the company’s cement job on the Macondo well.

He is the first individual charged with crimes associated with the spill and its aftermath to plead guilty.

BP well site managers face manslaughter charges for the deaths of workers on the rig. Prosecutors say they are responsible for a botched safety test and negligence on other safety hazards. That trial is set for 2014.

Meanwhile, former BP executive David Rainey is charged with withholding information from Congress on how much oil was spewing from the site in 2010. A former BP engineer faces charges related to destroyed evidence associated with the company’s spill response.

President Obama: Reject Keystone XL, promote clean energy

Before and after tar sands

President Obama: Reject Keystone XL, promote clean energy
Sept 16, 2013 | Press TV

The Keystone XL and tar sands expansion have no place in a clean energy future.

I can understand why oil companies love tar sands. There is a lot of money to be made by strip mining and drilling the dirtiest oil on the planet.

The oil industry is lobbying hard for President Obama's approval to let the Keystone XL pipeline cross our border and move a river of tar sands to the Gulf Coast, where much of it will be shipped overseas. But why should the rest of us pay the price so that the oil companies can line their pockets?

Developing the Canadian tar sands is destroying our continent's great northern forest at a terrifying rate. It is producing enough carbon pollution to wreak havoc with our climate for decades to come. And the pipelines that carry this dirty fuel are a direct threat to our nation's own drinking water supplies.

If you ask me, tar sands oil is exactly the type of dirty oil we can no longer afford. It may be great for oil companies, but it is killing our planet. There is no energy security in that.



 President Obama has promised to reject the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline if it will drive significantly more global warming pollution and more climate chaos. We have clear and compelling evidence that the Keystone XL fails the President's climate test. We already know that tar sands development causes more carbon pollution than conventional oil. And now a slew of experts from industry insiders to financial analysts all agree that the Keystone XL is the linchpin for Big Oil's plan to more than triple tar sands production over the next 20 years -- and the climate disruption that will follow.

The government of Canada surely knows this as well. Thus the recent reports that Canada is seeking approval of Keystone XL in exchange for a promise to make new climate commitments.

This fanciful trade-off is like embarking on a 20-year eating binge while promising to diet at the same time. Canada can't have it both ways. Its skyrocketing global warming emissions are a product of uncontrolled tar sands development. It will never get a handle on the former until it reins in the latter.

In this case, the way the Obama administration can help North America solve our climate problem is by rejecting the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline and calling on the Canadian government to cap tar sands production.

Instead of embarking on a tar sands binge and more climate chaos, the United States and Canada should be partnering on clean energy -- ramping up the high-tech energy solutions of today and tomorrow.

That's the saner environmental and economic choice for both of our countries. But we're not going to get it unless millions of us demand it. Please make your own voice heard at www.demandcleanpower.org. Watch my new video and send the President a clear message: reject the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline and promote clean energy instead.

AN/ISH

Neil Young: Tar Sands Fields 'Look Like Hiroshima'

Flickr / Creative Commons License / NRK P3

Neil Young: Tar Sands Fields 'Look Like Hiroshima'
Sept 10, 2013 | Common Dreams | Jacob Chamberlain

Singer says tar sands development left Fort McMurray a 'wasteland' that is 'truly a disaster' 

Fresh off a trip to Canada's tar sands oil fields in Alberta, famed singer Neil Young spoke out at a conference in Washington, DC on Monday against the controversial oil extraction and its export through the proposed Keystone XL pipeline, calling Fort McMurray, the town nearest Alberta's vast tar sands, a "wasteland."

"This is truly a disaster," said Young, painting a dire picture in which the people, land and animals of the region are greatly suffering.

“The fuel’s all over – the fumes everywhere – you can smell it when you get to town," Young recalled. "The closest place to Fort McMurray that is doing the tar sands work is 25 or 30 miles out of town and you can taste it when you get to Fort McMurray. People are sick. People are dying of cancer because of this. All the First Nations people up there are threatened by this.”

