The President delayed a decision on the Keystone XL Pipeline primarily because of legal challenges in Nebraska to eminent domain and the state constitution.
The Nebraska Supreme Court will hear the case this fall and reach a decision by early 2015. Why haven't Republicans made an issue of protecting private property rights in the several states the pipeline will traverse? When did the private, for-profit interests of a foreign company trump the private property rights of American farmers, ranchers and Native Americans in the Great Plains states?
I wonder if it has anything to do with the significant holdings Koch Industries has in the Alberta Canadian tar sands. Koch Industries has the most to gain from the pipeline. With the cooperation of several Republican governors, Trans-Canada has seized or threatened to seize private property through eminent domain. Eminent domain has normally been used to promote the public interest, and not to line the pockets of for-profit, foreign corporations.
The Keystone XL tar sands oil will have little or no benefit for the American public. The tar sands oil will be transported to Gulf refineries and transported to foreign countries that will pay a higher price. Americans will see no relief in domestic gas prices. In addition, the State Department concluded that only 35 permanent jobs and 15 contractors will remain after the pipeline is completed in a few years.
Finally, the Keystone XL Pipeline poses a significant threat to the Ogallala aquifer, one of the world's largest, which runs through the Great Plains states. This is fossil water that can't be cleaned up or replaced if a major oil leak occurs. The aquifer covers approximately 174,000 square miles. About 27 percent of the irrigated land in the United States overlies the aquifer and yields about 30 percent of the groundwater used for agricultural irrigation. The aquifer also supplies drinking water to about 2.3 million people living in the region.
Leaks in the pipeline would not only destroy clean drinking water for millions of people affecting their health, it would also have a devastating effect on agriculture in the region, costing tens of billions of dollars. The price of food would likely skyrocket for all of us.
It's time for American politicians and businessmen to stop selling out American interests to Trans-Canada and other foreign corporations and start defending American sovereignty.
David J Iacono
Westminster
