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While these pages have made clear our lack of fondness for the land-thieving oil magnates behind the TransCanada Keystone pipeline, the Madville Times spent two enjoyable years in Canada and loves the Canadian people. Any people who care enough about each other to help pay each other's medical bills rates highly in this writer's book.
We thus wish Canadians in general no will, and do not care to be complicit in Canadians' coming to harm. A report in this morning's New York Times should thus give us further pause in considering TransCanada's proposal to slap a pipeline across our fair state. All that oil TransCanada plans to pump through South Dakota comes from the oil sands of Alberta. And a new study finds carcinogens in the water near the oil sands extraction project [Ian Austen, "Study Finds Carcinogens in Water near Alberta Oil Sands Project," New York Times, 2007.11.09].
Now that's not saying the carcinogens will hurt South Dakotans. Heck no -- all that oil will be sealed up nice and tight in a thinner-than-planned piepline that will never leak more than once in 41 years [Heidi Tillquist, PUC testimony, 2007.09.21, p. 5], and even if it does leak, TransCanada assures us the aquifer damage will be minimal [Tillquist, pp. 7-8].
But do we really want to be complicit in a project subjecting Canadian residents near the source of this black gold to carcinogens?
So let's review the score, oil pipeline vs. wind power: oil pipeline company steals land from South Dakotans, might leak, and pollutes beautiful Canada. Windmill companies lease land from South Dakotans (i.e., steady income), don't pollute South Dakota or Canada, and genuinely decrease our dependence on foreign oil (geography note: Canada is a foreign country).
Let's do something positive for ourselves and our friends in Canada: stop the TransCanada Keystone pipeline, direct our attention to wind power and other, cleaner, more sustainable sources of energy.
Of course, those darn windmills do cause an increase in crime. Looks like we'll have to hire... some copper coppers!
The Predictability of the Sioux Falls City Council is painful to watch
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Former City Councilor Big T wrote an excellent letter to the editor about
how the citizens need to vote on the new parks’ expenditures. I would
agree, $77 ...
1 day ago
Let's not forget the famous "gorrila project" down by Elk Point. They want to build an "environmentally friendly" refinery and will need a dedicated pipeline for its oil source, which is also reportedly from Canada.
ReplyDeleteNow, this project is quite a ways out, but if Transcanada can't get the Keystone Pipeline through, what's the likelihood of another proposed pipeline being approved by property owners. And what's the likelihood of Hyperion selecting an alternative location?
Reminds me of Clyde Cooper of Cleveland who copped several clean copper clappers!
ReplyDeleteJust a question. We are so dependent on foreign oil for all facets of our economy that is absolutely scary. Yet anytime anything is proposed to make us less dependent on foreign oil and more independent, everyone hops all over it. We can't drill in Alaska. We can't build oil refineries, which we desperately need and is one of the reasons for our high gas prices. We can't drill in the Carribean in our own waters (instead Cuba and others drain our stores). We can't build windmills because it might spoil someone's view (hi, Teddy K!) We can't expand nuclear. What do people want us to do - go back to the times of the first colonists? Somehow I think that genie is out of the bottle. We need to be safety conscious, of course, but we also need to be willing to look to our own resources to depend upon.
ReplyDeleteWe went by what evidently was an oil refinery somewhere between SD and Branson, MO, a couple of weeks ago. It might not be the prettiest picture to look at aesthetically, but it was beautiful to me nonetheless because it meant someone was attempting to make the US more self-sufficient. And utlimately we have to realize that it is in our own best interests to do so.
Um, Nonnie, Canada is a foreign country. Wind power here (plus some conservation well short of reverting to 1750) is still a better recipe for self-sufficiency than tar sand oil from Canada. TransCanada ain't no genie, and we can keep what's in their bottle (bad corporate citizenship, legal bullying, theft of land, transfer of cost of externalities to local governments) from spilling in South Dakota.
ReplyDelete