Keystone or bust
Kai Ryssdal: About a year ago, a million gallons of crude oil spilled from a broken pipeline into the Kalamazoo River in Michigan. It was an especially sticky kind of crude from the tar sands up in Canada. The cleanup’s still going on today — which, as it happens, is when the House is set to vote on a bill to fast-track another major pipeline from the same source.
Marketplace’s Eve Troeh reports.
Eve Troeh: The Keystone XL pipeline project is indeed extra-large. It would carry 1.2 million barrels of crude a day from Canada to the Gulf Coast. The company TransCanada has waited three years to build it — double the normal permit time, says Marty Durbin at the American Petroleum Institute.
Marty Durbin: Everyone that had a concern about the pipeline had ample opportunity to weigh in with their concerns, so frankly, the expectation was that a decision would’ve been made last year.
He says even if the House bill get stopped in the Senate, it tells the White House this project’s too big to wait. But the huge size and scope of the pipeline is exactly why critics say, “Let’s wait longer.”
Susan Casey-Lefkowitz at the Natural Resources Defense Council says this is a new type of oil, with a new set of risks.
Susan Casey-Lefkowitz: It’s a fairly new product. We’re not used to taking this raw tar sands oil in our pipes. It’s more corrosive, it has more acids in it, it has more little sand particles.
The White House plans to have a full report on the Keystone XL pipeline by August, and give a thumbs up or down by the end of the year. The House bill demands a decision by November 1.
Michael Levi at the Council on Foreign Relations says that two-month gap isn’t a big deal for the oil companies. And diligence is vital.
Michael Levi: If they rush the environmental assessment, and don’t clear it with all the right people, they will expose the process to public challenge. And if that happens, the pipeline will also get into trouble.
He says the White House wants more input on the pipeline, but doesn’t want debate to spill out too far beyond its control.
I’m Eve Troeh for Marketplace.
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