Approving the Keystone XL pipeline will lead to more carbon pollution into the atmosphere - the kind of pollution which damages human health and scientists from around the world are documenting will lead to more extreme weather. Since Keystone XL pipeline is a gateway drug to further expansion of tar sands, halting the Keystone XL pipeline will make an important contribution in efforts to slow global warming.
A new scientific study - Oil sands mining and reclamation cause massive loss of peatland - published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences has found that previous estimates of the damage from tar sands have significantly underestimated the impact. So here is how the numbers stack up for tar sands oil taking into account this new estimate and including estimates if open-pit mining were further expanded as envisioned. The global warming pollution from tar sands is two-fold: (1) extra energy used in extraction; and (2) damages to the Canadian boreal forest. Â
GLOBAL WARMING POLLUTION FROM ENERGY-USED IN EXTRACTION
Construction of the Keystone XL pipeline would lead to greater demand for tar sands oil. As this demand increases, more energy intensive methods would be needed to extract the oil. Compared to conventional oil, tar sands takes more energy to extract and refine, and therefore its production is three- to four-times more greenhouse gas intensive. At the same time, the tar sands industry has plans for even greater expansion.
Keystone XL Pipeline Will Lead to Increased Pollution. If the Keystone XL pipeline is completed and operating at its capacity, the project would increase carbon pollution by 27 million tons of CO2 per year (according to the EPA).** This is the equivalent to the pollution from seven coal-fired power plants operating continuously or having 6.2 million cars on the road for 50 years. Read the full report here.
Source: Jake Schmidt's Blog, Switch Board, Natural Resources Defense Council.
