Keystone Pipeline Pros And Cons

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The Controversy of the Keystone XL Pipeline The Keystone XL pipeline is an extension to the currently existing Keystone pipeline that would run from the Canadian city of Hardisty, Alberta to Steele City, Nebraska. Initially proposed in 2008 and finally signed into law via a President Trump executive order, the Keystone XL pipeline debate has been hanging over our heads for nine years now. Proponents argue that it will create jobs, lower gas prices, and reduce our dependence on foreign oil. Opponents argue that it will potentially harm the environment, it won’t create a significant number of permanent jobs, and it won’t help to effectively reduce gas prices or our dependence on foreign oil. Both sides to this debate have valid claims, but the …show more content…
When discussing the environmental impact the pipeline would have on Native American tribal lands in South Dakota, Mitch Smith, a writer for the New York Times, writes, “even if the pipeline would not cross their property, tribal leaders say, it would pose a threat to drinking water.” In addition to pumping harmful greenhouse-gases into the air, the Keystone XL pipeline project could potentially contaminate water supplies if it were to leak, which is not an uncommon occurrence for oil …show more content…
It would harm the environment, pass through sacred Native American lands, create few permanent jobs, and worst of all increase our dependence on dirty fossil fuels while simultaneously taking our focus away from investing in clean and renewable energy sources. The temporary construction jobs and handful of permanent jobs this project would create along with the energy production it would provide are not significant enough to outweigh the project’s numerous negatives. Therefore, we should not build the Keystone XL pipeline because our nation needs to look to the future of sustainability with clean and renewable energy, not into the past of dirty fossil fuels and massive carbon footprints.

Works Cited
Dennis, Brady, and Steven Mufson. "Trump Removes Federal Block from Keystone Pipeline." Washington Post, 26 Mar, 2017, pp. A.3, SIRS Issues Researcher, https://sks.sirs.com. Accessed 26 April 2017.
Main, Douglas. "How Endangered Species May Fare Under Trump; Environmentalists worry about Trump's impact on Earth's flora and fauna." Newsweek, 10 Feb. 2017. General OneFile. Accessed 26 April 2017.
Smith, Mitch. "A Grass-Roots Push in the Plains to Block a Pipeline's Path." New York Times, 06 May, 2015, pp. A.12, SIRS Issues Researcher, https://sks.sirs.com. Accessed 26 April