The Keystone XL Pipeline

Y'know, now that we've got Occupy Our Homes underway, I can't help but think that Occupy Our Farms could be the next big 99% operation.

Technically, given the Bold Nebraska group, it's been in action for... nearly a year, looks like. Nebraskans are pissed about this.

NPR does a special report on the number of jobs created by the pipeline. The figures usually touted in defense of the plan are actually massively over inflated and made by a single person, who was paid by the company which wants to make the pipeline.

Not to mention most of those jobs are temporary. you only need a maintenance crew once its running.

Why pay maintenance if the taxpayers will cover any cost for cleanup in case of an accident?

I'm pretty sure they're required to have maintenance crews regardless of whether or not leaks are inevitable. Let's not give in to flippant moral outrage, here. It's still a shit stupid thing to do, but the company has to do something to prevent/minimize accidents if this thing gets built.

Anyway, potential accidents are far from the main reason to oppose the pipeline. That main reason is, of course, that humanity is collectively screwed if we don't make major cuts to carbon emissions soon, so we definitely can't afford to do something that would significantly increase emissions.

Exactly. Pollution for money hurts everyone, whether it creates jobs or not!

And these "jobs" are WORTHLESS.

edited 14th Dec '11 8:04:45 PM by LostAnarchist

My main thing is the company is essentially trying to bully people off their homes they've owned for years. And many of those are farms, so they'd lose their livelihood as well as their homes. The ecological issue is kind of secondary to me in this issue, though it is important. And they and the politicians supporting this have engaged in very questionable actions in order to get it approved.

Yeah, one story really pissed me off. A Nebraska man refused to sell his land to the company, so they hired stooges to show up at his mother's funeral and offer the companies "condolences".

That kind of intimidation seems like something that the mafia would do, not an energy company.

Anyone else find it ironic that its the Americans who are fighting for the environment here, and the Canadians are the oppressive regime out to plunder Earth's resources? When did that happen!?

When dumbfucks who either a) believed Jack Layton was Stalin or b) thought Iggy would have been worth rat's ass as PM gave a majority to Stephen Harper, and two-thirds of the country didn't even get off their asses to vote.

And yet another example of Representative Terry (R-NE) being a dickhead.

That they're temp jobs isn't the problem, it's merely that, overall, they produce nothing of actual value.

They'd be better off as temporary road repair crews.

It's digging the super-hole which we must super-fill later, except it'll cause ecological disaster. You know the other problem with environmental issues is that cause and effect are so complex, most people can't actually see that a reduction in food output leads to a specific war (a group of people don't have enough food, turn to crime/looting to get food, turned into outcasts by society, leads to a rebellion).

Anyway to answer some questions:

• The next election is in 2014 or 2015, depending on how Harper's election law, which he broke himself, works (he wanted a 4-year limit, rather than the usual 5-year limit on a government and a set election date rather than an election of "whenever"). We're not voting him out before anything happens.

• Canadians are generally quite apathetic. Harper could declare martial law tomorrow to resolve some crisis (invented or otherwise) and I suspect that half of Canadians are too busy trying to earn a living wage to even notice.

I'm disappointed that nobody is making any real environmental study into the matter but Tories are the kind of people who turned national parks and re-classified them into toxic waste dumps.

http://thinkprogress.org/green/2011/12/16/391272/myth-that-keystone-xl-creates-jobs-perpetuated-by-oil-lobby-parroted-by-congresss-oil-recipients/

In which Boehner is an ass that is jeapordizing middle class tax cuts by trying to force a quick decision on the fucking pipeline. And also Trans Canada's estimates on job formation is proven wrong by independent studies. And the known supporters own Trans Canada stock. God this pisses me off.

Keystone XL is dead for now, and good riddance.

YES YES yes yes yes yes yes.

Now, let's hope it stays that way. We can transport oil just fine without the pipeline. Hell, at this point I'd be for the government interfering and deliberately keeping local oil down in the event that the Strait of Hormuz does get blocked. Keep our oil cheap, and that's what sells best. (And those companies have been making record profits in the past years anyway.)

I'm fist-pumping myself - not only is tar sand extraction unconscionable ecocide, but since when does eminent domain allow a Canadian company to take American private lands?

You'd think more Republicans would be against this pipeline, on that second point. Especially since the farmers who are getting their land stolen from them are part of the Republican base.

Pfff, the Republicans at this point are mostly big business stooges. The saner ones who realize this is harmful to people are marginalized within their own party. Also, Republicans have never really been big on ecological consciousness.

But yeah, I shouldn't let myself derail this thread.

Anyway, this is likely to come up again, as part of the whole "he's denying jobs!" But it's a big issue for Nebraskans especially, and from what I know quite a lot of them don't want it. Farmers there, should Obama continue to be successful and say no, will most likely be voting for him.

Righteous!

Mm. Cool, I guess.

The irony in the face of the Iran situation shouldn't be lost on us, but ultimately this is a good thing...

(sniff) I loved to hate you, Keystone.

edited 18th Jan '12 2:15:12 PM by johnnyfog

Really? Wow.

Well I guess Harper will have to just bulldoze some First Nation reserves to build the pipeline to the West Coast to sell oil to China.

As much as I didn't like the pipeline idea, I'm more upset now that Obama is going to be destroyed politically over this.

He wanted to wait and do research on the subject (Which is smart) but he was forced to either rush and approve it or kill it in general.

Now that he said no they'll use it as a big "Obama hates jobs" ammo.

I think he's clever enough to spin this in his favor. Especially when it was Congress's brinkmanship in play again. Also, consider for a minute the crazies that they want to pit against him.