The Truth Behind Keystone XL's Failure: Eminent Domain
Posted: Mon Nov 09, 2015 5:06 pm
[quote=Matthew Carr]And here's the real eyebrow raiser... the United States already has a pipeline filled with tar sands oil coming over the border. Enbridge's (TSX: ENB) $3.3 billion Alberta Clipper pipeline, which carries 450,000 barrels per day of Alberta oil sands bitumen into Wisconsin, was given the thumbs-up by President Obama and wasn't nearly as controversial.
On March 3, 2010, when the final welds on the pipeline were made, it was just another day for the most part.
The first shipments started moving their way through the Alberta Clipper in October 2010. That's just over five years ago.
And Enbridge applied for an expansion that would allow it to carry as much as 800,000 barrels per day. Which is basically the same amount the Keystone Pipeline would have carried from Alberta, Canada, through Montana, South Dakota and Nebraska on its way to refineries in Texas. [/quote]
[quote=Matthew Carr]But one of the biggest obstacles to the success of the pipeline came from an unexpected place - a conservative Republican stronghold.
The "Stand with Randy" movement emerged from TransCanada's dispute with Randy Thompson, a landowner in Nebraska. TransCanada made an offer to use Thompson's mother's land. That offer was rejected.
TransCanada came back with a final offer, threatening that if it wasn't accepted, the pipeline company would initiate "eminent domain."
This really happened... Nebraska passed a law that gave TransCanada eminent domain. This gives TransCanada the right to force landowners to sell their property so it can construct and maintain the pipeline.
Needless to say, the locals didn't take this well.
Ironically, the eminent domain decision ultimately doomed the Keystone Pipeline. It meant the pipeline's route crossed over the Ogallala Aquifer as well as the Sandhills, which are both environmentally sensitive areas.
Its rejection was almost certain. [/quote]
On March 3, 2010, when the final welds on the pipeline were made, it was just another day for the most part.
The first shipments started moving their way through the Alberta Clipper in October 2010. That's just over five years ago.
And Enbridge applied for an expansion that would allow it to carry as much as 800,000 barrels per day. Which is basically the same amount the Keystone Pipeline would have carried from Alberta, Canada, through Montana, South Dakota and Nebraska on its way to refineries in Texas. [/quote]
[quote=Matthew Carr]But one of the biggest obstacles to the success of the pipeline came from an unexpected place - a conservative Republican stronghold.
The "Stand with Randy" movement emerged from TransCanada's dispute with Randy Thompson, a landowner in Nebraska. TransCanada made an offer to use Thompson's mother's land. That offer was rejected.
TransCanada came back with a final offer, threatening that if it wasn't accepted, the pipeline company would initiate "eminent domain."
This really happened... Nebraska passed a law that gave TransCanada eminent domain. This gives TransCanada the right to force landowners to sell their property so it can construct and maintain the pipeline.
Needless to say, the locals didn't take this well.
Ironically, the eminent domain decision ultimately doomed the Keystone Pipeline. It meant the pipeline's route crossed over the Ogallala Aquifer as well as the Sandhills, which are both environmentally sensitive areas.
Its rejection was almost certain. [/quote]