Environment: Pipelines under scrutiny

Posted on April 3, 2013 by Bob Berwyn
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An oil pipeline in Alaska. Photo courtesy USGS.

Thirst for oil leads to inevitable disasters

By Bob Berwyn

FRISCO — With more than 2.6 million miles of pipeline criss-crossing the country, it seems almost inevitable that there will be breaks and spills. The only question is how serious the spill will be.

Right now, residents of Mayflower, Ark, will probably tell you that last year’s passage of the Pipeline Safety Act didn’t prevent their town from becoming the latest ground zero in a seemingly never-ending series of oil spill disasters.

The Pipeline Safety Act doubled the maximum civil penalties for pipeline safety violations from $100,000 to $200,000 and authorized an increase for the federal pipeline inspector workforce. (more…)

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Big money influences Keystone pipeline Senate vote

Posted on March 25, 2013 by Bob Berwyn
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The proposed Keystone XL pipeline would carry tar sands oil from Canada across the heartland of the U.S.

Colorado’s senators split, with Bennet voting yes, while Udall casts a no vote

By Summit Voice

FRISCO — It’s probably not surprising that the U.S. Senate passed an amendment (62-37) in support of the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline. There’s money — Big Money — at stake, and new research from Oil Change International details who got what.

The 10 senators who cosponsored the Hoeven Amendment have on average received $807, 517 from the fossil fuel industry. That works out to 254 percent more  than the average senator not sponsoring the amendment, and a total haul of more than $8 million dollars, based on data from DirtyEnergyMoney.org. (more…)

Filed under: Colorado, energy, Environment | Tagged: , , , | 1 Comment »

Latest Keystone pipeline study draws howls of outrage

Posted on March 4, 2013 by Bob Berwyn
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A proposed tar sands oil pipeline has become the focal point of a philosophical battle over energy and the environment.

Fossil fuel project has become a flashpoint for larger environmental and policy battles

By Bob Berwyn

FRISCO — It seems to border on sheer lunacy in this day and age to even consider an 850-mile pipeline to transport gooey tar sands oil across half a continent just because it can be done profitably. The environmental realities of increasing greenhouse gases alone would suggest that investing in this type of fossil fuel infrastructure would be a huge step in the wrong direction.

Yet for the second time, the U.S. State Department last week concluded that the pipeline would not have a substantial impact on the rate of development in the oil sands, or on the amount of heavy crude oil refined in the Gulf Coast area. (more…)

Filed under: energy, Environment | Tagged: , , , , | 1 Comment »

Environment: Keystone XL pipeline on the table again

Posted on June 16, 2012 by Bob Berwyn

The Keystone XL Pipeline proposal is back.

TransCanada seeking permit for revised pipeline route; Feds to launch supplemental environmental study

By Summit Voice

SUMMIT COUNTY — Federal and state agencies will once again start a review of the controversial Keystone XL pipeline proposal, designed to transport crude oil from the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin and the Williston Basin to existing pipeline facilities near Steele City, Nebraska for onward transport to markets in the Texas Gulf Coast area.

The latest version of the plan shows the pipeline following a revised route from the Canadian border in Phillips County, Montana to Steele City, Nebraska.

The new route avoids the Sand Hills region of Nebraska. Additionally, TransCanada has split the pipeline plan into two separate pieces and says it will build the second segment, from Cushing, Oklahoma to the Gulf Coast of Texas, as an independent project. (more…)

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House committee passes Keystone XL pipeline bill

Posted on February 8, 2012 by Bob Berwyn

The Keystone XL pipeline would transport tar sands oil from Canada to refineries in the U.S.

Measure could force approval of controversial energy project

By Summit Voice

SUMMIT COUNTY — House Republicans ratcheted up their showdown with President Obama over the Keystone XL pipeline this week, passing a measure that would force the issuance of a permit within 30 days.

Obama previously rejected the pipeline after conservation advocates rallied the public, showing widespread grassroots opposition to the project. The legislation is expected to be incorporated into larger energy and transportation legislation and could see a vote on the House floor next week. An amendment that would have required the oil to remain in the United States, proposed by Rep. Ed Markey (D-Mass.), failed. (more…)

Filed under: Environment, Summit County news | Tagged: , , | 7 Comments »

Opinion: U.S. Senators for sale?

Posted on January 31, 2012 by Bob Berwyn

Map of the proposed Keystone XL pipeline.

Big Oil calls in chips; U.S. Senators seek to override Obama’s Keystone XL pipeline rejection with legislation

By Bob Berwyn

SUMMIT COUNTY — In what may go down as one of most blatantly cynical and hypocritical political moves in recent memory, a group of 44 U.S. senators introduced legislation to revive the Keystone XL pipeline.

Despite President Obama’s huge strides in developing sources of sustainable, renewable homegrown energy through solar and wind, Senator Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) characterized Obama’s decision to reject the pipeline as “a failure in leadership from one of the most anti-American-energy Administrations in our nation’s history.”

This rhetoric flies in the face of any logic, given that the pipeline comes from Canada, which, of course, means that the oil is being imported, not to mention Obama’s progress on renewable energy, as well as his push to drill for oil in the Arctic and to sell new oil leases in the Gulf of Mexico. (more…)

Filed under: energy, Environment, federal government, oil drilling, Summit County news | Tagged: , , , , , | 3 Comments »

Opinion: The ‘zombie’ pipeline is back

Posted on December 17, 2011 by Bob Berwyn

Tar sands oil would flow along this route to feed our endless thirst for oil.

GOP pushes for backdoor approval of Keystone XL pipeline

By Bob Berwyn

SUMMIT COUNTY — Like a zombie that just won’t die, the Keystone XL pipeline reared its ugly head once again this weekend, as the U.S. Senate passed a payroll tax cut provision that includes a provision to bypass environmental review of the project.

In case you’ve been hiding under your bed the last few months, the Keystone XL pipeline would would carry dirty tar sands oil 1,600 miles from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico.

It’s one of the dirtiest forms of fossil fuels imagineable, and the Republicans, deep in the pockets of the oil industry, want it bad. Completely ignoring the fact that a majority of Americans have clearly expressed their feelings that they don’t want tar sands oil crossing the country in a pipeline, the GOP continues to push for the project to force a showdown with the Obama administration. (more…)

Filed under: energy, Environment, oil drilling, Summit County news | Tagged: , , , , | 5 Comments »

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