MICHAEL STEELE COMMENTS ON XL PIPLINE

This morning, I lost a great deal of respect I have had for #Michael Steele the ex-chairman of the #Republican National Committee. He was a guest on #Morning Joe (MSNBC) during a discussion of the XL pipeline. In the past, he has always exposed solid conservative ideology—at least when I heard him discussing policy. This morning was different. He was like a robot spewing out Republican talking points. Every point he made was either not true or crafted in a way to avoid relating the facts.

The @American Petroleum Institute (API)  has spent millions and millions making these points. The first is that the XL pipeline will create jobs. Stop and think; oil companies will transport tar sands oil across the American heartland to existing and operating refineries in Texas. They will add very few jobs because the refineries are up and operating; the basic work force is already in place. The jobs will come from building the pipeline, which are temporary jobs at best. Nobody cares about Texas air pollution that the refineries will continue to increase because of the impurity of the heavy tar sands oil.

Steele said that America needs the energy that tar sand will provide. He knows this is not true; it is not true for two reasons, (1) we have replaced much of our polluting coal, and oil generated energy needs with less polluting natural gas, and (2) replaced carbon based energy sources them with environmentally friendly alternative renewable resources. We as a nation are producing an excess of energy, which means we are exporting energy. Of course, everyone remembers the patriotic fever and drum beating behind fracking and offshore drilling; we have to become energy independent—stop giving all our money to the Arabs we hate; of course, we did not hate them until the oil companies told us we should.

Exporting energy products, which were so bad for the Arabs, is suddenly good for America. This new philosophy fits perfectly with the plans for the refinery products derived from the tar sands oil. The whole idea of the XL pipeline is to move that dirty oil across the U.S. and not Canada to refine it in a location where there is easy access to a seaport for shipment to the world market; some say China, but that is not direct.

Michael Steele avoided the worst part about environmental protection. Tar sands oil is heavier that water; it sinks. In case of a spill, and there will be many spills, the oil sinks tot the bottom which makes it almost impossible to clean up. A rancher with a thousand acres of pasture with a contaminated water source is a dessert. A spill that contaminated a river, contaminated forever; if that is your drinking water source, you are in deep trouble.  

The fossil fuel industry is making a big push to destroy the alternative energy sources. The knee jerk response to this is that they cannot blot out the sun, so let they try. Have you noted that state legislatures are passing laws to tax solar panels? Did you know that ALEC, funded by the API is writing legislation for every state to fine people for using solar power. This push is not new; remember Ronald Reagan removed the solar panel from the white house. Some thought that he did it to belittle Carter, as Reagan was prone to do; it was not. Much of the current hate energy industry is generating against Obama is because of his success in establishing solar power and alternative sources of energy—I have published articles about Obama’s successes on this web site. The fossil fuel industries reflect part of the Republican physic; they do not want to contaminate the environment intentionally. They spew refinery pollutants into the air in Texas and dump coal ash in our rivers in North Carolina because by doing so they can make a few more dollars. They may destroy your already diminishing water supply for the same reason; do you have any idea of what it cost in terms of energy expenditures to desalinate seawater and build an extra large and extra big (size XL) pipeline from the ocean to heartland U.S.A. Maybe Michael Steele would tell us that would be good because it will created more jobs. 

  

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