This is my first post to Daily Kos and I couldn't be more delighted to be participating in the NoKXL blogathon. I'm David Turnbull, Campaigns Director at Oil Change International, campaigning with my colleagues to expose the true costs of fossil fuels and to facilitate the coming transition towards a clean energy and climate-safe future.
It’s amazing what corporations and oil-soaked politicians will do to promote their cause when the facts aren’t on their side. And when it comes to the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline, the lies keep coming.
One of the most common arguments coming from proponents of the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline is that Keystone XL will help bring energy security to America. Or sometimes they call it “North American energy independence.” Unfortunately it’s just not true.
This is just one of many reasons why we're saying #NoKXL and asking as many people as possible to do the same.
What pipeline proponents suggest is that the Keystone XL pipeline will supply barrel upon barrel of friendly oil from our neighbors to the north for our consumption here in the US. They say that since since Canada is such a great friend (as opposed to some “scary countries” where we get our oil from), their oil is better than other oil, and that the Keystone XL pipeline will deliver that oil to the US for us.
Unfortunately, the facts tell a different story.
Firstly – let’s be clear. The tar sands that Keystone XL would carry are certainly no better than any other oil we may be getting…in fact they are far worse. The tar sands are responsible for incredible destruction at their source in Alberta, and are the scene of human rights abuses of First Nations, health impacts ranging from destroyed drinking water to cancers, and devastated lands at a scale that is hard to comprehend. And what's worse, they are responsible for tremendously more climate-changing greenhouse gases than conventional oil.
Ethical, the tar sands ain’t.
But even if tar sands oil were “better”, the truth is that the US won’t be getting this oil. We at Oil Change International recently looked into the refineries that would receive the tar sands oil that would flow through Keystone XL, and what we found is what we’ve actually been saying for years: Keystone XL is a pipeline THROUGH the US, not to it.
Here are some facts we discovered:
Research has shown that the pipeline’s major purpose is not to provide oil for the U.S., but to serve as an export pipeline fueling international markets. New data reveals that a full 60 percent of gasoline produced in 2012 at Texas Gulf Coast refineries was exported. These are the refineries that would process the majority of the tar sands bitumen flowing through the Keystone XL pipeline, if it were built.
The changing dynamics of the U.S. oil market strongly suggest that exports would only rise over the lifetime of the pipeline. U.S. production is rising but consumption is declining and the industry will continue to maximize its profits through exports.
Using government data for exports from Texas Gulf Coast ports and for Texas Gulf Coast refinery production, the data shows that these refineries are now exporting 60 percent of their annual production of ‘Finished Motor Gasoline’. In addition, 42 percent of the diesel produced by these refineries is currently exported, which is an 11 percent increase over 2011 diesel exports from these refineries.
Finally, over 95 percent of their production of petcoke – a dirty coal substitute that is a byproduct of refining heavy oil – is exported.
The new data clarifies a statement made by the State Department in the latest Keystone XL Draft Supplementary Environmental Impact Statement (DSEIS). In the Market Analysis section, State notes the level of exports coming from the Gulf Coast refining region (known as PADD 3): “…almost half of PADD 3 refined products go to the domestic market.”
In other words, the State Department’s own analysis acknowledges that the majority of refined products produced on the Gulf Coast are already being exported. Those who believe that Keystone XL is necessary for U.S. energy supply might be surprised by this fact.
So, to be clear, the tar sands oil that would flow through Keystone XL is simply bound for export on the global market.
Further, it must be said that we simply can't drill our way to energy security. As the International Energy Agency has said, we already have far too much carbon embedded in fossil fuel reserves than that which we can afford to burn if we are to have any chance at a stable climate in our future.
In other words, if we want a secure future for ourselves, and our children and grandchildren, we must move away from fossil fuels...and fast. Building an immense pipeline to transport the world's dirtiest oil through our heartland in order to export it to be burned around the world hardly sounds "secure" to me.
The only way to truly achieve energy security is to invest in renewable energies like solar, wind, and geothermal technologies that truly deliver home-grown, clean energy that won't destroy our climate.
Claims that Keystone XL will finally deliver the "holy grail" of energy security are simply untrue. Their the desperate claims of an industry that doesn't have the facts on their side.
Join us in telling the State Department, Keystone XL is a dirty pipeline THROUGH the US, not to it and they must say #NoKXL.
