Keystone XL Pipeline Analysis Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

linchpin XL Pipeline Analysis - Research Paper ExampleThe fourth and final phase of the Keystone Pipeline form is referred to as the Keystone XL Pipeline. This is by far the most ambitious expansion of the existing pipeline system. The Keystone XL Pipeline calls for the installation of oer 1000 miles of 36 steel pipe beginning in Hardisty, Canada and ending in Steele City, Nebraska. This improveral piping will increase the carrying capacity of the entire Keystone Pipeline system to over one million barrels of crude petroleum products per day. While the first three phases of the Keystone Pipeline stir has supporters at all levels of government and in the business sector, the Keystone XL segment has been met with protest and controversy almost from the first moment is was proposed. Many different groups have taken their turn criticizing the pipeline project. The controversy has caused the Obama administration to suspend the permitting process that is necessary for the project to ge t started. Through regulatory control, the Obama administration has halted planned look since March of 2013. The depth and breadth of the protests has caused this regulatory action. The first set of protests against the Keystone XL segment centers on environmental concerns. ... The aquifer is massive but relatively shallow. The impressiveness of keeping this aquifer clean and safe from petrochemical pollution cannot be overstated. The primary use for the Ogallala Aquifer is irrigation of crops. The invention of center-pivot irrigation in the 1940s and broad implementation of the technology in the 1950s allowed farmers in the Great Plains to dependably raise crops such as corn, soybeans and peanuts that traditionally needed to be grown in more humid climates. This shift in land use forced out less water intensive forms of agriculture such as dry land ranching and created an agricultural parsimony heavily dependent on irrigation for success. Before the advent of the Keystone pipeli ne system, the greatest threat to the Ogallala Aquifer was over pumping. Some regions of northern Texas and Oklahoma discontinued or diminished water extraction from the aquifer because the water table was dropping at and increasing rate. Withdraw from the aquifer greatly exceeded the rate of recharge, threatening all agricultural legal action in the region. Farmers were forced to adjust their methods of cropping and pasturing. The water table has since bounced back and is at near normal levels because of these changes made in the 1980s. This example of cooperation between environmentalists and farmers is offered to show that the existence of the Great Plains region recognizes that protecting the Ogallala Aquifer is in the best interest of everyone in the entire region. This explains the widespread opposition to the Keystone XL portion of the pipeline. In addition to providing water for irrigation, over 80% of the drinking water for residences is extracted from the aquifer. The Ke ystone XL phase cuts