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Daugaard Digs Keystone XL; Heineman, Nobel Laureates Do Not

We can't count on Governor Dennis Daugaard to support efforts to block the Keystone XL pipeline. In a letter to a concerned constituent, Governor Daugaard says he believes TransCanada's handling of the numerous spills at its pumping stations along the Keystone I pipeline show that we can trust TransCanada to take care of problems along Keystone XL. The governor says the Public Utilities Commission has given the pipeline due process and our state regulations are plenty to address any safety and environmental issues. The governor also drinks deeply of the deceptive claim that Keystone XL's oil will somehow boost "our national security and our economy," even though all that tar sands oil is headed for the foreign market and will raise our gasoline prices.

Governor Daugaard is clearly not listening to his Republican colleague Nebraska Governor Dave Heineman, who wants President Obama to block Keystone XL. Nor is he listening to nine Nobel laureates who say Keystone XL is a bad idea. Nor is he listening to the fact-checking that finds TransCanada's claims of 20,000 new jobs from the pipeline are inflated by triple. Most of the pipeline jobs will be temporary, and the pipeline may kill more jobs than it creates by raising oil prices, cutting Canadian refinery jobs, and hurting local jobs through environmental damage that affects farming and tourism.

Why Governor Daugaard remains such a staunch supporter of a project that promises little good for South Dakota remains a mystery to me.

3 Comments

  1. Peter Carrels 2011.09.12

    I wonder what the Governor thinks about TransCanada's claims during the PUC hearings on the XL pipeline regarding accident frequencies? I suggest the PUC and the Governor review the transcripts of those hearings. They should read and study what TransCanada said about accidents and accident frequency. It is becoming clearer that tar sands crude and pipeline transportation aren't reliably compatible. The Governor should also review TransCanada's reaction and response to the major leak on the Keystone One pipeline that happened just north of the North Dakota-South Dakota border. Environmental extremists aren't making this stuff up. TransCanada and tar sands pipelines are shaping their own dismal track record.

  2. Angie 2011.09.13

    Agreed. I believe the explanation after Keystone One was (and I'm paraphrasing) "Our accident frequency estimation didn't include the pump stations."

    Yikes.

  3. Douglas Wiken 2011.09.13

    And pipe leaks will be blamed on subcontractors who no longer exist.

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