The Keystone XL Tar Sands Pipeline: Bad for Virginia

The U.S. Senate may vote Tuesday on whether to green-light the proposed Keystone XL tar sands pipeline even before a safe route has been determined. Why is that a terrible idea?

• TransCanada wants to build this pipeline so it can stop dumping tar sands oil at a discount in the Midwest. TransCanada's own analysis shows it would raise Midwest gas prices by 15 cents a gallon. 
• How does that impact states outside the Midwest like Virginia? American consumers could pay an extra $500 million for goods from the Midwest thanks to those higher gas prices.
• A Cornell University study found those higher gas prices are one reason Keystone would kill more jobs than it creates - again, especially in a state like Virginia that would see few (if any) jobs directly created by the distant pipeline.
• The pipeline would do nothing to lower U.S. gas prices because the oil will be sold on the international market. Think about it - if you wanted to sell the oil in America, why would you build a pipeline literally all the way down through America to the Gulf Coast?
• The pipeline would benefit from billions in taxpayer subsidies.
• TransCanada predicted its Keystone I pipeline would spill once a year. It's spilled once a month.
• Tar sands oil emits far more carbon pollution over its life cycle than regular oil, fueling the global warming that's threatening Virginia.

Please take a moment to call Sen. Mark Warner at 202-224-2023 and Sen. Jim Webb at 202-224-4024 and ask them to say no to Keystone XL tar sands pipeline. If you can't call (or if you don't live in Virginia), email your members of Congress.

As an added bonus, doing the right thing by killing Keystone XL is also a political winner. Isn't it nice when good policy and good politics come together?

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UPDATE 7:33pm: Over 500,000 people have signed a petition asking the Senate to leave Keystone dead in just 7 hours