Issue Overview: Keystone pipeline and the environment

Transcription

1 Issue Overview: Keystone pipeline and the environment By Bloomberg, adapted by Newsela staff on Word Count 640 People walk past teepees on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. The teepees had been set up as part of a protest against the Keystone pipeline, April 23, Photo: Photo: Mark Wilson, Getty Images. It's thick and sticky like peanut butter and there's lots of it. But don't call it "dirty oil" (crude is never clean). Fuels derived from Canada's tar sands produce more greenhouse gas than conventional forms of gasoline and heating oil. Called "oil sands" by petroleum executives and "bitumen" by biologists, it's the stuff that would have flowed through TransCanada's Keystone XL pipeline from Alberta to the United States' Gulf Coast refineries. After an angry, seven-year debate, President Barack Obama in 2015 announced that the State Department had rejected the pipeline. The project had been strongly supported by Republicans. Now, Republican Donald Trump's election as the next president has revived This article is available at 5 reading levels at 1

2 hopes among pipeline supporters. During the years Keystone XL was under consideration, it became an important symbol in the fight over climate change. But the expanded use of trains and competing pipelines made Keystone XL less important to oil companies. The Situation During the campaign, Trump said he d approve Keystone XL for a share of the profits. TransCanada said it remains fully committed to building the line and is looking at ways to encourage a Trump administration to do so. Canada s prime minister, Justin Trudeau, a Liberal elected in 2015, favors construction of new pipelines, including Keystone XL. But he has also taken steps to do more on climate issues in the hope of winning over oil sands and pipeline opponents. Three Canadian pipeline proposals remain under consideration, two to the Pacific and one to the Atlantic. The biggest factor in the industry s future, however, may be the price of oil, which has dropped dramatically since Keystone was proposed. Most of Canada's oil companies are gearing up to expand production modestly if oil stays close to $50 a barrel. If the prices fall below that, there would likely be little new investment. The Background Alberta s numerous bitumen deposits let Canada claim the world s third-largest recoverable reserves of crude oil. More tar sands crude enters the world s oil supply every year. However, the proportion is still small, about 2.3 percent. Because there s so much less of it than conventional oil, coal and natural gas, oil from Canadian tar sands accounts for only 0.1 percent of the world s greenhouse gas emissions. It therefore has a smaller potential to warm the planet than other fossil fuels. But a gallon of fuel produced from tar sands bitumen releases 8 percent to 37 percent more carbon than conventionallyproduced fuel, according to a study by the Pembina Institute. The industry and the Alberta government say oil sands producers release 6 percent more greenhouse gas into the atmosphere. That s partly because it takes more energy to extract and refine bitumen than lighter forms of crude. Obama said Keystone XL wouldn t make a meaningful contribution to the U.S. economy, lower gasoline prices or improve the nation s energy security. It also would have undercut U.S. global leadership on climate change, he said. Trump's opponent in the presidential election, Hillary Clinton, oversaw the review process when she was Obama's secretary of State. She later opposed the pipeline. The Argument Environmental groups said that approving the Keystone pipeline would pave the way for more bitumen production. They argued that this would lock in dependency on oil for decades and delay the transition to renewable energy. Environmentalists have also quarreled with oil producers over the best way to compare emissions from tar sands to This article is available at 5 reading levels at 2

3 those from other pollutants. Oil companies say coal plants pump much more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. But environmentalists say the appropriate comparison is to conventional oil. Both kinds of crude, unlike coal, are primarily used to make transportation fuel. Environmental groups said that stopping Keystone XL would slow tar sands development. Meanwhile, pro-keystone forces argued that the bitumen will still be produced and shipped by other means, increasing the risk of spills and other accidents. This article is available at 5 reading levels at 3

4 Quiz 1 Which of the following statements would be MOST important to include in an accurate and objective summary of the article? Republican Donald Trump's election has recently revived hopes among pipeline supporters. Use of trains and highways has made Keystone XL an unwise and irrelevant idea. Environmentalists think the Keystone XL would improve U.S. leadership on climate change. Oil companies say coal plants pump much more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere than crude oil. 2 Read the sentence from the section "The Situation." The biggest factor in the industry s future, however, may be the price of oil, which has dropped dramatically since Keystone was proposed. Does this sentence support the CENTRAL idea of the article? Why or why not? Yes, it indicates how Canada's economy is being affected by world oil prices. Yes, it explains an additional point contributing to the debate over the value of the pipeline. No, it does not relate to the central issue of Justin Trudeau's support for the pipeline. No, it does not support environmentalists' claims that oil is not as valuable as solar or wind. 3 Which of the following topics is emphasized by the map "Tracking the Pipeline" but NOT by the article? the approximate beginning and ending locations of the pipeline the cities and states affected by the proposed pipeline change the expanded use of trains and competing pipelines the environmental concerns surrounding the pipeline This article is available at 5 reading levels at 4

5 4 Based on information in the section "The Argument" and in the chart "Canadian Oil Sands Production," which of the following predictions is MOST reasonable? The Canadian oil sands will soon be depleted of crude oil. Crude oil from Canadian oil sands will not be used much longer. Stopping the pipeline would put an immediate end to the production of oil sands. Oil sands production will continue to increase whether the pipeline is built or not. This article is available at 5 reading levels at 5