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The Keystone Xl Pipeline Is A Proposed Expansion Of The Current Keystone Pipeline

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The Keystone XL pipeline is a proposed expansion of the current Keystone pipeline that would cover over 1,700 miles from Alberta, Canada to the Gulf Coast of Texas. The purpose of the pipeline is for the transport of extracted tar sands from Canada to the Gulf Coast refineries and ports for export. The proposed pipeline would cross 1,073 rivers, lakes, streams, and the Ogallala aquifer. The Ogallala aquifer is one of the largest in the world. It provides two million people with drinking water and more than a quarter of America’s agriculture with water for irrigation. There would be a large ecological impact, affecting communities and destroying habitats. Building Keystone XL would add 27.4 million metric tons of carbon pollution to the atmosphere per year, adding to the global climate change dilemma. Aside from the damage as a result of constructing the pipeline, oil spills cause contamination and are costly to cleanup. The company proposing the expansion, TransCanada, has stated that thousands of jobs would be created. In fact the project would only create thirty five permanent jobs with the remainder consisting of temporary or contract work (“Stop Keystone,” n.d.). The production of tar sands oil produces emissions that are three to four times higher than conventional oil. This is in part due to the large amount of energy required in the extraction and refining of the oil. Large quantities of heat, water, and chemicals are used to separate bitumen from sand, silt, and

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