Year 2, Month 9, Day 17: But Think Of The Jobs Gained In Oncology!

The September 13 issue of the Mitchell, SD Daily Republic has a pro Tar-sands editorial, filled with the usual delusional advocacy:

EnSys Energy’s report notes that if the XL isn’t built, Canadian oil will still make it to Texas via trucks, trains and barges. That’s likely encouraging to refiners, but not to environmentalists, who say pipelines are dangerous and the oil that comes from tar sands is exceptionally dirty, possibly adding to global warming troubles.

We prefer that it reaches Texas refineries in whatever way best benefits South Dakotans.

Since the oil originates in Canada and is delivered to Texas, we don’t suspect trucking the oil through our state would generate jobs or tax dollars. It also could be detrimental to our roads.

Barge traffic isn’t realistic. The Missouri River’s dam system inhibits any such commerce in Montana and the Dakotas.

Shipping by train could be good for the state. Rail lines would need to be kept at a high level of maintenance or renovated completely. The trouble with rail transportation is that it, too, is potentially bad for the environment. Spills can happen, and the trains themselves release emissions into the atmosphere.

A $7 billion pipeline generates much economic impact in the form of construction dollars spent during the building process and also in tax revenue in the coming years.

Based on what we know so far, we prefer piping the oil from Canada to Texas.

Profit roolz! Sent September 13:

Ignore the recent report from Oil Change International, which concluded that the oil flowing through the Keystone XL pipeline will be headed for overseas markets, not the American consumer. Ignore the global warming impact of burning all the tar sands crude oil — which NASA climatologist James Hansen calls “game over” for the climate. Ignore the millions of acres of Canadian forest ravaged. Oh, and don’t forget to ignore the fact that the oil industry’s assurances aren’t worth a hill of beans; their record of malfeasance, corruption and incompetence over the past century is second to none.

But don’t ignore the fact that pipelines always leak, releasing crude oil into the environment — killing wildlife, damaging agriculture and polluting ground water. Don’t ignore the fact that cleaning up aquifers could cost billions of dollars, and don’t ignore the disastrous public health consequences of crude oil entering the water supply. Please.

Warren Senders