Toe the Line: Penn Democrats | Keystone XL

By Sam Iacobellis 02/17/15 10:32pm

After six years of offering no substantial policy alternative to President Obama and his administration, the new Republican Congress has seemingly found its silver bullet: the passage of the Keystone XL pipeline by both houses.

The pipeline will travel from the oil fields of Alberta, Canada to Nebraska, traversing about 1,100 miles with most of it being built in the United States. So why shouldn’t Keystone XL be built? The answers are many.

The vast majority of pipeline jobs will last less than six months. Some State Department estimates show that fewer than 50 permanent jobs will be created due to Keystone XL, which is minuscule compared to the 213,000 private sector jobs created just last month. The billions of dollars spent on building this pipeline will do next to nothing to catalyze American economic growth.

The construction of this pipeline would transport millions of gallons of tar sands oil throughout the nation, which in turn would have a potentially catastrophic implication if a spill were to happen. Tar sands oil, one of the hardest types of oil to refine, would devastate the air and water supply of countless communities if such an incident occurred. Building the pipeline on a potentially seismic area would not help the overall safety of the pipeline either. The Environmental Protection Agency has also released reports stating that the construction of this pipeline will increase carbon emissions, the crucial point which will lead to President Obama’s eventual veto of Keystone XL.

The construction of Keystone XL will also violate the sovereignty of many Native American tribes who live in the pipeline’s projected path. Tribal leaders are concerned about the potential environmental and public health threats that would occur during construction and in the case of a potential accident.

After taking control of Congress, Republicans are choosing to spend the political capital they earned in November to create a handful of jobs and put countless communities and the environment at risk. Even Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), a supporter of the pipeline, said, “we need to think bigger than Keystone. We need an energy policy that goes beyond Keystone.” I agree with Sen. Cruz. We need to think beyond a single pipeline as a cure to our nation’s economic and energy problems by investing in clean, renewable sources such as wind, solar and hydrogen fuel cell technologies. It’s time for Congress to look towards the future. It’s time to govern.

Sam Iacobellis

C‘17

Penn Democrats Representative

Toe the Line examines issues from two different sides. Click here to see the College Republicans stance.

Please note All comments are eligible for publication in The Daily Pennsylvanian.