Keystone XL Pipeline: A New Opening, but What Lies Ahead? By Clifford krauss

Summary of Text: In his first few days in office, President Donald Trump has already made the controversial choice to reverse the decision of the Obama administration and go ahead with the planned construction of the Keystone XL pipeline. This article runs through some of the key details about the pipeline, including its route, its purpose, and some of its economic and environmental impacts. However, changes in the energy sector in the United States mean that the completion of the pipeline could have a different impact now than it would have 8 years ago. The article finishes by outlining some of the obstacles still standing in the way of the pipeline's completion even with Trump's compliance, such as grassroots protesting and new terms with Canada.

Check out this video by The New York Times discussing the political implications of the pipeline

Analysis of Text: Clearly this pipeline is a complex issue, and I'm concerned at how quickly President Trump rushed into making this decision, as I think perhaps the administration should have waited and gathered more facts before reaching a final verdict on this project. As the article discussed, the energy situation in this country has changed a lot since the project was originally proposed, with new reserves of oil sand being discovered, and the shift of refineries in Texas towards lighter forms of oil. Clearly, there are more complicated factors involved in this choice that need to be considered when taking into account the pros and cons of the pipeline

The proposed and existing paths of the Keystone XL pipeline

My Big Takeaway: Clearly the new administration has a radically different approach to energy and environmental policy compared to the previous one, that much has already become apparent in the short time since Donald Trump took office. The approval of this pipeline figures to be only the first of potentially many unprecedented decisions regarding energy that come from Trump. I wonder how his actions in the future will affect the growth of clean energy infrastructure in this country, and I'm concerned about how our country's carbon footprint and level of sustainability will change under this new leadership.

A section of the existing portion of the Keystone XL pipeline

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