A national group has formed to counter the misinformation that’s resulted in two-thirds of Americans being in favor of approving the Keystone tar sands pipeline.
The "All Risk, No Reward" Coalition will attempt to show Americans that rather than creating the "tens of thousands" of jobs they keep hearing about, it actually provides all risk and no reward.
Their television ad appeared during this weekend’s Sunday news programs (NBC’s Meet the Press, ABC’s This Week, CBS’s Face the Nation) in key Democratic markets and will air again next weekend.
Even the faulty State Department’s Environmental Impact Statement admits the pipeline will create only 35 permanent jobs and a couple thousand temporary jobs. And it will not make the US more energy independent because the oil will flow through our country, not to our country. We are simply a pass-through on its way to being exported – thus, all we get is the risk and the oil companies get all the reward.
"This pipeline isn’t about energy security. The purpose is to get Canadian tar sands oil to a place it can be sold at the world market. The Gulf Coast is exactly that place, where refineries can export the oil to markets where they can get a higher price," says Randy Thompson, a Republican who is chairing the group.
"Given that the oil carried by Keystone
XL would not be mined, refined, or consumed in the United States, why would we
accept the transit risk associated with a pipeline project of this magnitude?," asks Rep. Rush Holt (D-NJ), Ranking Member on the Subcommittee on
Energy and Mineral Resources. "Why would we want to expose thousands
of towns up and down the US to the same risks faced so
catastrophically in Mayflower [Arkansas]?"
Sadly, information released since the Arkansas and Kalamazoo tar sands spills shows how outdated these pipelines are, how little attention they get even when there are warnings of a potential rupture, and how measly the fines are when oil companies do get caught.
Enbridge has had more than 800 spills since 1999, and a whistleblower revealed that substandard practices are rife throughout TransCanada’s pipeline network, making ruptures inevitable.
The US won’t see a cent of money from the oil or taxes because Gulf refineries are in a Foreign Trade Zone. In fact, most experts see oil prices rising from the pipeline.
The coalition consists of national organizations – League of Conservation Voters, League of Women Voters, Oil Change International and Indigenous Environmental Network – and State-based organizations:
Bold Nebraska (NE)
Sandhills Beef (NE)
Nebraska Farmers Union
Interfaith Power and Light (NE)
Dakota Rural Action
Keystone XL Truthforce (OK)
League of Women Voters Nebraska
STOP Tarsands (TX)
Read Rep. Rush Holt’s editorial on the pipeline.
You can see their TV Ad here:
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