This is a response/commentary on Philip Monagan’s blog post titled “Moving Forward? The Keystone Debate Approaches its Conclusion”.
The issue of the Keystone pipeline ranges through many fields of discussion. From environmental, social, and economical issues, the Keystone pipeline pushes the limits of many. How does the creation of a new pipeline affect the triple bottom line of the company? Of the government? Of the people? Of the Environment?
The basics of the situation is that there will be huge monetary rewards with the potential of massive destruction to the environment. There are typically two political forces at work here as well; liberals tend to favour the environment while conservatives tend to favour the economy. This is a real toss up and situations can be decided just because one or the other political parties happens to be in power.
The oil pipeline debate is ongoing even in Canada. Generally regarded as a more liberal country there is a big push for pipelines. Canadians love their environment and do not like the idea of the potential spills, however, the government may be persuaded entirely by the economic benefits.
This debate is even happening in my hometown of Burnaby British Columbia! I am personally against it, I think that companies should have more safety plans in place and that the potential cost to the environment is still not outweighed by the economic benefits a pipeline may bring.
Philip’s Blog Post: http://blogs.ubc.ca/philipmonagan/2014/11/09/90/