The articles at WUWT have been getting very silly lately. There's another silly one today (archived here). Anthony claims that:
Canada pulls the plug on the U.S. Keystone Pipeline – will send oil to Asia
...Obama’s inability to make a decision on Keystone has finally yielded a result – Canada has made the decision for him.
Breitbart reports Canada has just approved the Enbridge Northern Gateway Project – a major pipeline to ship Canadian oil to Asia.
The Canadian oil will still be burnt – in Asia, instead of America.
All the jobs and energy security which Canadian oil could have delivered to America, will instead be delivered to Asia.
Anthony's wrong on more than one count.
- The decision hasn't been "just approved". The Canadian government announced it nearly two weeks ago, which makes it old news.
- It's not "either/or". The Enbridge Northern Gateway Project is quite a separate initiative to that of Keystone XL. It was first proposed back in 2006.
- There are still a lot of hurdles to overcome before it becomes a reality, if it does.
So if Keystone goes ahead the US will have to pay more for the Canadian muck because the pesky Asians want it too. I thought the NeoCons believed in competition.
ReplyDeleteConsidering the legal minefield that the Northern Gateway project is entering, I'd honestly be surprised if this gets out of the courts before 2025.
ReplyDeletePlenty of time for the government to change hands a couple times and send it back to the drawing board, then try to approve it again, then back...
DeletePipeline politics in Canada have changed drastically in the past few days.
ReplyDeleteThe Supreme Court has clarified first nation land ownership. Huge tracts of native land denied by different governments now will be controlled by first nation groups. This will affect pipeline routes as well as oil sand territory .
Governments are now charged with consulting meaningfully and achieving consent. Failing that, compulsion could be used but would kick in years of legal problems for any government that out of touch.
This also means that the oil companies would have to pay first nations fair market royalties. They hate this idea and may abandon their plant rather than deal in good faith.