While our eyes have been on the President waiting for his rejection of the Keystone XL Pipeline, another proposed pipeline awaits review, eager to delay our transition to clean and renewable energy. The Dakota Access Pipeline, AKA Bakkan Oil Pipeline, would deliver crude oil from the Bakken Oil Fields of North Dakota to the gulf coast in Texas. Its proposed route would bisect the entire state of Iowa, deliver to an existing pipeline at Pakota, Illinois, parallel and cross the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers before terminating at the gulf coast in Texas. That is, unless it doesn't leak, burst or spill first.
The proposed route crosses the Missouri River, Floyd, Little Sioux, and Maple which feed into the Missouri. It crosses the Raccoon and Des Moines Rivers, parallels between the Skunk River and Des Moines River as it reaches the Mississippi River and crosses into Illinois"
Just a few years ago in 2007, the Bakken was considered a marginal to submarginal resource because the oil and natural gas are locked in a rock formation with a low permeability. However, advances in drilling and recovery technology such as horizontal drilling and hydrofracturing have transformed the Bakken into a prolific oil and natural gas producer.
The
Bakken Formations of North Dakota have become the #2 oil producer in the US with expected production to continue for decades. Because of the advances in drilling and well stimulation, its viability as a major source of energy independence for the US is secure as long as a mechanism for transporting exists. Much like the Keystone Pipeline's existence will increase the extraction of tar sands oil in Alberta Canada and increase dependency on fossil fuels, the Dakota Access Pipeline would seal a similar fate to the Bakkan Formation and increase our dependency by making crude oil more available.
Here's what Blog for Iowa states are the four reasons the pipeline shouldn't be built:
"The pipeline would provide no benefit to Iowans, landowners would be forced to give up their land by eminent domain, pipelines leak, and the pipeline will further enable this country’s addiction to oil."
Remember the line from that movie, "If we build it, they will come?"
The proposed pipeline is currently in the public comments stage with the State Utility Board. If you are an Iowan resident, please submit a comment urging that we invest in alternative and renewable sources of energy and clean technology instead of global warming producing infrastructure that does nothing to ensure a healthy environment for future generations.
Use this direct link for electronic submissions.
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