“Yeah it’s going to put a lot of people to work," Young said of the proposed Keystone XL pipeline, which is slated to transport the excavated tar sands to export terminals in Texas and Louisiana. "I’ve heard that, and I’ve seen a lot of people that would dig a hole that’s so deep that they couldn’t get out of it, and that’s a job too, and I think that’s the jobs that we are talking about there with the Keystone pipeline,” he said.

“The fact is, Fort McMurray looks like Hiroshima,” said Young. “Fort McMurray is a wasteland. ... All of the First Nations people up there are threatened by this. Their food supply is wasted. Their treaties are no good. They have a right to live on the land that they always did but there's no land left that they can live on. All the animals are dying. This is truly a disaster.”

“Neil Young is speaking for all of us fighting to stop the Keystone XL,” Jane Kleeb, Executive Director of Bold Nebraska, a coalition of landowners and others opposed to the $5.3-billion Keystone XL pipeline, told the Globe and Mail.  “When you see the pollution already caused by the reckless expansion of tar sands, you only have one choice and that is to act.”

Keiser Report: Sinkhole of Stupid (E490)

Keiser Report: Sinkhole of Stupid (E490)
Aug 29, 2013 | RT

In this episode of the Keiser Report, Max Keiser and Stacy Herbert discuss the sinkholes of stupid causing collapse wherever they occur and, how in Texas, they are totally fracked as the sinkhole of stupid has caused water shortagesl. In the second half, Max talks to Chris Martenson about the four signs of dangerous bubble territory, the markets oblivious to the costs of Fukushima meltdown and the bad economics of fracking.

BREAKING: Aerial blockade stops construction of Enbridge Line 6B tar sands pipeline

BREAKING: Aerial blockade stops construction of Enbridge Line 6B tar sands pipeline
Aug 7, 2013 | Global Justice Ecology Project

This morning, Michigan Coalition Against Tar Sands (MI-CATS) is taking direct action in the Crane Pond State Game Area to halt expansion of Canadian corporation Enbridge Energy’s tar sands pipeline 6B. Enbridge’s claim that they have restored the Kalamazoo River after the 2010 spill holds no merit, nor does it justify expanding the pipeline. Tar sands cannot be cleaned up; this material is thick and heavy, it sinks in water, and clings to surfaces. Expanding the pipeline increases the risk of another disaster for all of life and future generations.

Felix of the unconfined Kalamazoo River basin climbed into the trees early this morning to halt the expansion of Enbridge’s tar sands pipeline 6B. A rope traverse, spanning a portion of where construction is taking place, is the sole line that holds the platform they are sitting on up in the air. If it were cut and/or tampered with by police or workers they could fall from the tree, resulting in serious injury, possibly even death.

“Tar sands pipeline 6B is pumping a dangerous concoction which fuels global capitalism. This pipeline is Canada’s promise that industrialized capitalism will continue to exploit and oppress the people of the world and the environment. Capitalism guarantees the continued destruction of the natural world. It enables the ruling class to exploit the world’s resources and force the rest of the population to labor for the ruling classes profits. Additionally, we are way beyond the verge of climate crisis. It is of utmost importance that carbon emissions stop immediately. Tar sands infrastructure is one example of industries at the root of the oil addiction. By taking action at the root of the problem, we endeavor to stop the symptoms of the problem. If we halt all carbon emissions into the atmosphere and remember how to live in harmony with the earth, there might be hope for life as we humans have known it for a few hundred thousand years.”

MI CATS asserts that direct action tactics, including civil disobedience, are now necessary as Enbridge’s dominant presence in our bio-region has allowed no room for any constructive alternatives. After three long years of blatant lies and omissions, Enbridge has the audacity to triple the capacity of the same pipeline that poured an ecologically abrasive sludge into the Kalamazoo River. This catastrophe was the largest inland oil spill this continent has ever experienced. While the Kalamazoo spill was the largest, it is one of many devastations brought on by Enbridge. Enbridge’s insidious business practices caused more than 800 pipeline spills between 1999 and 2010; that is more than one tar sands spill a week.

