Harris Wrong on Pipeline

There he goes again.

Rep. Andy Harris stated that the Keystone pipeline has been studied for three years, and it’s time to get the shovels out.

In 2010 South Dakota granted TransCanada their first permit for the XL pipeline within US borders, and our State Department outsourced an environmental study to the private sector. In July of that year, the Environmental Protection Agency declared a draft of the study incomplete, as it failed to address oil spills. The State Department study has not taken three years, and is not completed.

The Ogallala aquifer spans eight states - South Dakota, Nebraska, Wyoming, Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, and Texas - providing drinking water for millions and supporting over $20 billion in agricultural activity. Portions of the planned pipeline also cross a seismic zone active as recently as 2002. A major spill could critically compromise this vital water resource.

We’re told that this will be the safest pipeline in history, but the specifications offered so far restate current minimum standards. Taking regulatory power away from our State Department, as Rep. Harris suggests, might benefit some of us, but judging by states’ past performance in these matters, it would also likely result in uneven performance that leaves neighbors at risk.

There is much more at stake than 2-4,000 temporary jobs. We should complete the study. In the meantime, we can take some comfort in the little known fact that in 2011 the US became a net fuel exporter for the first time since 1949 (USA Today).