The Great Keystone Pipeline Debate Exercise - Essay Example

Sur s NameTaskDate of Submission The Keystone Pipeline is a Legitimate Issue and Should Be Approved Introduction The Keystone XL Pipeline is an oil and gas project that the US government wants to extend the present Keystone pipeline that carries an enormous amount of heavy crude oil from the sand oils that passes US from Canada refineries. This proposal was approved by the Republican that had the majority in the congress house and awaited approval of the Senate for the project to start officially.

The pipeline will reach Okla, Cushing, Patoka, Wood River and Texas’ Gulf Coast. The proposed final phase of Keystone XL would pass from Alberta and broaden to Steele City, Neb mainly replacing the phase I of the previous pipeline with a direct route (Swart, Neil and Andrew 2012) Although, the project has faced political tension and anxiety, debates on the construction of the pipeline are on the sixth year delaying the process. Even though, the project may not have started, it is estimated that it will create many jobs.

It is estimated it will create close to 20,000 jobs, 7,000 in manufacturing and an extra 13,000 in construction. The state Department reports that as more than 40,000 jobs will be established directly and indirect. It is stated that by building the pipeline an estimated amount of about $3.4 billion would be contributed to the American economy (Swart, Neil and Andrew 2012) Moreover, the pipeline will create geopolitically secure position in contrast to other sources of oil used.

It would create sustainable fuel use from Canada, a constant trading partner. Therefore, it increases energy security that comes from the Gulf Coast. It is because most of the oil comes from Middle East and Venezuela who are not reliable partners as compared to Canada (Swart, Neil and Andrew 2012) Additionally, it is considered that the establishment of this pipeline system would provide a safer option in transportation since the enormous quantity of oil transported from Canada would cause a lot of damage to U.S. This is happening through rail and these paths could be used to replace pipeline.

Transportation of oil by rail is environmentally hazardous to the environment. More deaths as a result of tanker train would be reduced tremendously by constructing expanding pipeline. However, construction of the pipeline would have some adverse effects on the U.S. First it would cause and result in global warming that has the effect of damaging the U.S. GDP by almost 2%. The ripple effect will create a massive environmental impact causing global warming. It is also believed that the expansion of the pipeline has the risk factors associated with spilling to contamination of water and other materials.

There is also the likelihood of pipe failure that carries oil making clean up of water difficult. Due to the corrosive nature of sands oil it is more likely that the pipes will fail because of the erosion. Instead, energy firms strip-mine the oil sands and then heat to release crude oil, a practice that is estimated to have destroyed acres of land in Alberta forest. State Department environmental review accomplished that construction of oil-sands and petroleum products creates almost 17% carbon pollution extra than construction of conservative oil (Swart, Neil and Andrew 2012) Highly rated environmentalist in 2013 has advocated for a rejection and refusal to construct the pipeline, outlining that climate solutions are equally more economical.

In conclusion, as much as construction of Keystone XL Pipeline has created massive debates it is legitimate and equally critical in ensuring growth in U.S. GDP although it has some of its challenges.ReferenceSwart, Neil C., and Andrew J. Weaver. "The Alberta oil sands and climate."Nature Climate Change 2.3 (2012): 134-136.