Mytzlplk
Governor
but perhaps way over the head of the common rightwinger. It's not uncommon for them to "dig in the heels" on issues they completely lack any knowledge of, much less an understanding of what little they might know.
"The most salient point here is that a thorough and adequate assessment of the potential impacts has not been done, and I think we need to make those assessments."
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/07/11/keystone-pipeline-leak_n_894526.html
This isn’t the place to discuss in too much depth the various and plentiful problems with Alberta tar sands itself — from extraction to transportation to refining to combustion, it’s the dirtiest oil on the planet. From a climate perspective, the Alberta tar sands contain enough carbon to lock the planet into climate chaos. In the words of NASA climatologist Jim Hansen, “if the tar sands are thrown into the mix it is essentially game over.”
Because Keystone XL is so controversial, and because its construction could be such a tipping point in the climate fight, a broad and diverse coalition of scientists and activists are digging in their heels for a big fight, and planning a multi-week action at the White House. (Here’s more on how to get involved.)
But since this is a post about pipelines, I’m going to focus on how tar sands pipelines are different than those that carry conventional crude, how they’re much more prone to leaks and spills, and how those spills are particularly bad for the environment.
First, you need to understand what — physically and chemically — tar sands actually is. According to the Bureau of Land Managment, tar sands
…are a combination of clay, sand, water, and bitumen, a heavy black viscous oil. Tar sands can be mined and processed to extract the oil-rich bitumen, which is then refined into oil. The bitumen in tar sands cannot be pumped from the ground in its natural state; instead tar sand deposits are mined, usually using strip mining or open pit techniques, or the oil is extracted by underground heating with additional upgrading.Once upon a time, the tar sands oil that flowed through North American pipelines was in the form of a synthetic crude. In other words, the sticky, viscous tar sands bitumin was upgraded to a more free-flowing form of crude before entering the pipes. But recently, the industry has found it cheaper and easier — if not as safe or stable — to dilute the bitumen with liquid natural gas, creating a substance called diluted bitumen, or “DilBit.”http://www.desmogblog.com/many-problems-tar-sands-pipelines
"The most salient point here is that a thorough and adequate assessment of the potential impacts has not been done, and I think we need to make those assessments."
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/07/11/keystone-pipeline-leak_n_894526.html
This isn’t the place to discuss in too much depth the various and plentiful problems with Alberta tar sands itself — from extraction to transportation to refining to combustion, it’s the dirtiest oil on the planet. From a climate perspective, the Alberta tar sands contain enough carbon to lock the planet into climate chaos. In the words of NASA climatologist Jim Hansen, “if the tar sands are thrown into the mix it is essentially game over.”
Because Keystone XL is so controversial, and because its construction could be such a tipping point in the climate fight, a broad and diverse coalition of scientists and activists are digging in their heels for a big fight, and planning a multi-week action at the White House. (Here’s more on how to get involved.)
But since this is a post about pipelines, I’m going to focus on how tar sands pipelines are different than those that carry conventional crude, how they’re much more prone to leaks and spills, and how those spills are particularly bad for the environment.
First, you need to understand what — physically and chemically — tar sands actually is. According to the Bureau of Land Managment, tar sands
…are a combination of clay, sand, water, and bitumen, a heavy black viscous oil. Tar sands can be mined and processed to extract the oil-rich bitumen, which is then refined into oil. The bitumen in tar sands cannot be pumped from the ground in its natural state; instead tar sand deposits are mined, usually using strip mining or open pit techniques, or the oil is extracted by underground heating with additional upgrading.Once upon a time, the tar sands oil that flowed through North American pipelines was in the form of a synthetic crude. In other words, the sticky, viscous tar sands bitumin was upgraded to a more free-flowing form of crude before entering the pipes. But recently, the industry has found it cheaper and easier — if not as safe or stable — to dilute the bitumen with liquid natural gas, creating a substance called diluted bitumen, or “DilBit.”http://www.desmogblog.com/many-problems-tar-sands-pipelines
