But He Believes It

Robert Redford was in some very good movies. When he was young, he used to be very good looking. Sadly, however, Redford knows very little when it comes to the environment; he believes a lot, but knows little. Nevertheless, because he used to be a movie star, Redford gets to splash his beliefs all over the place. Today, he has a piece on the Huffpo called "Keystone XL Pipeline: the Facts Deserve Repeating". In his column, Redford tells us what he thinks, but he steers clear of the facts. Here are some examples:

1) Redford asks the question how likely is it for Canadian oil from tar sands to be exported to China. He provides no answer but does mention that some of the First Nations in British Columbia oppose a pipeline in that area. So? Where in the US or Canada could any large project be proposed where there would not be some group with "environmental" objections. The answer is nowhere.

On this same point, Redford also asks why Canada would rather send the oil 2000 miles to Houston when it could send it a shorter distance to the Pacific. Again, he has no facts, but he claims that the Canadians wanted to avoid any environmental problems that the pipeline would cause. More nonsense! The actual facts are 1) building a pipeline across the great plains to Houston is actually less expensive and much easier than building a pipeline half as long that has to traverse the Rockies. Pumping oil across a level area is much easier than raising it up about two miles to get it over the mountains. 2) Selling oil to the United States is much more predictable than selling it to the Chinese. If a country is going to make a major investment, it only makes sense to do so in a way that is likely to last. 3) The United States is a friend and ally of Canada; China is not. 4) The refineries in Houston are the most advanced in the world. They are already fully capable of refining the oil from the tar sands. China has no such facilities yet. These four facts explain why the pipeline was planned for Houston.

Redford's next whopper is that the pipeline would not make the USA safer since the majority of the processed oil would be exported. So 800,000 barrels of oil per day would come to Houston and be processed into end products. Over half of that would then be sent abroad. According to Redford, that means American dependence on foreign oil would not be reduced. Huh? Suppose we accept Redford's "facts" about the export of the end products. That means that some 500,000 barrels of oil would come the the USA, be processed at an American plant by American workers and then sent abroad. In addition, another 300,000 barrels of oil each day would come to the USA, get processed and then stay in the USA. That would be a substantial chunk of the oil we currently import from hostile countries. Redford is just plain wrong.

But Redford does not stop there. He next announces the fact that the pipeline would create only 20 permanent jobs. That figure is not a typographical error; Redford claims that the pipeline would create only 20 permanent jobs. Think about that when you consider the validity of Redford's arguments. There would be an increase in oil processed in American refineries of something in the area of 10%, and the majority of that oil would be then be transported to ships and sent abroad according to Redford. The average oil refinery that handles 150,000 barrels of oil per day employs something in the area of 800 workers, and we are talking about five times that size. That means that just in the refineries there would be something like 4000 jobs which is just a bit more than the 20 jobs Redford talks about. At the port, there would be hundreds of additional jobs to get the oil products exported. And then there are all those other jobs created to transport the big chunk of the gasoline and other products which will remain in the USA. On top of this, you have the people who will be needed to maintain the pipeline itself. Then come the people who will get jobs in support industries that will service the pipeline and the refineries. The list goes on and on, but one thing is certain, only a fool could believe that the total employment created by the pipeline would be 20 permanent jobs.

I will not go one with Redford's nonsense. He should stick to visiting the actors' retirement village or whatever the Screen Actors' Guild calls its retirement home.