Only a few days after President Obama’s announcement of delaying the decision of the Pipeline for 15 months, TransCanada announced that it would reroute the pipeline. One has to question the timing of this announcement. President Obama stated that one of the reasons that the decision was delayed was to take a hard look at the environmental impact the pipeline would have on the Ogallala aquifer, and stated that “ water contamination trumped a few thousand jobs.” Now with the rerouting of the pipeline, away from Nebraska, away from the aquifer, TransCanada is claiming victory. Both Nebraska democrats and republicans are supporting the rerouting of the line.
Many are calling it a victory for the company claiming that the environmental activists no longer have claims to protest the pipeline. This quick call to victory, underestimates the power of the environmental movement. TransCanada is assuming activists will move on to another dirty fossil fuel protest. They couldn’t be more wrong. Tar Sands removal is still environmentally destructive, it doesn’t create large numbers of jobs, and the threat to our climate and health, will not be just turned away because of a rerouting plan.
Rerouting the pipeline will still have the same destructive effects on the climate, no matter where it is placed. The pipeline will also have the same impact on people’s health in a spill area. The same pipeline will still destroy the Boreal forest.
TransCanada thinks they are holding the best hand in poker. Unfortunately they underestimated the environmental activists hand. We will return to D.C., we will demand an open and honest environmental impact statement. We are going to go all in, and we will win.
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