All pipelines leak. All markets peak. Capitalism can rot in hell. Enbridge places profit before our families, the ecosystem, our grandmothers, our dogs (yo what up Smokey*?), our grandchildren and the future of life on this planet. The continuation of tar sands transportation through pipelines like Line 6B risk more than just our own backyards; everything in the industry’s wake is left defiled and in squalor. Our actions against Enbridge won’t stop until Enbridge stops participating in the resource extraction industry. We stand in solidarity with all first peoples’ whose lands were forcibly taken from them, Idle No More, Fearless Summer, those working to end corporate personhood, all the species going extinct, those sick and dying thanks to the extraction industry, and all folks fighting oppression in order to live full and happy lives.

*Smokey was a dog who died as a result of the 2010 spill.

Source: Michigan Coalition Against Tar Sands

Dozens missing after oil train explosion levels Canadian town center

© Raw Story

Dozens missing after oil train explosion levels Canadian town center
July 6, 2013 | Raw Story | David Ferguson

A series of explosions rocked the town of Lac-Mégantic, Quebec late Friday night when a train carrying thousands of tons of crude oil derailed. According to the Canadian Broadcasting Company, the blasts flattened buildings and left at least 60 people missing. Firefighters were still trying to contain the resulting blaze Saturday morning as 1,000 people were evacuated from their homes.

Lac-Mégantic has about 6,000 citizens and is located around 155 miles (250 km) west of Montréal. Witnesses said the derailment took place around 1:00 in the morning.

Zeph Kee, who lives 30 miles from Lac-Mégantic, told CBC that he saw the fireball from the first explosion rise into the sky. Patrons at a local bar were outside when the first fires lit the sky. The bar, said Kee, burned to the ground hours later.

Several homes and businesses, he said, are gone. “It was total mayhem,” he said, “people not finding their kids.”

More than 100 firefighters have converged on the scene, some traveling from the U.S., as officials try to bring the fire under control.

Isabelle Aller, a visitor to the area, said that she has been calling her friends’ phones repeatedly, but they never answer.

“The more time that passes, the more we are worried,” she said, adding that after the initial explosion, people went to the scene to watch the fire and may have been caught in the ensuing blasts.

Lac-Mégantic’s Mayor Colette Roy-Laroche said that officials are doing everything they can. “We have deployed all resources to ensure that we can support our citizens,” she told CBC.

“It’s dreadful,” said resident Claude Bédard. “It’s terrible. We’ve never seen anything like it. The Metro store, Dollarama, everything that was there is gone.”

Watch video about this story, embedded below via CBC:

Obama State Dept. Leaving Citizens in the Dark About Exact Keystone XL Pipeline Route

Obama State Dept. Leaving Citizens in the Dark About Exact Keystone XL Pipeline Route
June 29, 2013 | Desmogblog.com | Steve Horn

Believe it or not, the precise route of TransCanada's Keystone XL tar sands pipeline remains shrouded in mystery.

Of course, both TransCanada and the U.S. State Department have revealed basic Keystone XL route maps. And those who follow the issue closely know the pipeline would carry Alberta's tar sands diluted bitumen or "dilbit" southward to Port Arthur, TX refineries and then be exported to the global market.

But the real path is still a secret: the actual route of KXL is still cloaked in secrecy. Case in point: the travails of Thomas Bachand, Founder and Director of the Keystone Mapping Project.

"I started out wanting to scout the route for a potential photography project. So I went looking for a map, and discovered there wasn’t one," Bachand explained in a Nov. 2012 interview with National Public Radio. "I went over to the State Department website, and found some great information, but then I discovered there wasn’t any route information."

