Bruce Lee said, “Knowledge will give you power, but character respect.” PipeLies is about money. A lie is a statement made knowing it is false, with the intention to deceive. Trump is involved; his tax reports will show how he made his fortune. Let’s start at the beginning.
To export crude from the Alberta, Canada, TransCanada wanted to build a high-volume transmission pipeline to the Gulf of Mexico. The price of oil in 2007 made shipping to Europe attractive for Canada. Tar sands are the worst source of oil. The U.S. is in the way. President Obama killed the line. Other pipelines to the Gulf filled the gap.
Environmental Crisis
The environmental crisis has a long-term impact degrading the ecology of the planet, and a negative impact on people’s health. Trump is pushing America in the wrong direction; Trump will take our freedom, health, and future. Other countries are alarmed. “Trump Starts His Assault on Planet Earth” was the headline on a Jan. 24 Canadian report on Trump’s pipelines.
Campaign promises are easy to make
Some promises are real, most are just part of the show. The order to build the pipeline is to fulfill a promise made without understanding why. The Arkansas Congressional Delegation enthusiastically applauded the plan and tried to explain the decision.
Sen. Boozman said, “XL is to prioritize job creation, energy infrastructure, and economic opportunity.” Sen. Cotton said, “building the XL will lower energy costs and create jobs across the country and in Arkansas at places like Welspun tubular. Producing more American-made energy also makes us safer by decreasing our reliance on the turbulent Middle East.” Repeating old lies does not make them true.
Sadly, our senators don’t understand the first thing about pipes or transmission pipelines. To keep their jobs, they applaud what Trump says. Welspun sells imported steel, 75 percent of the cost of the pipes. Is there a plan for a second Diamond pipeline from Cushing to the Gulf like the Seaway Twins?
If you find yourself in a hole, stop digging
By burning fossil fuels without restraint, two generations have changed the weather from temperate to severe. At first, it was hard to tell the climate was changing, few people had heard about El Niño and La Niña. Today it is impossible to ignore the evidence. People on the West coast have seen smog, wildfires, droughts and floods, first hand. Arkansans have a short memory and have forgotten the cold winters and mild summers we used to have.
The logical responses to climate change are to transition away from burning fossil fuels, improve fuel efficiency, lower emissions, and provide access to healthcare to everyone.
Last Friday, the order was given to build the zombie pipeline, “It’s gonna be an incredible pipeline, the greatest technology known to man or woman. And frankly, we’re very proud of it,” Trump said.
Trump was talking about a failed 10-year old project to export the worst quality crude oil from the Alberta Canada’s tar sands from Port Arthur, La., to Europe. When Trump says tar sands and pipelines are the greatest technology, he sounds like a traveling carnival barker for “Nellie the Dog Child.” Trump has turned the White House into a freak show. Credibility, trust, and honesty are our most valuable assets, the reason dollars are used as the standard unit of currency in international markets for commodities.
Who profits from tar sand pipelines?
The Keystone pipeline is a high-risk high-profit financial scheme. Master Limited Partnership investors get tax-free distributions, a unique IRS advantage given by Congress to oil pipeline “midstream” operators. MLPs provide the benefits of a limited partnership and the liquidity of publicly traded securities.
Steel companies and pipe manufacturing mills get to sell millions of pipes, at around $150 million per 1,000 miles of low-quality welded Welspun Tubular pipes. Miles of Keystone pipes were manufactured several years ago, currently rusting in Arkansas and North Dakota.
Big or small, lies are lies. Let’s deal with the facts with hope and courage. God willing, we will prevail.
Dr. Luis Contreras
Great news:
The National Resources Defense Council (NRDC) filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration in Federal Court to stop the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline.
Please consider helping the fight. http://www.NRDC.org
How is Keystone XL going to make America Great? U.S. steel is not going to be used. Welspun Tubular uses imported steel (low-cost commodity) to make low-quality welded pipes.
Tar sands are the most destructive way to get nasty crude … most exploration projects have been abandoned … fracking shale oil has taken over the Alberta tar sands.
Alberta is in west Canada. Maritime routes to Europe from the Gulf Coast make it clear why TransCanada wanted the Keystone XL pipeline, 10 years ago when the price of crude was high.
Keystone XL will NOT be built. Other pipelines are taking Canadian tar sand crude from Cushing, OK to the Gulf. Someone needs to tell Trump how pipelines work!