Well on the way to my review of “An Honest Liar” I got waylaid again -
Time sensitive and as futile as all my other writings, but hey, at least I tried.
So if anyone out there is concerned about the KeystoneXL pipeline and thinks it ought to be stopped before it starts,
or if you want to learn more about what’s happening I’ve written an open letter to my Senator Bennet, with a couple
dozen links to various sources of important information scientific, photographic and various informed articles.
A virtual kiosk of information. 
Honorable Senator Bennet, Why do you support Keystone XL Pipeline ?
I am pretty dubious that the Keystone Pipeline will be approved during the Obama administration. Ultimately, I guess it will, sometime after Hillary or Rand become President, if the price of oil goes up, exorbitantly, again, as I expect it will, eventually, sooner or later. Although we can hold the very faint hope that alternative renewable fuels will become so cost effective and pervasive, in time, before the Keystone pipeline will ever be cost effective.
A little something about what Tar Sands development is doing to Alberta, Canada
byGwennedd - November 17, 2014
There's Been HOW Many Pipeline Spills in Alberta in The Last Four Months??
Check out this record of spill information -
https://sheet.zoho.com/view.do?url=http://www.aer.ca/Data/incidents/IncidentReporting.xls
(at the bottom of the sheet are tabs for each month)
Going through the months I noticed most spills are small, though they do accumulate and there are some doozies.
The other thing I noticed is that it seems miraculous how none of those spills ever impact wildlife and rarely water -
God must be on their side, or something.
Map of the past four months of “incidents”
http://images.dailykos.com/images/116425/large/abcolor.gif
Right-wingers (I shan’t refer to them as Conservatives as they have no apparent interest in conservation), tout Keystone XL as a “jobs creator”. In actuality, although as many as 40,000 workers will be needed, they will be needed for only 2 years or less. Then, the Keystone pipeline will only need 35 permanent employees.
Furthermore, from the economic impact perspective, although at 1st glance, one might expect that the cheaper transport of the oil, would lead to lower oil prices. This is not necessarily the case, especially considering the cost of trying to remediate the damage of spills of the particularly nasty Tar Sands oil and the costs of refining it.
BTW, I understand that there are several Canadian pipelines under pre-development, not just the Keystone.
Instead of an oil pipeline, I wish someone would build a network of water pipelines right into the reservoirs serving Southern California. We need the water desperately, while places like Washington State have too much, causing damaging foods and landslides. If a water pipeline should spring a leak it would cause no environmental damage at all. I guess there isn’t enough money to be made from water pipelines, but if the present drought continues in Southern California, we may wind up payomg more for a gallon of water than for a gallon of overpriced gasoline. Then maybe someone will consider a water pipeline.
Lois
Instead of an oil pipeline, I wish someone would build a network of water pipelines right into the reservoirs serving Southern California. We need the water desperately, while places like Washington State have too much, causing damaging foods and landslides. If a water pipeline should spring a leak it would cause no environmental damage at all. I guess there isn't enough money to be made from water pipelines, but if the present drought continues in Southern California, we may wind up payomg more for a gallon of water than for a gallon of overpriced gasoline. Then maybe someone will consider a water pipeline. LoisThat is a "pipe dream", but not just metaphorically speaking. There are already long distance water pipelines, in operation, under development, and being considered. http://www.nrdc.org/water/management/pipelines-project.asp Considering climate change, one would think that such projects will, eventually be a growth industry. I wish I knew how to invest correctly. There has been a long standing drought in large parts of Texas, as well, though not as severe as what is happening (and getting worse) in California. At this point California is in deep trouble, and this will spill over to the rest of us, since CA is such an important part of the national economy. Also, I saw a piece on (if I recall correctly) "TechKnow" on Aljazeera, where (I think it was in CA) there is a project that is utilizing solar energy to tap into underground water (that is not potable) and make it potable.
Instead of an oil pipeline, I wish someone would build a network of water pipelines right into the reservoirs serving Southern California. We need the water desperately, while places like Washington State have too much, causing damaging foods and landslides. If a water pipeline should spring a leak it would cause no environmental damage at all. I guess there isn't enough money to be made from water pipelines, but if the present drought continues in Southern California, we may wind up payomg more for a gallon of water than for a gallon of overpriced gasoline. Then maybe someone will consider a water pipeline. LoisThat is a "pipe dream", but not just metaphorically speaking. There are already long distance water pipelines, in operation, under development, and being considered. http://www.nrdc.org/water/management/pipelines-project.asp Considering climate change, one would think that such projects will, eventually be a growth industry. I wish I knew how to invest correctly. There has been a long standing drought in large parts of Texas, as well, though not as severe as what is happening (and getting worse) in California. At this point California is in deep trouble, and this will spill over to the rest of us, since CA is such an important part of the national economy. Also, I saw a piece on (if I recall correctly) "TechKnow" on Aljazeera, where (I think it was in CA) there is a project that is utilizing solar energy to tap into underground water (that is not potable) and make it potable. Thanks for the link. i didn't know about those projects. They don't get the kind of publicity that Keystone gets. Lois