U.S. poised to pump in more of Canada's dirtiest oil

[Robbien]

Source: McClatchy Newspapers

WASHINGTON — At the climate talks under way at the Mexican beach resort of Cancun, the U.S. has assured the world it's not backing away from its pledge to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. At the same time, however, the State Department looks likely to approve a pipeline that would increase the use of one of the dirtiest forms of oil.

That oil would flow from Canada's oil sands in Alberta, where the northern forest is cut so that giant trucks can scrape up black sand containing bitumen, an extra-heavy crude. The Environmental Protection Agency figures that that bitumen requires so much energy to extract and refine that it produces 82 percent more greenhouse gas emissions than average U.S. crude from the time it's mined until it ends up in a car's gasoline tank.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said in October that she was inclined to approve the pipeline, known as Keystone XL. The $7 billion line would be a major expansion. The Bush administration approved two other Keystone segments.

The new pipeline would bring oil sands crude from Alberta through Saskatchewan, Montana, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas, where it would end up in terminals on the Gulf Coast.

Read more: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2010/12/08/104977/us-poised-to-pump-in-more-of-canadas.html

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The oil company that will be in charge of this has a record of safety worse than BP's. They are the one who had all the spills around Lake Michigan this summer.

Of course the reason for this expansion is that old standby debunked "Renewables cannot and will not replace oil or oil imports for decades, if ever."

[Old Time Pagan]

1. Someone please remind me as to why

I would want to support the Obama administration being elected to serve another term?