GR: It’s really hard to find a fresh or useful comment on something like this. Just sad.

Enbridge’s Line 67 carries tar sands crude oil from Alberta, Canada, to Superior, Wisconsin. The Trump administration just approved a permit to nearly double its flow at the border. Credit: John W. Murray/CC-BY-NC-2.0

“You’ve probably heard of the Keystone XL pipeline. But what about Line 67, also known as the Alberta Clipper?

“Nine years ago, both were controversial proposals to ship oil from Canada’s tar sands into the United States. But while Keystone XL is still awaiting approval and continues to draw protests, Line 67 quietly secured a federal permit last week to ship even more crude than Keystone would.

“On Oct. 13, the State Department approved a long-awaited permit that allows Enbridge, which owns the pipeline, to pump up to 890,000 barrels per day across the border between Canada and North Dakota, en route to Superior, Wisconsin.

“Enbridge has built the equivalent of a Keystone XL pipeline without gaining the kind of attention that Keystone got,” said Kenneth Rumelt, a senior attorney and professor at Vermont Law School who represented several environmental and indigenous groups in a challenge to the project. “Other than our suit, it largely slipped under the radar. But really, this is a quiet Keystone XL pipeline.”

“Even before the approval, though, the company had already effectively been shipping the full volume through a clever work-around.

“It’s a convoluted story that reflects how Enbridge has gone about trying to boost its capacity to ship Canadian tar sands crude to U.S. refineries piece by piece.

Boosting Line 67’s Volume Before the Permit

“Enbridge began construction on Line 67 in 2008, designing it to eventually carry up to 890,000 barrels per day. Yet when the company initially applied to ship oil over the border, it requested approval to ship about half that amount, 450,000 barrels per day. Enbridge got that approval in 2009, about the time opposition to Keystone XL began gaining steam.” –Nicholas Kusnetz (Continue reading: Tar Sands Pipeline that Could Rival Keystone XL Quietly Gets Trump Approval | InsideClimate News.)

10 thoughts on “Tar Sands Pipeline that Could Rival Keystone XL Quietly Gets Trump Approval”

More good news……I don’t know how to mentally survive what trump and the repubs are doing to wildlife and the environment.

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Renee, those people are only playing politics for personal gain. Their time will pass. Of course, the replacements might be little better.

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Reblogged this on The Most Revolutionary Act and commented:

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Trump approves tar sands pipeline.

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This makes my blood boil. Fossil fuel is virtually obsolete. Why didn’t that industry react to changing circumstances and trends? Why couldn’t they have seen that if they, themselves, developed renewable energy systems — they could have reaped huge profits as leaders of a new energy system. Shortsighted, business-wise. Incomprehensibly irresponsible, when you consider climate change. Maybe energy should be government owned and operated. The private sector let the world down.

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JoAnn, today I had a fleeting dream (nightmare really) in which society was teetering, infrastructure was wrecked, weeds and blowing dust covered the land — and still the remnant fossil-fuel industry was working with the government to keep drilling, pumping, and burning. They will never stop chasing profit and defending against the protests.

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Thank you Stuart.

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I agree. This country could be at the forefront of renewable energy with all the jobs that would result and all the exporting of climate friendly systems to developing countries. But no, morons in love with the archaic extraction industries of bygone days refuse to give up their kickbacks from said industries. Frankly, Obama could have done more towards this end.

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