14 DAY TRIAL // Some time ago, US President Barack Obama announced that he would only give the green light to the Keystone XL pipeline if scientific evidence indicated that its construction would not greatly up environmental pollution.
Green-oriented organizations Sierra Club, 350.org and Oil Change International, whose members all strongly disapprove of the Keystone XL pipeline project, did not take long to piece together a report showing that said pipeline would do just that: increase greenhouse gas emissions.
The report was made available to the public yesterday, August 29, Business Green tells us.
It shows that, once the Keystone XL pipeline is up and running, the oil production rates currently reported at the Canadian tar sands will increase by about 36%.
It goes without saying that, the more oil is extracted from these regions, the more will be burned and the more global greenhouse gas emissions will increase.
“The answer to the president's Keystone XL climate challenge is clear: the Keystone XL pipeline is a linchpin to tar sands development, and increased tar sands development would be disastrous for the climate,” the greenheads write in their report.
“The president must reject the pipeline,” they further stress.
Companies in the oil industry, on the other hand, argue that, regardless of whether or not the Keystone XL pipeline will be built in the years to come, tar sands oil extraction will continue to develop.
Therefore, President Obama might as well quit dragging things on and give the green light to this project, seeing how this particular pipeline would have a negligible impact on overall greenhouse gas emissions.
Steve Kretzmann of Oil Change International and other environmentalists disagree with these statements.
As said greenhead puts it, “"Frankly, I can't believe we have had to write yet another thoroughly researched report to dispute the oil industry's ridiculous assertion that a giant pipeline to the dirtiest oil on Earth won't significantly increase carbon emissions.”
“We're confident the President will decide this issue based on the facts, and reject this pipeline,” Steve Kretzmann adds.