His experience with TransCanada was even worse.

"TransCanada [also gave me] the runaround. Their excuse was that [releasing the information] was a national security risk, which is just a joke."

Due to lack of transparency on the part of President Barack Obama's State Department and TransCanada, what was once merely an ambitous photo-journalism project has morphed into a full-fledged muckraking effort - and a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request battle royale - that's now lasted about a year and a half for Bachand. The State Department still has yet to give him the goods.

"I was initially told that 8-12 months was a typical turn around time for a FOIA," Bachand explained to DeSmogBlog in an interview. "Keep in mind that many FOIA requests to the State Dept. require extensive searches through years of diplomatic cables. My request deals with a single project handled by a single department."

Why the long delay on such a seemingly straight-forward request?

"I have been told that the main obstacle to my FOIA request with the Dept. of State for the...Keystone XL is that the information is 'politically sensitive,'” Bachand explained of the situation in a June 26, 2012 blog post.

Missing the Forest for the Trees? 

Bachand believes even the most ardent advocates fending off KXL are missing the forest for the trees on the State Dept. KXL Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (SEIS).

The SEIS was penned by Environmental Resources Management (ERM Group), a dues-paying member of the American Petroleum Institute (API) which said KXL will have negligible climate change impacts, along with two other industry-tied contractors. API has spent $22 million lobbying on behalf of its members on KXL and tar sands since its initial June 2008 proposal, on top of the cash it has spent on its relentless public relations and advertising efforts. 

"What's been lost in the debate over the Keystone is that, as written, the EIS makes it impossible to determine the project's environmental impacts," Bachand told DeSmogBlog in an interview. "As all key features and landmarks are referenced to the nearest pipeline milepost marker, without milepost marker longitude and latitude data, one cannot make sense of the report."

As of now, U.S. citizens aren't even privy to information as basic as what water bodies the pipeline crosses, Bachand says. As seen in Mayflower, AR - when tens of thousands of gallons of tar sands crude from ExxonMobil's Pegasus Pipeline spilled into Lake Conway from a pipeline few even knew existed until the latest "dilbit disaster" - knowledge is power and lack of it vice versa. Not knowing the exact route of the pipeline leaves impacted communities unable to anticipate threats to waterways where their local knowledge would be invaluable.

"Waterbody crossings are another key feature that is largely missing," Bachand explained to DeSmog. "If the pipeline crossed a mile upstream from one's property, or neighborhood, or community park, or aquifer, most people would want to know about it. Keep in mind that I am only looking at GIS data. One has to wonder what else is missing from the EIS."

Bachand also believes that President Obama's statement about deciding the fate of KXL exclusively on its climate change impact - at the expense of numerous significant ecological impacts - is foolhardy.

"Obama said that the KXL would only be approved if it did not contribute to climate change in his Climate Action Plan speech," Bachand said. "Yet, one cannot determine global impacts without first giving due diligence to the immediate environmental impacts. Also, by focusing strictly on the impact of tar sands on the climate, pipeline opponents largely disassociate the debate from the pipeline's ecological impacts."

Next Steps for Bachand on Keystone Mapping Project 

Although FOIA battles over basic KXL details were never the initial intention of Bachand's project, he is now committed to work on the project for months, if not years to come.

"The project remains a work in progress. Of course I would like to see the mapping component completed, but as it is, it communicates the 'incompleteness' of both the Keystone concept and our policies on land and energy use," he said in discussing his next steps. "If I can secure funding I would like to travel the pipeline route with the goal of producing a book and gallery exhibit."

Bachand sees KXL as a climate change symbol - and as he's learned, a symbol of broken democracy - with much significance beyond the immediate pipeline itself.

"KXL has become emblematic of our inability to reconcile world demand for fossil fuels and the environmental imperatives imposed upon modern civilization," he said. "I'm glad TransCanada chose to name it the Keystone. It's a perfect metaphor in so many ways."