Keystone XL Pipeline: 40 SoCal Groups Call for Environmental Rethink

The State Department has issued a flawed environmental review of the proposed Keystone XL pipeline that ignores its far-reaching impacts on climate and our environment. Tar Sands Action Southern California has prepared a commentary on behalf of 40 groups to be submitted to the State Department demanding a comprehensive reassessment of the significant and irreversible impacts on the environment not taken into account in the draft report released on March 1st. As of April 22, 2013, individuals can also send a message asking President Obama to reject the review, send the State Department back to the drawing board, and fulfill his promise to address climate change. See the links below.

The Honorable John Kerry
Secretary
U.S. Department of State
2201 C Street, N.W.
Washington, DC 20520
Email: keystonecomments@state.gov

RE: Comments on the Draft Supplemental EIS on the Proposed Keystone XL Pipeline (EIS No. 20130056)

Dear Secretary Kerry:

Tar Sands Action Southern California and 40 environmentally concerned organizations, businesses, and political representatives thank the US State Department for the opportunity to comment on this Draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (SEIS). We make up a coalition of organizations from all over Southern California expressing grave concerns with the draft review of this project. We suggest, on the basis of impacts to land, water, air and global climate, the Keystone XL Pipeline is not in the US national interest and should be rejected. The following are our comments on the draft SEIS.

Summary of Comments

Keystone XL Growth Inducing Impacts on Canadian Tar Sands

Canada’s tar sands industry has an ambitious long-term growth strategy inextricably linked to oil demand from the United States. This growth is projected to cause a doubling of the industry’s climate emissions within the next decade and would be the central reason why Canada fails to meet its carbon reduction targets. To achieve this growth the tar sands industry relies on large export pipelines to transport bitumen to the United States. If the tar sands industry is to realize its 5 million barrels per day production goal by 2030, all existing pipeline proposals will need to be built.

Impacts to Land, Water, Air, and Cultural Resources

The Canadian tar sands (the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin) have been called the “most environmentally destructive project on earth,” with good reason. Extracting tar sands bitumen from under the Northern Boreal forests of Alberta, Canada requires huge amounts of energy and water. It has cleared vast tracts of forest, left scars on the land that are visible from space and threatened the health and livelihoods of indigenous First Nations communities across the region. The impact to land, water, air and cultural resources from the Keystone XL-enabled tar sands region of Alberta would be significant, unavoidable and irreversible.

Climate Implications of the Keystone XL

Full exploitation of the tar sands would create a grave threat to the global climate. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimates that by pipelining 830,000 bpd of tar sands instead of conventional crude, Keystone XL will increase annual U.S. CO2 emissions by up to 27 million metric tons – the impact of adding about 5 million cars on the road. Additionally, tar sands processing produces a by-product called petroleum-coke, which can be used in coal-fired power plants and will release significant amounts of greenhouse gases that must be accounted for in this analysis.

Risks from Spills, Accidents, Blowouts from Tar Sands Pipelines

Transportation of tar sands diluted bitumen through pipelines also poses a significant, unavoidable, and potentially irreversible impact from spills to major rivers, streams and the Ogallala Aquifer, which support significant proportions of US agricultural products and drinking water for six US states.

Overall, we request that more attention to impacts be assessed on the issues of Tar Sands Market Analysis, Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Impacts to the Global Climate, and Impacts to Water Resources from Potential Releases.

Read the letter signed by 37 Southern California organizations, businesses, and political representatives to be submitted by April 22, 2013, from Jack Eidt, Organizer, Tar Sands Action SoCal and Director of Wild Heritage Planners.

Comment Letter – Click Here: Keystone SEIS Comments – Tar Sands Action SoCal V2

Send your own comments to Email: keystonecomments@state.gov

Join the Facebook 5,000 Comment Challenge: Click here

For more information on Tar Sands and Keystone XL: Click here.

httpvh://youtu.be/qYUMYCCOx6I
“What is that pipeline?” By Aja Janae

Comments submitted on behalf of the following 40 organizations, businesses, or political representatives: