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A lousy idea
Feb. 12th, 2015 10:06 amSo Congress has passed the Keystone XL pipeline extension; I don't know if there will be enough votes to override Obama's veto when the waiting period is up, but I would hope not.
Now I'm going to think like a Republican lawmaker for a minute (though there are also idiot Democrats who have approved this, they are certainly not the majority). I realize this issue has all the hallmarks of things they love - the opportunity for only one or a handful of people to make a profit off of it; benefit to an industry that has financially supported and will likely continue to support their candidacies in the future; blatant ignoring the environment and/or science as is convenient for them (i.e., stem cells and fewer pesticides are evil concepts, but it's OK for doctors to cure their loved ones of illnesses). But there are those rare times when doing something would so *egregiously* not benefit the vast majority that some Republicans will vote against it and for the populace, in order to preserve future volume of votes. (This was a compliment, if you couldn't tell, though it's a very slight one.)
And there's nothing in the pipeline extension that will benefit the wider populace in the United States. Jobs to build the pipeline will be temporary; the few that are needed for maintenance could easily be given to Canadian workers transplanted here on work visas (or whatever is needed to work here from Canada). Even if those go to Americans, it's not enough to make up for the almost certain eventual environmental damage that will result from an inevitable leak/spill at some time. The contents of the pipeline are going to the Gulf, possibly passing through some coastal refineries before being shipped overseas - the only ones benefiting financial from this AT ALL would be the very, very, very, very few refinery owners and workers. That's it. We Americans do NOT get that oil.
If Canada wants to ship oil to China, then let them build a pipeline across their own country to the Pacific. I wonder if any of XL's supporters in this country (who don't have a profit to be made off the pipeline going through here) have bothered to ask themselves why the pipeline owners wouldn't just do this in the first place. Because we're stupid enough to accept environmental damage and they're not? HMM. I WONDER.
In short, this is a bad idea. And if reading this offends you because you're a Republican and I've made assumptions you don't feel are true about you, well, maybe you ought to think harder about who you're electing to represent your party in national offices, who are voting to OK this. Because I'm not *assuming* anything about those casting the votes; I'm going by their own historical record.
Now I'm going to think like a Republican lawmaker for a minute (though there are also idiot Democrats who have approved this, they are certainly not the majority). I realize this issue has all the hallmarks of things they love - the opportunity for only one or a handful of people to make a profit off of it; benefit to an industry that has financially supported and will likely continue to support their candidacies in the future; blatant ignoring the environment and/or science as is convenient for them (i.e., stem cells and fewer pesticides are evil concepts, but it's OK for doctors to cure their loved ones of illnesses). But there are those rare times when doing something would so *egregiously* not benefit the vast majority that some Republicans will vote against it and for the populace, in order to preserve future volume of votes. (This was a compliment, if you couldn't tell, though it's a very slight one.)
And there's nothing in the pipeline extension that will benefit the wider populace in the United States. Jobs to build the pipeline will be temporary; the few that are needed for maintenance could easily be given to Canadian workers transplanted here on work visas (or whatever is needed to work here from Canada). Even if those go to Americans, it's not enough to make up for the almost certain eventual environmental damage that will result from an inevitable leak/spill at some time. The contents of the pipeline are going to the Gulf, possibly passing through some coastal refineries before being shipped overseas - the only ones benefiting financial from this AT ALL would be the very, very, very, very few refinery owners and workers. That's it. We Americans do NOT get that oil.
If Canada wants to ship oil to China, then let them build a pipeline across their own country to the Pacific. I wonder if any of XL's supporters in this country (who don't have a profit to be made off the pipeline going through here) have bothered to ask themselves why the pipeline owners wouldn't just do this in the first place. Because we're stupid enough to accept environmental damage and they're not? HMM. I WONDER.
In short, this is a bad idea. And if reading this offends you because you're a Republican and I've made assumptions you don't feel are true about you, well, maybe you ought to think harder about who you're electing to represent your party in national offices, who are voting to OK this. Because I'm not *assuming* anything about those casting the votes; I'm going by their own historical record.
