This Tuesday, February 7, The Republican dominated House approved plans to construct the controversial Keystone XL pipeline. Last month, President Obama rejected the proposal to build the pipeline due to missing environmental and economic impact reports. Obama recognized  that there is not enough information at this time to approve of such a large project. Now, the fate of the pipeline rests with the Senate’s vote.

The Republicans, according to Speaker of the House John Boehner, will use every political strategy and resource available to push the construction of the Keystone pipeline forward.

But why are the Conservatives so adamant about building this pipeline? According to Boehner, “it’s good for our country and its good for our economy and its good for the American People, especially those looking for work.”

Let’s assess Boehner’s first point, “it’s good for our country”. It can be inferred based on the Speaker’s previous statements on the pipeline that what he means by “good for our country” is a reduction in our dependence on foreign oil. This, Republicans agree, will improve our national energy security.

The tar sands that will be pumped from Alberta down the continental United States to Texas refineries are not, however, intended for domestic consumption. Valero, the main U.S. beneficiary from the pipeline, has explicitly stated in reports to foreign investors that the oil refined from the Keystone XL pipeline will be exported to Europe and Latin America. There is no intent of using the oil to stock internal supplies.

The current economic recession as well as continually increasing oil prices has lead to a long-term trend of decreasing American demand for oil. U.S. oil companies have been forced to look to international markets in response to less domestic demand.

As a result of this expanding international market, for the first time in 40 years, according to Carnegie Council’s publication, “Policy Innovations”, “U.S. demand [is] decreasing… [while] U.S. production [of oil] is increasing”.

With less focus on supplying oil domestically, the Keystone XL pipeline will actually do the opposite of what Republicans say- it will increase our demand for foreign oil.

It is no secret that Republicans have a huge stake in the U.S. oil industry. Conservative politicians own stock in and receive funding from the large American oil corporations. After all, our former Republican Vice President Dick Cheney was the chairman and CEO of Halliburton Company from 1995 to 2000. It would be foolish, therefore, for Republicans to question and challenge the increasing exportation of oil.

The solution to securing national energy sources is simple: end our reliance on oil and develop renewable energy. But until Big Oil special interest groups step out of the political arena, renewable energy will continually be fought.

Now let’s take a look at Boehner’s other point, that the pipeline is “good for the economy” and thus “good for the people, especially those looking for work”. This is the main argument Republicans use consistently when protesting against environmental protection regulations intended to curb destructive industry pursuits. Conservatives find it acceptable to destroy the environment if in the process, jobs are created.

Boehner claims that “the Keystone pipeline will create over 100,000 indirect jobs.” The State Department, on the other hand, reports that the pipeline will only open 7,000 new jobs with the majority of them only temporary construction work.

The U.S.’s reliance on oil as the main energy source is what truly prevents jobs from being created. With a decreasing domestic demand for oil, alternative renewable energy markets should be expanding. But, as I previously mentioned, the exportation of oil has opened up the oil market and sustained its domestic economic and political influence. This prevents the necessary shrinkage of the oil industry and subsequent development and expansion of the renewable alternative energy market.

If the deleterious political influence of oil companies is minimized, clean energy companies will be able to grow and consumers will be anxious for these alternative choices. This proliferation of new energy markets will create hundreds of thousands of jobs as opposed to the mere 7,000 from the Keystone pipeline.

Additionally, the environmental and human health costs of building the pipeline are substantial. The production of oil from tar sands has many harmful environmental impacts.

According to Friends of the Earth, “Refining tar sands oil is dirtier than refining conventional oil, and results in higher emissions of toxic sulfur dioxide and nitrous oxide. These emissions cause smog and acid rain and contribute to respiratory diseases like asthma.” The refineries also require a substantial amount of water, draining freshwater supplies and then dumping sludge from production into our waterways.

The risk of spills from cracks in the pipeline is also high. The Canadian company that would be in charge of the pipeline construction, TransCanada, has had more than twelve spills in the past year alone from its current Keystone I pipeline. An oil spill could potentially devastate many American water sources, wildlife, and local communities.

The Republicans’ support of the pipeline is no more than an effort to rally a few “Ra-Ra’s” from its constituents before election time. Boehner’s “high hopes” from the pipeline are built upon lies and corporate interest. What is truly “good for our country and…good for our economy and…good for the American People, especially those looking for work” is ending our reliance on oil. The Keystone XL pipeline will hurt our national energy security, hurt our economy, hurt potential job markets, and hurt our planet.

Trending Articles: