Some issues are like sitting on a fence with rattlesnakes on one side and cobras on the other side. The Keystone Pipeline is one such issue. News junkies remember the Canadian town that had its center burned out when tanker cars carrying oil sand oil exploded killing many residents. We also remember several derailments which contaminated streams and land. Trucking the oil is less dangerous to the environment only because of volume.

            Oil pipelines do leak and finding the leak takes time to find until it surfaces and by then thousands of gallons may have escaped. The pipeline leaks usually occur in older pipes but a flaw in the pipe or welding could cause an early leak. No matter how intensive the testing, not all defects may be found and repaired on a thousand miles of pipe. Much of that distance is sandy soil over the Oglala Aquifer.

            The oil sands oil is kept highly viscous with an additive allowing it to be easily pumped through a pipe. When it arrives at some refinery in Louisiana or some foreign country what happens to the additive? Is it separated and sent back, burned off, or dumped onto the ground?

            The problem for environmentalists is more than the two options above. The oil sand producers have been trying to get the First Nation people to allow them to lay a pipeline across the mountains to the inside passage fiords. Imagine loading spills, ballast dumping, or a shipwreck in those pristine waters!

            Sooner or later a pipeline will be built because the oil sand projects will continue to produce oil. Biden and environmentalists need to decide which is best for the planet. Unfortunately, it should be the Keystone and we hope we don’t get snake bit.