Texas farmers face off against Keystone pipeline

[umbertino]

by: Blake Deppe

October 24 2012

Construction continues on TransCanada's Keystone XL oil pipeline. The 1,179-mile-long pipeline will stretch from Canada to southern Texas, delivering oil to refineries there. But there is an outcry among Texans who do not want pipelines snaking along their property - and who fear the environmental risks of potential spills.

Texas landowners have reportedly filed and appealed many lawsuits, which could slow the project's progress, adding to a laundry list of prior delays to the pipeline construction, including outcries from concerned environmentalists and Native American tribes. Texas farmers and workers from all walks of life are also staging protests; several of them have been arrested already this month.

For many of these farmers, the Keystone issue is a personal one; on August 23, Texas Judge Bill Harris had ruled that TransCanada could seize portions of land from owners who refused to sign an agreement with the corporation. Landowners do not want an oil pipeline running through their property, however. So they're fighting back.

"There's a lot of reasons that Texans are very proud of their land; you're proud when you own land and you are the master of that land, and you control that land," said Julia Trigg Crawford, who is trying to stop the condemnation of a section of her family's 650-acre farm in Sumner, Texas. And despite offers of compensation by the company for her willingness to surrender the land, she added, "this is not about the money. This is about the right of a landowner to control what happens on their land."

And the project, moreover, offers no local economic benefits. Nearly 50 percent of the steel being used to make the pipeline is not American-made, and the corporation has no intention of using only workers in the U.S.; in particular, it has made no promises to rely primarily on local workers.

"This is a foreign company," said Crawford. "Most people believe that as this product gets to the Houston area and is refined, it's probably then going to be shipped outside the United States. So if this product is not going to wind up as gasoline or diesel fuel in your vehicles or mine, then what kind of energy independence is this creating for us?"

Despite the championing of the project by Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, who during the first presidential debate declared, "We're going to bring in that pipeline from Canada," the economic and energy benefits of Keystone XL are questionable. Most who oppose Romney's pro-oil agenda believe that pursuit of the pipeline is simply not worth putting the environment at risk, nor is it worth encroaching on the property of landowners.

Among the Texas activists arrested this month was 78 year-old Eleanor Fairchild, a great grandmother who was forced to spend a night in jail for trespassing on condemned land on her own 425-acre farm.

The outrageous ability of TransCanada to condemn private property is the general reason for most of the lawsuits being filed against it by Texas residents.

Fairchild said she has been strongly against Keystone XL for years before construction began, and will continue to protest and stand in solidarity with other landowners and environmentalists.

"What this foreign corporation's doing just isn't right," she remarked. "I want the world to know that Texans do not want this pipeline forced through their homes. From the White House to my house, I don't want this pipe threatening anyone's house anywhere in the world."

http://www.peoplesworld.org/texas-farmers-face-off-against-keystone-pipeline/

[Tuck]

Someone negged you for this article, Umbertino......I cannot understand why. Perhaps it was an error - a misstep with the keypad.

[umbertino]

Someone negged you for this article, Umbertino......I cannot understand why. Perhaps it was an error - a misstep with the keypad.

Tuck....Thanks...Much appreciated.

[Tuck]

You didn't state a position with this article - you simply put forth the information for perusal....and I haven't put forth my opinion overmuch in the forum - - however....I believe in personal property rights.

[umbertino]

You didn't state a position with this article - you simply put forth the information for perusal....and I haven't put forth my opinion overmuch in the forum - - however....I believe in personal property rights.

Yes, that's correct.I simply report articles usually....Reporting the journalist 's name and the article link.

Edited October 28, 2012 by umbertino

[brbrlocke]

This is in my backyard. They came to my house about 6 years ago but decided on a different route. The digging isn't far from us.

[jonjon]

We can't become self sufficient

We can borrow more money from China.

Our children’s children can pay it back.

[simple]

We could stop importing today if we wanted to.

Next year promises to set a record for domestic production and, at current rates, the good ol’ U.S. of A. will be the top oil producer in the world, surpassing Saudi Arabia, by the year 2020.

This puts the lie to the Republican claim that the Obama administration has the desire, or the ability, to squash domestic production and leave us increasingly vulnerable to a dangerous dependence on foreign sources of energy.

The bad news: Production of petroleum in the United States is soaring.

The continuing high prices for raw crude, prompted by increasing demand from China, India and other rapidly industrializing nations, has encouraged drillers to invest in new methods and expand their exploration to areas previously thought too low-yield to bother with. The result is pressure to drill in places, and in ways, that threaten our environment, from the appearance of national treasures to the safety of our water.

The most important thing to understand about this situation is that the price of oil, and thus the price you pay for gasoline, has little to do with any decision made in Washington. It has more to do with the world oil market, currently driven by the exploding demand of many nations.

[simple]

The Energy Department forecasts that U.S. production of crude and other liquid hydrocarbons, which includes biofuels, will average 11.4 million barrels per day next year. That would be a record for the U.S. and just below Saudi Arabia's output of 11.6 million barrels. Citibank forecasts U.S. production could reach 13 million to 15 million barrels per day by 2020, helping to make North America "the new Middle East."

The last year the U.S. was the world's largest producer was 2002, after the Saudis drastically cut production because of low oil prices in the aftermath of 9/11. Since then, the Saudis and the Russians have been the world leaders.

The United States will still need to import lots of oil. Americans use 18.7 million barrels per day. But thanks to the growth in domestic production and the improving fuel efficiency of the nation's cars and trucks, imports could fall by half by the end of the decade.

The increase in production hasn't translated to cheaper gasoline at the pump, and prices are expected to stay relatively high the next few years because of growing demand for oil in developing nations and political instability in the Middle East and North Africa.

