Letter to editor: Is Keystone Pipeline worth the risk?

Why is the disputed Keystone Pipeline needed in the first place? Wouldn’t it be cheaper to build a new processing plant up at the Canadian border? Perhaps this wouldn’t work because they will need the proximity of our Gulf of Mexico to dispose of the tons of toxic waste produced in the process.

Is that such a good idea? Many years ago Russian-born American biochemist Eugene Rabinowich estimated that 10 percent of the earth’s oxygen is produced by the trees and plants of the forest and fields. The other 90 percent comes from one-celled plants and seaweed in the oceans.

Polluting oceans is therefore bad enough, but if oil spills continue to pollute our land (because nobody knows how to clean them up), we will be in real trouble. They will then be endangering the sources of our water supply.

According to a recent article in National Geographic, by 2025 48 percent of the world will be living in areas of water stress, not enough water. That could include us, because the world’s population has grown more since 1950 than in the previous 4 million years.

Who actually benefits from the Keystone Pipeline anyway? Many experts say it probably won’t make much difference in prices at the gas pumps. Is it worth the risk?

Edalee Orcutt Harwell

Ramona