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Old 11-09-2015, 04:09 PM
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The Lone Ranger The Lone Ranger is offline
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Default Re: General Environment Thrad

The sad thing is, I don't see Obama as being at all concerned about environmental issues. I think the decision was almost entirely based on politics and economics, not environmental concerns.

Given the current price of crude oil, a lot of economists argue that it wouldn't be in the U.S.'s best economic interest to build the pipeline. When you couple that with the flak Obama would certainly get from a lot of his supporters if he approved the pipeline, I suspect that politics and economics explain his decision much better than does any [heretofore unevidenced] real concern about the environmental impact.

As such, if the price of crude goes back up, I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if building the Keystone pipeline suddenly becomes a "viable option" again.



The issue is complicated by the fact that a good case can be made for the conclusion that building the pipeline might actually be the environmentally responsible thing to do. Why? Canada has made it clear that they're planning to exploit the tar sands, whether we build the pipeline or not. If the pipeline isn't built, then the alternative is shipping the oil to refineries via trucks and trains. That would a.) increase the likelihood of a spill and b.) increase the amount of CO2 generated as the oil is shipped.


Ugh. Either way, the whole situation sucks.



What's so disgusting about the whole thing is how politics so clearly trumps environmental concerns (and science).

Heck, even Dubya talked about the need to reduce CO2 emissions in order to mitigate climate change. When he was running for President, that is. As soon as he was "elected," that sort of talk went out the window in a hurry.
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