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Construction of the Keystone pipeline could increase emissions, says EPA

Published by , Editor - Hydrocarbon Engineering
World 鶹ýӳ,


The Environmental Protection Agency has issued comments on the State Department鶹ýӳs environmental analysis of the Keystone XL pipeline. The State Department issued its Final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) in January 2014.

In a letter to the State Department, Cynthia Giles, the EPA鶹ýӳs Assistant Administrator for the Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance, noted the Department鶹ýӳs efforts to evaluate the potential environmental impacts of Keystone in its most recent environmental analysis: 鶹ýӳThe Department has strengthened the analysis of oil spill prevention preparedness, response and mitigation and has committed to requiring numerous mitigation measures regarding leak prevention and detection, as well as spill cleanup measures.鶹ýӳ

However, Giles went on to state that the development of the Canadian oil sands 鶹ýӳrepresents a significant increase in greenhouse gas emissions" compared to other types of oil: 鶹ýӳThe Final SEIS also finds that the incremental greenhouse gas emissions from the extraction, transport, refining and use of the 830 000 bpd of oils sands crude that could be transported by the proposed project at full capacity would result in an additional 1.3 to 27.4 million tpy of carbon dioxide equivalents compared to the reference crudes. To put that in perspective, 27.4 million tpy of carbon dioxide equivalents is equivalent to the annual greenhouse gas emissions from 5.7 million passenger vehicles or 7.8 coal fired power plants. Over the 50-year lifetime of the pipeline, this could translate into releasing as much as 1.37 billion more tonnes of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.鶹ýӳ

In response to the EPA鶹ýӳs comments, Rainforest Action Network Climate Program Director Amanda Starbuck issued the following statement: 鶹ýӳThe EPA鶹ýӳs comments today on Keystone XL confirm what we鶹ýӳve long known to be true: that this pipeline would be an utter disaster for the climate. For a President who has pledged to reject the pipeline if it fails the climate test, these comments should be the final verdict on the matter. We look forward to President Obama heeding the EPA鶹ýӳs words and putting this pipeline to rest once and for all.鶹ýӳ

Access the EPA鶹ýӳs letter to the State Department .


Edited from various sources by

Read the article online at: /project-news/04022015/construction-of-the-keystone-pipeline-could-increase-emissions-says-epa-101/

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