oil dependence

Bill McKibben and his hardworking cohorts at 350.org have good reason to celebrate: President Obama rejected a permit for the Keystone pipeline (see McKibben’s reaction below). There are many arguments to be made about this particular pipeline in regard to the environment, but the overarching issue to appreciate is that the President demonstrated that it's time to quit supporting a dependence on oil — regardless of where it originates.

For those worried about jobs and other issues related to the pipeline, read Robert Redford’s blog in the Huffington Post that takes these quarrels to task.

There is an energy rush across America, which you can see it for yourself as you drive through previously pristine lands not that far from Telluride, that are now filled with natural gas drills. Kirk Johnson, who covers the West for The New York Times, reports on the change in the Colorado landscape.

The pattern is clear in the oil and gas business: drilling fields are going into new places. North Dakota, better known for growing wheat, is now booming with rigs. Fort Worth has upward of 2,000 gas wells right in the city itself, with most of that growth within just the last five years. Pittsburgh, facing the prospect of urban drilling, forbade it last year by a vote of the City Council.

But few areas are facing the prospect of drilling’s new frontier more vividly than eastern Colorado...

Read More

On July 1, Montana experienced its own version of the Gulf Oil spill of 2010 when the flood stage Yellowstone River damaged a submerged riverbed pipeline. In the hour that oil flowed, approximately 42,000 gallons of crude oil escaped downstream. Anytime oil mixes with water, be it fresh or saline, there are serious consequences. Due to the high water, the oil moved into 20 to 250 miles of delicate riparian habitat, making the clean-up process that much more difficult. It is estimated that only 10 to 15 percent of the oil will be recovered.