Keystone XL pipeline remains divisive as Alberta hopes for a decision

The controversial Keystone XL pipeline from Canada to the United States continues to divide environmentalists and politicians in the United States, the latter group citing the need for job creation and American independence from "hostile," (i.e. Middle Eastern), oil suppliers.

"Canada is our ally and neighbour, so shifting (oil) imports from hostile regimes to a friendly one is a no-brainer," wrote Michigan Republican Rep. Fred Upton, who will chair the House energy and environment committee in the new Congress, to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Clinton has said she is "inclined" to approve the pipeline but has not done so yet, pending State Department clearance.

Last July, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency described the State Department's draft environmental study of the pipeline as "inadequate." The EPA has asked State to conduct a supplemental eco-study providing more detail on Keystone's emergency response plans, the chemical composition of the oilsands bitumen and potential damage to groundwater from pipeline leaks or spills.

Environmentalists are pressuring Clinton to withhold approval for the pipeline on grounds that it is too risky and could pollute a precious aquifer that supports agriculture and drinking water needs in eight states. A serious oil leak from another Canadian-owned oil pipeline into the Kalamazoo River in Michigan last summer was a warning of worse disasters to come, opponents of Keystone claim.

On the other side, the American Petroleum Institute is conducting a campaign advocating the project on the ground that Canada's oilsands are "crucial" to US prosperity. They claim that the project could add $34 billion to the US GDP by 2015, though that amount represents a tiny fraction of America's multi-trillion-dollar GDP. "There has been ample and adequate study of the Keystone pipeline," API president Jack Gerard told reporters at the launch in Washington of a report on the state of American energy.

This week, members of the House of Representatives form Illinois and eighteen other states have urged Clinton to approve the pipeline, claiming it will create 13,000 high-wage construction jobs in the US. "In addition," the Representatives wrote in a letter to Clinton, "this pipeline will create thousands of auxiliary jobs by providing American energy security and reducing our dependence on other less stable regions of the world.”

Keystone XL is a planned 3,134-kilometre, 36-inch crude oil pipeline stretching from Hardisty, Alberta and moving southeast through Saskatchewan, Montana, South Dakota and Nebraska. It will link up with a portion of the Keystone Pipeline that has been built through Kansas to Cushing, Oklahoma and facilitate take away capacity from US hubs located on the pipeline. The pipeline will then continue on through Oklahoma to a delivery point near existing terminals in Nederland, Texas to serve the Port Arthur, Texas marketplace.