open letter to deborah yedlin

Re:Keystone pipeline decision in a word: politics
By Deborah Yedlin, Calgary Herald January 21, 2012

I would have to disagree with Deborah Yedlin's analysis. The Keystone pipeline decision in a word? Macondo

The environmental disaster in the Gulf of Mexico was a game changer, with its poor risk assessment, flawed equipment, its teflon responsibilities among the parties, the 11 deaths on the platform, the costs to local industries and common 'little' people, including health, a point which Yedlin missed.

The US regulatory agency was completely revised.* It also brought the 'obscurities' of pipelines and oil extraction to the fore. Additionally, Macondo introduced a disaster in US waters by a foreign multinational, so scrutiny and the environmental impact assessments required are now more intense. The public is watching.

Any company can promise anything, whether it be 'jobs,' 'science facts,' 'human rights,' or whatever may be industry and government public relations messages that day, but the proof is in the slick. Then, after Macondo, there were the Michigan River (Enbridge, July 2010) and Yellowstone River (Exxon Mobil, July 2011) spills.

The main thing: the oil industry rarely finds itself at fault.

*MMS/BOEM. See more: http://www.pyrelog.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=bpoilspill