Still, producing more oil domestically, and importing less, gives the economy a significant boost.

The companies profiting range from independent drillers to large international oil companies such as Royal Dutch Shell, which increasingly see the U.S. as one of the most promising places to drill. ExxonMobil agreed last month to spend $1.6 billion to increase its U.S. oil holdings.

Increased drilling is driving economic growth in states such as North Dakota, Oklahoma, Wyoming, Montana and Texas, all of which have unemployment rates far below the national average of 7.8%. North Dakota is at 3%; Oklahoma, 5.2%.

[jonjon]

The U.S. is on track, according to experts such as IHS CERA, an energy consulting firm, for a 7 percent increase this year in crude and other liquid hydrocarbons, which includes biofuels. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, the U.S. crude and other liquid hydrocarbons will average 11.4 million barrels a day in 2013.

The United States consumed a total of 7.0 billion barrels (19.18 million barrels per day) of refined petroleum products and biofuels in 2010 and 6.87 billion barrels (18.83 million barrels per day) in 2011. For both years, this was about 22% of total world petroleum consumption.

Thats 7.18 million barrels a day deficit.

If Obama is allowed to shut the economy completely down, we wont need any oil.

Obama Doubles

Automobile MPG

[TPSprayduster]

As long as they are Canadians they can come in to the US and use the imminent domain clause to take privately owned US land for the pipeline. I guess that is ok for a Canadian company to do this.

[jobug38]

Canadian XL Pipeline is piping oil down to Texas gulf coast for oil exports.to other countries including ours. It is passing through our country, and we will be getting it at a cheaper rate. Also I am watching this very closely because my boyfriend is working on the pipeline. He tells me every day that some tree hugger talked another land owner against trans Canada after they had excepted money for their land from the pipeline company. I don't believe that's right either! There is also talk among the workers that OPEC ( Arab oil companies) are paying the protesters of this pipeline and bailing them out of jail when arrested. The question to ponder is: WHY WOULD OPEC HIRE THE PROTESTERS IN THE FIRST PLACE? Could it be they don't want the competition? Are maybe using the liberial tree huggers to stop their competition? I get so sick of bull**** sometimes. I come from a time where you stood for something you believed in, and I do firmly believe in this happening. Now this women Ms. Crawford is probably the only person on the list of land owners who hasn't taken any money. Her battle is going to be long and hard but she has that right. The people that excepted moneys from transfer Canada and are now trying to re-neg its not going to work. Also it will make this women's battle even harder. That is JMO

[jobug38]

Canadian XL Pipeline is piping oil down to Texas gulf coast for oil exports.to other countries including ours. It is passing through our country, and we will be getting it at a cheaper rate. Also I am watching this very closely because my boyfriend is working on the pipeline. He tells me every day that some tree hugger talked another land owner against trans Canada after they had excepted money for their land from the pipeline company. I don't believe that's right either! There is also talk among the workers that OPEC ( Arab oil companies) are paying the protesters of this pipeline and bailing them out of jail when arrested. The question to ponder is: WHY WOULD OPEC HIRE THE PROTESTERS IN THE FIRST PLACE? Could it be they don't want the competition? Are maybe using the liberial tree huggers to stop their competition? I get so sick of bull**** sometimes. I come from a time where you stood for something you believed in, and I do firmly believe in this happening. Now this women Ms. Crawford is probably the only person on the list of land owners who hasn't taken any money. Her battle is going to be long and hard but she has that right. The people that excepted moneys from transfer Canada and are now trying to re-neg its not going to work. Also it will make this women's battle even harder. That is JMO

Oh also for the most part most of the protester are from California,Wyoming,Oregon,New York and only a small number are from Texas from what my boyfriend tells me. He see's them at Every road crossing because with every chance they can they try to disrupt productivity. Darryl Hanna tried to run over a woman flagging traffic for the clearing crew. The are living in trees 90 feet up in the air, trespassing on the right away and if you ask me they are kind of crazy. I would be glad to be less dependent on middle eastern oil. I mean I'd rather have the oil come from the same continent I live on. Jmo

[yota691]

An Interactive Map of the Keystone XL Pipeline in Texas

MAY 15, 2012 | 11:56 AM

BY TERRENCE HENRY

7 CommentsEmail

http://stateimpact.npr.org/texas/2012/05/15/an-interactive-map-of-the-keystone-xl-pipeline-in-texas/screen-shot-2012-05-15-at-11-30-51-am/'>http://stateimpact.npr.org/texas/2012/05/15/an-interactive-map-of-the-keystone-xl-pipeline-in-texas/screen-shot-2012-05-15-at-11-30-51-am/

MAP BY THOMAS BACHAND

The new interactive map allows you to see up close where the pipeline will go.

Where will the Keystone XL pipeline go through Texas? A new interactive map will show you its route through the Lone Star State.

Photographer and author Thomas Bachand put the Keystone Mapping Project together. While he only has data for four states, he’s still hoping to map out the rest. In an email to StateImpact Texas he wrote that he started the project because “neither TransCanada Corporation nor the U.S. Department of State (DOS) have been forthcoming with this project’s GIS information. This has made it impossible to evaluate the potential environmental impacts of the Keystone XL pipeline,” he wrote. “While it’s a good start, the scarcity of data underscores the lack of transparency and inadequacy of the Keystone XL review process.”

For the Texas portion of the pipeline, Bachand used GIS data from the Railroad Commission of Texas to plot the route. You can read our earlier five-part series on the pipeline here, All Down the Line: the Environmental and Economic Impact of Keystone XL. http://stateimpact.npr.org/texas/2012/05/15/an-interactive-map-of-the-keystone-xl-pipeline-in-texas/