The leak can be fixed. Modern pipelines have been used for over a century.
The leak can be fixed AFTER HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF GALLONS have poured into our environment.
In the last decade, pipeline leaks
we know about have spilled
more than 2,000,000 gallons of oil into our ecosystem - rivers, lakes, aquifers, etc.
Nor have the clean up efforts been inspiring.
We (US and Canada) average more than one leak per day, though I grant many of them are a "mere" 5,000 gallons or so.
Your point that it is "one of the safest ways of transporting materials as compared to road or rail" is both true and asinine. Across land, it is one of THREE ways, the others being truck and rail - so, sure, it is "one of the safest," but that sure isn't saying much.
And your quote that "hence in war, pipelines are often the target of military attacks" is even more asinine than the first. They are targets not because of how safe they are (since clearly if bombing works, they are not that safe), but because they are a
stationary target, Luee!
Really? War time target is a reason to support pipelines?!
The problem is not as simple as eliminating pipelines. Why? Because (as of 2018, according to Forbes):
In the U.S., 100% of our natural gas is shipped by pipeline. 70% of crude oil and petroleum products are shipped by pipeline. 23% of oil shipments are on tankers and barges over water. Trucking only accounts for 4% of shipments, and rail for a mere 3%. In Canada, it’s even more lopsided. Almost all (97%) of natural gas and petroleum products are transported by pipelines (Canadian Energy Pipeline Association).
The question of safety, though, depends on what you are measuring, again from Forbes in 2018:
So which mode is safer? For oil, the short answer is: truck worse than train worse than pipeline worse than boat (Oilprice.com). But that’s only for human death and property destruction. For the amount of oil spilled per billion-ton-miles, it’s truck worse than pipeline worse than rail worse than boat (Congressional Research Service). Even more different is for environmental impact (dominated by impact to aquatic habitat), where it’s boat worse than pipeline worse than truck worse than rail.
For the environment, only boats are worse than pipelines.
For the amount spilled, only trucks are worse than pipelines.
So, shut the fuck up about "one of the safest," would you please?!
Given how dominant the pipeline is, but how leaky and bad for the environment, we need to do a better job with them and we are just plain not managing it.
We need to maintain them better. We need to route them through less vulnerable places even if it costs more. We need to build them better. And we need to do a better job of cleaning them up.
Finally, companies like Keystone need to be removed from the pipeline business because they have demonstrated a callous disregard for human lives, environment, cleaning up their own messes, and finally the law.
What don't you understand?
Keystone XL should be stopped. Find a different company, a different path, and a better way to build pipelines, until we don't need them. (And include a plan for shutting down and cleaning up the pipelines when either oil runs out or the need for it is over. Don't wait until then for the removal to get figured out. Set aside money to pay for spills and for undoing the pipelines.)
https://www.forbes.com/sites/jamesconca/2018/10/11/which-is-safer-for-transporting-crude-oil-rail-truck-pipeline-or-boat/?sh=33be8bfa7b23
Poll
