So will the State Dept. consider the statement of the President of Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. (tar sands) Steve Laut when he said:
“Long-term, we do need Keystone to be able to grow the volumes in Canada,”
What got into him going honest? Doesn't he know that that statement dooms the industry and US State Dept. argument that the XL Pipeline will not increase emissions?
Mr. Laut’s emphasis on the importance of Keystone stands in contrast to what others in the industry, as well as the U.S. State Department, have said regarding the project. TransCanada Corp. chief executive Russ Girling has said Keystone, his company’s proposed pipeline project, is the safest and most efficient way of transporting Canadian oil, but it’s just one way of getting from A to B. Last month he said that even if opponents manage to halt the $5.4-billion project in its tracks “there’s billions of dollars of investment and billions of dollars of opportunity, and the world needs this source of oil.”
The U.S. State Department said in a March draft report that the proposed pipeline – which will add 830,000 barrels a day of transport capacity between Alberta and refineries on the Gulf Coast – will not, on its own, have a major impact on development in the oil sands and, therefore, on global emissions of greenhouse gases. The State Department concluded that oil sands producers will eventually find new routes to markets, including the growing use of rail cars to transport crude.
Photo: Forward On Climate Syncrude Operations effluent pipe and tailings. The toxic effluent ponds of the alberta Tar Sands are so large that they can be seen from outer space. Every barrel of oil requires 3-5 barrels of fresh water to refine. This is dramatically reducing water levels in the Athabasca River and threatening the Athabasca Delta, one of the World's greatest inland deltas and critical habitat for birdlife. These oil reserves are second only to those of Saudi Arabia. Their method of extraction is among the most damaging and their refining creates more greenhouse gases than any other oil refining process. Gareth Lenz
Mr Laut said the heavy oil industry in Canada is taking a financial hit due to the holdup of the Keystone XL pipeline.
It's too late to add Mr Lauts statement to the State Departments comments on the Xl pipeline but surely they have to consider that even the Canadian Tar Sands industry knows that the construction of the XL pipeline will increase greenhouse gas emissions.