EPA Slams Keystone Pipeline Project for Major Carbon Emissions

The proposed Keystone XL Pipeline would be responsible for drastically increasing carbon emissions and presents a high risk of spills, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). 

In a special letter addressed to the State Department Monday, the EPA outlined a number of details from new environmental studies concerning the controversial pipeline.  

Also see: White House Says Keystone Will Have Little Effect on Gas Prices

And: President Obama Begins His Last Stretch 

Last week, the Senate passed a bill to force approval of the pipeline that would carry crude oil from the tar sands of Alberta, Canada, to the U.S. – though President Barack Obama has said he would veto the bill. The president has avoided making a decision on Keystone until proper environmental impact studies were performed. 

The State Department’s Final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (SEIS) found that the pipeline would contribute significant amounts of carbon emission – anywhere from 1.3 to 27.4 million metric tons of carbon dioxide per year compared to the other crudes, says the report. This amounts to the same level of emissions as 5.7 million passenger vehicles or 7.8 coal fired power plants. 

“Over the 50-year lifetime of the pipeline, this could translate into releasing as much as 1.37 billion more tons of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere,” says the report.  

The SEIS's recent climate change reports also found that greenhouse gas (GHS) emissions from crude oil, the kind that would be transported from the tar sands, has significantly higher lifecycle than that from other refined crude oil, approximately 17 percent greater. 

The EPA acknowledged that TransCanada, the company behind the pipeline, has promised to take responsibility for any spills. However, the environmental body also highlighted the fact that there is a very high risk of spills, “which remains a concern for citizens and businesses relying on groundwater resources crossed by the route.”

The findings are critical as President Obama decides how to approach the recent decision made by the Senate. Republicans claim the pipeline would create thousands of needed jobs and benefit the economy, as does Canadian Prime Minister Steven Harper, who has been pushing the project for years. 

In a statement in 2013, however, President Obama said, “Our national interest will be served only if this project does not significantly exacerbate the problem of carbon pollution.”