Lisa Benson for April 22, 2014

Y’all should look a little into how much waste is created when the shale oil is refined. Great big piles of char that if used for fuel would turn the US air into what you see in China, smog so thick you cannot see the buildings across the street. And they never planned to sell the good part of the product in the US.

Tell me again why the US needs to build a pipeline to ship Canadian petroleum products to China?

@Nebulous – We need to build the pipeline so we can use our water resources to let the Canadian oil magnates export their pollution to us, while the refined product is sold overseas raising our prices for the same product. Its’ a win for the rich in several countries and we get screwed as usual.

@Random Nick et al – I think you are saying that only the rich benefit from shipping Canadian oil here to be refined. Let me poke a few holes in that.

1) The pipeline is built by hardworking blue collar men and women that make a decent wage doing difficult work. They then take those wages back to their communities and spend it locally improving the lives of their neighborhood businesses.

2) The pipeline is made OF Steel, Weld wire, bolts, pumps, etc. Much of which is manufactured in America by the same types of hardworking people.

3) Refineries in the US employ thousands of people: pipefitters, engineers, cleaning crews, managers, accountants, etc. That oil doesn’t crack itself.

There are many jobs and livelihoods on the line because Obama and his cronies have dragged their feet.

Yes, the owners of the pipeline will make money. But so will many others.

With the Economy still in the doldrums I would think you would be more supportive of good work out there.

Obama talks a good game about wanting good jobs for America but when it comes to making decisions he is in the back pocket of big green.

There really is a question of the benefit to the US. It is not at all clear that there is a long run benefit other than the short term jobs to build it. Perhaps the pipeline oil will reduce even further the available refining capacity on the Gulf Coast and drive the price of gas up some more.

Gas prices are high because this time of year the oil companies run up the price at the start of the summer driving season. It is even higher because of the crazy, fractured summer additive laws which are different from state to state. If prices lag, there will be a refinery break down some where or a hurricane to blame it on.

Unfortunately the Administration is dedicated to reducing the use of fossil fuels so we see real cooperation between GOP oil interests and the Dem renewable energy effort. Washington really can compromise!

Big Rail & Warren Buffett are very grateful for the stalled Keystone pipeline, and have extended gratuities to the Obama administration. Not so much the people of Lac-Mégantic (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lac-Mégantic,_Quebec).

The pipeline may create thousands of jobs for the duration of building it; but, once its built the number of jobs to maintain it will drop considerably, perhaps to the less than 100. And then the benefit to US will be virtually nil.

Deferring a decision on the XL is pure and simple a political decision. The Obama administration should not play politics with something so vital as energy and economic development.Consider:- The oil from the oil sands will get to market one way or another and it is no worse a pollutant than numerous other heavy oil deposits around the world.- Oil from the third largest deposit in the world should stay in North America, not be transported to China and India via Northern Gateway which it will be if the XL is not built.- The U.S. will continue to be a large net importer of oil. If heavy oil is not imported from Canada, heavy oil will be imported from Mexico, Venezuela, and Saudi Arabia, but at higher transportation costs and greater overall pollution. (Venezuela has the largest deposits of heavy oil on the planet.)- If the pipeline is not built, oil from Canada and the Williston Basin of ND will be transported to the Gulf refineries by rail and truck but at higher cost, higher risk, and greater pollution.- Refineries on the Gulf Coast have been refitted to handle the larger volume of heavy oil from Canada as well as off-shore sources. These refineries are not set up to refine increased supplies of lighter grade shale oil, and thus will sit with unused capacity.- The development of Alberta’s oil sands adds about one-tenth of 1% to global emissions. By comparison, coal burning by the U.S. and China are responsible for about 40% of emissions. - If the environmentalists are serious about greenhouse gas emissions, they should shut off their furnaces and air conditioners and go after coal burning electrical generation in the U.S. where about 40-50% of U.S. electricity is generated by coal fired plants. Then go after the huge exporters of coal to India and China where even more coal burning pollution is generated. .Numerous scientific and environmental impact studies have determined that the project needs to go forward. But, it is unfortunate that wealthy individuals with their own personal agenda, like billionaire former hedge fund manager Tom Steyer, can buy political influence for $100 million to the detriment of the public good.

“…..“What is the use of a house if you haven’t got a tolerable planet to put it on?” Henry David Thoreau…..”.“What is the use of house if you are unable to heat it, cool it, and stock it with food?” – Gypsy8

“……For the faux media impaired you do know we here in America have been sitting on a glut of oil since 2007……”.The U.S. does not have a surplus of oil and are heavily dependant upon imports (approx. 6-7 million barrels per day). There have been temporary bottlenecks because of imbalances in transportation and storage facilities.

Finally after over 5 years in office, Barry can actually create his first “shovel-ready jobs” and he plays politics.

Hopefully it’s forever. We will never see any of that oil or gas, China will.

if keystone is not built one of 2 alternative happen // 1] pipeline to kitmat is built and refining jobs go to china 2] oil hauled by train [ causing more spillage and pollution but $$$ for w buffet]

I’m all in favor of heating and cooling with renewable energy, but we’re not there yet. We will continue to need carbon based sources of energy to heat, cool, and feed a 7 billion world population for the foreseeable future. The more immediate challenge is to minimize the effect on the environment of using carbon based energy. To close the door on petroleum products before alternatives are developed would be fool hardy.

I’m all in favor of heating and cooling with renewable energy, but we’re not there yet. We will continue to need carbon based sources of energy to heat, cool, and feed a 7 billion world population for the foreseeable future. The more immediate challenge is to minimize the effect on the environment of using carbon based energy. To close the door on petroleum products before alternatives are developed would be fool hardy.

On word choice: “Anthropogenic Climate Change” has been the proper language used since 1953 in the Mediterranean area, as models changed, “global warming” became the norm. In the past year or so, industry has gone from calling the import from Canada, rightfully, TAR SANDS, and now have switched to “oil sands”, which sounds “cleaner” to folks, and is a part of their fraud. The product is going overseas folks, just like most of that “clean” natural gas from Wyoming will soon be saying “adios America”, ‘cause China will pay more, and drive prices up here as well. The companies win-win situation also includes all alternative energy sources that they’re gaining control of.

^Rancho La Brea. I can show you other areas as well where it is “tar”. Our ever more destructive development of sources such as tar sands, or oil shale, will cause unbelievable environmental damage, with toxic byproducts as waste being a secondary, impacting the places where these transported raw materials end up as product.

Google:Huffington Post – Oil Sands Opposition Comes From Unexpected Places

The funniest part about Lisa’s comics is how relentlessly stupid they are.