Some common sense reasons environmental organizations are opposed to the development and shipment of Canadian tar sands oil - it’s not just about a pipeline.
1. Extraction: The region in Alberta, Canada where it’s extracted was a pristine boreal forest which is now trashed.
2. Transporting: Tar sands oil is thicker and more of a bitumen which makes it harder to transport. It is often thinned with other hazardous chemicals like benzene and forced through pipelines under pressure which increases the possibility of ruptures and spills - especially in older pipes and at connections.
3. Refining/burning: Tar sands oil is thicker and more of a bitumen which makes it a dirtier oil to refine and burn adding to its carbon footprint.
It’s not just the Keystone XL pipeline. There are other back-door pipelines, trains and tankers to move dirty Canadian Tar Sands oil. It’s time to transition off fossil fuel - not open the floodgates wider with a foul product.