Pipeline 2

(cont'd from yesterday's post)

Is the Keystone pipeline safe? If that means "risk-free," no, it is not. Next question: what different method of moving petroleum is safe? Again, if that means "risk-free," the answer is none.  No method is risk-free. 

Petroleum could be transported by tanker trucks. To move the volume that one pipeline (Dakota Access Pipeline) moves every day would require three thousand of those tanker trucks on our roads. Does that sound risk-free? Or  . . that volume could be moved by rail cars. It would require 815 rail cars to move the same amount. Not risk-free.

Another consideration might be carbon emissions. No environmentalist would want increased carbon emissions from 3,000 additional tanker trucks on the roads.

Petroleum products fuel our modern way of life. Beyond use as fuel, they are even found in the carbon fiber of wind turbine blades, not to mention electronics and smartphones. So we won't be eliminating our need for petroleum any time soon.

How to move it is a complex policy decision because there are important issues in conflict. As with every decision, all options must be considered. As the environmentalist said, the priority is to protect both people and planet.

from Energy Transfer