Hello Readers,
A recent Treehugger article caught my eye with a snippet of a report from the NRDC about how the Keystone XL pipeline will raise gas prices in the United States if it is implemented (see the full pdf version of the report). The report provides an in-depth analysis economic nega-benefit that the pipeline will offer drivers in the US and Canada.
In fact, the report shows how the "Keystone XL is not a pipeline to the United States, but one through it" with many quotes from the would-be beneficiaries of the pipeline (e.g. TransCanada executives) and an explanation of how regional oil refineries are impacted by international crude oil markets.
On the very last page of the report, the NRDC goes beyond gasoline price and discusses the true negative impact of that the Keystone XL pipeline, the environmental damage. If the pipeline is built, there will be an economic incentive for oil companies to rapidly expand tar sands extraction (Note: this expansion will not decrease the price of gasoline at the pump at all!) and increase the localized watershed and forestry destruction as well as the global release of greenhouse gases (and decrease of carbon sequestration capacity).
Instead, the NRDC suggests that the US could simultaneously decrease the price of gasoline at the pump and avoid the environmental destruction through increase fuel efficiency. Or as pointed out in a recent letter by Amory Lovins (and similar TED Talk), which highlights all of the possible savings from improved energy efficiency and shifts away from fossil fuels, the US should be focused on encouraging companies to provide the solutions to climate change and environmental issues rather than condoning the perpetuation of fossil fuel use.
Drive Less and Drive Smarter,
Sean
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