Case Study: The Keystone Pipeline

The Keystone Pipeline The Keystone Pipeline is a pipeline system that holds oil and it runs through the United States and Canada. More specifically, it starts in Alberta, Canada at the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin and travels to oil refineries in Texas and Illinois as well as oil tank farms and an oil pipeline distribution center located in Cushing, Oklahoma. The Keystone Pipeline consists of three phases as well as one more operation that was awaiting approval but has been rejected. The first phase is the pipeline bringing the oil from Hardisty, Alberta to a connection in Steele City, Nebraska which then disperses into refineries in Illinois. The second phase is an extension that leads from Steele City to distribution and storage facilities
The difference is that the route would be shorter and would consist of a larger pipe. (C)Since this extension was disapproved, there was no building date set. (G)This pipeline was set to hold tar sands oil which is one of the world’s dirtiest fuels. The pipeline would move this fuel throughout the United States to oil refineries. (B)This expansion was proposed because of giant oil corporation that invested in Canada’s tar sands greatly needed a profitable way to extract tar sands oil for their corporations. This pipeline would greatly increase, in fact, double, the imports of the dirty fuel to ports for international export and to refineries on the Gulf
(H)The proposal failed because of the bad environmental effects so the Obama Administration as well as the EPA disapproved it. They felt that the negative environmental effects outweighed the positives. (I)Some of the environmental agencies that are responsible for approving the extension are TransCanada, the Senate Energy Committee, and some Obama lobbying groups but Obama and the EPA needed to approve it for it to be passed. Although, all other three phases of the Keystone pipeline have been approved are almost completed so the pipeline is considered a success