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posted by cmn32480 on Saturday November 07 2015, @09:51PM   Printer-friendly
from the tar-iffic dept.

onEarth reports

President Obama officially rejected the Keystone XL pipeline [November 6], just days after TransCanada begged for a stay of execution.

[...] Obama ought to keep his veto pen handy, just in case. Congressional Republicans have so far been quiet today about their reaction to the president's decision, but they may yet use some legislative trickery to try to approve KXL against his wishes.

[...] TransCanada bought hundreds of miles of property easements from U.S. landowners to clear a path for the pipeline. If it decides to abandon the project, it could sell those rights to other companies, even if the easements were purchased from unwilling landowners through eminent domain. (Permissive eminent domain laws in many states allow companies to do almost whatever they want with the property once they have it.) Expect fights between property owners and TransCanada to continue.

[...] Existing tar sands mines will continue to produce crude. KXL's demise, however, is a major threat to expansion. Tar sands mines are expensive to start up. Even when oil was selling for more than $90 per barrel, several companies canceled their planned tar sands projects. The price per barrel is now in the mid-$40s, making tar sands crude uneconomic--even if there were a pipeline to transport it cheaply to refineries.

Without KXL, fewer companies will want to take a chance on tar sands. Just as important, the pipeline's rejection sends a signal to investors that politicians and the public are concerned about the impacts of tar sands on the climate.

TransCanada was once so confident that Keystone XL would win approval that the company contracted the manufacture of 661,670 tons of pipe--most of what was required for KXL. The company has not said exactly how much pipe it already has on hand, but a 2011 report[PDF] from Cornell University identified 70,000 tons that had been received in U.S. ports.

[...] The company needed federal approval for KXL only because it crossed national borders. It can likely repurpose much or all of the pipe for its many other pipelines [paywall] that have been approved in the United States and Canada. If that doesn't work, sale is always an option.


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  • (Score: 2) by middlemen on Sunday November 08 2015, @12:21PM

    by middlemen (504) on Sunday November 08 2015, @12:21PM (#260316) Homepage

    You can rebuild the Internet as a series of tubes.

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