Dear Editor,
We here in Kansas live in a drought-stricken area, just as millions of others live in areas getting too much rain, or they are under the threat of wildfires and other disasters such as hurricanes, tornadoes, etc.
These changing weather patterns are very much influenced by climate change, most of which are caused by human activity. One of the greatest contributors to climate change is our use of fossil fuels, yet as a country we are still heavily reliant on oil. The Keystone XL pipeline to carry corrosive tar sands from Canada to the Gulf coast and now a proposal to drill for oil in the Cheyenne Bottoms wetlands area are two examples that will make global warming and climate change worse.
Each year, Keystone XL would carry and emit at least 181 million metric tons of carbon dioxide, which would be like putting an additional 37.7 million cars on the road. The State Department estimates that greenhouse gas emissions of tar sands may be 22 percent greater than emissions from average crude oil refined in the U.S. Dr. James Hansen, NASA’s leading climate scientist, said that tar sands development would mean “game over for the climate.”
This pipeline will take the tar sands through America, not to America. It is largely an export pipeline that a new study shows will actually increase, not decrease, gas prices. Even the State Department admits this pipeline will create very few permanent jobs, while climate-related droughts, hurricanes, and floods destroy jobs and small businesses.
We have a moral obligation to deliver a healthy planet to our children and future generations, not one that threatens their health, environment, and economic opportunity.
Peace,
Marilyn Pierson, OP
Heartland Farm