The Pros And Cons Of The Keystone Pipeline

Fatalities in a lakeside village of indigenous people in Fort Chipewyan, Canada has caused heartbreak and fear. A group of 1,200 of the native people live downstream from a pipeline tailing pond. One hundred of these people have died from cancer caused by tar sands oil, an oil carried downstream from them that is proposed to be used in the Keystone pipeline. Not only have they died from the harmful oil but they have had side effects such as; heart and respiratory conditions, skin issues and nervous system disorders(treehugger).These innocent people can no longer carry on their valuable cultural traditions because of the pollution from an oil pipeline(Friends Of Earth). These problems won't just affect people in Canada, these problems will follow behind the pipeline everywhere it goes. …show more content…
It will also cross several major rivers in the United States. Possibly most importantly it will cross the Ogallala Aquifer, a major water source of the United States(Friends Of Earth). Also stated by The Friends of the Earth organization, “The Keystone XL Pipeline will carry 830,000 barrels of dirty Tar Sands Oil into the United States daily, and result in climate damaging emissions equal to adding more than 5.6 million new cars to U.S roads.” This pipeline would be created by the TransCanada Corporation and would go from Hardisty, Alta to Steele City, Nebraska(Transcanada). It will cross many areas of farmland and some extremely fragile ecosystems, which creates an even larger problem because pipeline spills happen often. In the past ten years there have been over 2,500 pipeline accidents (6 Assault). Current pipelines already pose as major threats to our society and adding a large new one would make it even