When I hear oil pipelines I assume the builders are unethical, greedy, and don’t care much for the environment. Most people seem to passively oppose such projects.

However, now that I have a friend working on the project, it makes the subject more personal. I know he needs the job, and while there are possible alternatives job hunting is difficult, especially for one that will pay as well. Because of my personal ties I conducted research on the effects of such a project before opting to cancel it.

I found that not only are there plenty of economic benefits, but the marine protection, land safety, and review process are exceptional. Even with all their precautions, they have a great spill plan just in case.

Also, it occurred to me that many people opposed the pipelines but no one has a replacement for them. The replacements already available like rail are debatably worse and stopping oil from moving through B.C is highly unlikely.

In conclusion, though pipelines have been known to cause significant environmental harm, the Enbridge pipeline in particular seems to be reasonable. As of now, oil pipelines are the best we have.