Keystone Pipeline-Louisiana’s economic savior?

The approval of the Keystone pipeline is back in the news as petroleum interests and members of the Louisiana congressional delegation are calling on the President to get this project moving forward. So is building the pipeline the huge job creator and the economic bonanza for Louisiana that key supporters say it is?
For those readers who have been out of the loop as to what Keystone is all about, here’s a short summery. Canada is proposing the building of a pipeline some 875 miles from Western Canada down to Nebraska, where it would then tie into other U.S. pipelines. More than 830,000 barrels of oil a day would then flow down to the Gulf Coast for refining and exportation. But the U.S. must give approval, since the pipeline crosses international borders.
Sounds pretty good so far. Those opposing the project fear major environmental damage, as the pipeline is being built and maintained. Not so, I say. Remember, Louisiana is crisscrossed by over 10,000 miles of pipeline with only minor environmental problems. I’m not talking about damages that have destroyed large portions of marshlands by drilling for oil and gas. These are the buried pipelines that take refined petroleum up to the east coast.
Right now, numerous petroleum products are being transported to the Midwest and West Coast by rail and truck. There is probably more ecological risk with land transportation than with pipelines. Environmentally, I just don’t see that great a risk. So if there’s little downside, and supporters of the project argue that Keystone is critical to Louisiana’s economic future, what’s the upside?
Louisiana oil executives and some members of congress including Senator Bill Cassidy are touting that thousands of jobs will flow into Louisiana if Keystone is built. They go farther by asserting that gasoline prices will drop at the pump with more oil flowing that can be refined on the Gulf Coast. So is there any validity to these claims from the these oil magnates as well as our members of congress? Absolutely not. None! Zero! It’s all political hype.
Bloomberg BusinessWeek has reported that an eleven-volume report prepared by the State Department concludes the Keystone Pipeline would create (are you ready) 35 permanent jobs. Thirty-Five jobs and not a single one in Louisiana. So the claims of thousands of jobs flooding into the Bayou State are nothing more than a pipe dream.
How about their claims that all this new Canadian oil will actually lower the price of a gallon of gas? Again, not true. What few realize is that Canadian oil, called tar sands crude, is already being imported into the United States, primarily by rail in tank cars, at a rate of more than 3 million barrels a day, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. This Canadian oil is being processed in Midwestern refineries, the largest being the Flint Hills refinery in Pine Bend, Minnesota, owned by the Koch Brothers. Numerous other refineries are spread from Minnesota across the west to Montana.
Most of this Midwestern oil is presently sold to U.S. consumers. So the more oil we keep here in the U.S., the lower the price at the pump. Where will the Keystone oil go? To Texas, to be refined and shipped overseas. That means less oil in the U.S., and a higher price to U.S. consumers.
The bottom line is this. The Keystone pipeline, if approved, will have no bearing on jobs or economic development in Louisiana. It might even cause the price Louisiana consumers pay at the pump to go up. Telling those of us living down here in the Bayou State any differently is just more political smoke and mirrors. If congress wants to approve the project to land a few more jobs in Texas, so be it. But in Louisiana, how about more straight talk and less election distortions and gibberish?

Peace and Justice
Jim Brown

Jim Brown’s syndicated column appears each week in numerous newspapers throughout the nation and on websites worldwide. You can read all his past columns and see continuing updates at http://www.jimbrownusa.com. You can also look over a list of books he has published at www.thelisburnpress.com.