Meet the People That Will Bear Some of the Worst Effects of the Keystone XL Pipeline

[xchrom]

http://www.alternet.org/environment/meet-people-will-bear-some-worst-effects-keystone-xl-pipeline



***SNIP


The People at Both Ends of the Pipeline

The story of tar sands resistance goes far back beyond Obama, long before 1,253 folks like myself were arrested at the White House for protesting the pipeline, or really even before Keystone XL was anything but an industry pipe dream. Decades ago the struggle began by First Nations leaders in modern-day Canada and their commitment to maintain their ancestral homelands from what they term the “slow industrial genocide” of tar sands extraction that is poisoning their loved ones and turning their boreal paradise into a tortured wasteland.

What do the communities living with the worst impacts at both ends of this pipeline have in common? They are both communities of color.

In the spring of 2012 when President Obama fast-tracked the southern segment of Keystone XL from Cushing, Oklahoma to the Gulf Coast he sent a clear message that these communities are industrial sacrifice zones. After an epic year of direct action resistance from Tar Sands Blockade in Texas and Great Plains Tar Sands Resistance in Oklahoma, the construction of KXL South is nearing completion and would pump up to 590,000 additional barrels of toxic tar sands to be refined in fence-line communities in Houston and Port Arthur, Texas.

Life at the “End of the Line”

This part of the Gulf Coast has more refineries and petrochemical complexes than anywhere on the planet. The communities along the fence-lines of these facilities – many of which grossly violate air quality regulations on a daily basis without ever facing meaningful repercussions – breathe some of the deadliest air in North America.

[PETRUS]

1. kick, and gmornin... nt

[xchrom]

2. ...

[FarCenter]

3. The Keystone XL 500,000 barrels per day would replace 500,000 barrels per day of imported crude

The volume of crude going through the refineries is determined by the capacity of the refineries and by the domestic and export demand for refined product. Any lack of pipeline deliveries is offset by increases in tankers bringing in imported crude.

[daleanime]

4. ......

[dwp6577]

5. I believe the tar sands oil will go straight to the open market...

for sale at higher prices than can be had selling it in the states. perhaps you should drink 1-3 cups of tar sands oil (refined or not) each day to slake your lust for pollution

[wercal]

6. I think it may be more of a geographic transfer of where the refining happens

The dirty secret about the Keystone pipeline is that it will raise oil prices in the Midwest.

Why? - There is an over abundance of oil in the Midwest, which Keystone will change.

Right now, much of the increased production in North Dakota cannot get shipped out of the region. They are trying like heck, and using trains to move the oil to the northeast...but its not enough. The effect has been a lower spot price for US Domestic Crude Oil than Crude oil on the international market. As a result, an oil company drilling in the upper Midwest stands to lose out on a few dollars profit for each barrel sold...they have no choice but to sell it to refineries in Chicago and St Louis, for a few dollars less than the international price...and we in the Midwest enjoy some of the lowest gas prices around.

What does the pipeline do? It diverts some of that oil out of the Midwest and to Houston...not to be refined, but for its terminal...where it can be sold on the international market, for a few dollars more...and 'imported' into places like New Jersey to get refined into gasoline. So a little less refining in Chicago, and our Midwest prices will go up...and oil will be a little more plentiful in New Jersey...and the refineries there may refine more oil...and their gas prices should go down a few cents a gallon.

[FarCenter]

7. No crude oil is exported from the US

Shipping oil from the Gulf Coast to NJ would be done by pipelines, if at all. Usually, the crude is run in refineries on the Gulf and then the gas, diesel, etc. are sent to the northeast US via pipelines. Shipping via tanker is usually not done, since coastal shipping would have to be done using US flagged and crewed vessels, which is uneconomic.

Since the US imports about 40% of its crude oil usage, any new Canadian imports can be offset by reduced imports from other countries.

The US does export some refined products, mainly to Latin America and the Caribbean, but they are a small fraction of our crude oil imports. We also import some refined products, mainly from the Canadian Maritimes and from the Virgin Islands.