Farmers Fight Pipeline to Be Built through Illinois
by John Laumer, Philadelphia on 01.17.08
On several occasions, we have posted about the coming Texification of the U.S. Upper Midwest, a process set into motion by piping Alberta Tar Sands crude oil southward, through Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, and Illinois. Plans now include piping the Alberta sour all the way down to the Texas coast, where it can be refined and products exported.
By connecting the southern Illinois oil transport hub of Patoka with an Enbridge pipeline near Pontiac, the Canadian firm, in partnership with Exxon Mobil, could beat out other companies that have also announced plans for pipelines connecting Canada to the Gulf Coast.We empathize with the Illinois landowners who have said "no" to the proposal; and, we are amazed that a Canadian company has the gall to threaten eminent domain to take US farmers land away to lay pipeline. (Wouldn't this ignite a prairie fire if it were a Middle Eastern based corporation?)Several farmers are standing in Enbridge's way, however, refusing to let the company build the pipeline through their land.
However, if the pipeline is not extended, that will add pressure to refine the crude in the upper Midwest, increasing the 'Texification' pressures locally.
After realizing that we can't drill our way out of peak oil and, in so doing, solve national security issues, we are headed toward making Alberta crude a lose-lose proposition for everyone directly involved except the oil companies.
See also: "Michigan Competes with Minnesota & Illinois For Alberta Crude" AND "Canadian Tar Sands: a Hydrocarbon Hurricane" AND "The Tar Sands Are Eating Our Dinner"
Via::Washington Post, "Illinois Farmers Fight Off Pipeline", Image credit::Washington Post, Illinois farmer/conservancy landowner,
I don't think that the fact that Enbridge is Canadian should be a factor here; after all it is American companies that are boiling the oil sands and it is the American government that insisted that oil be part of the Free Trade Agreement so we have no control in Canada about how much is shipped south and at what cost.
We have always been relegated to being hewers of wood and bearers of water, we might as well carry dirty and sludgy oil as well.
I doubt we'll be exporting any "alberta sour". Soon enough we'll need all the oil and gas we'll be able to get our hands on. Do you think we'll send it over to China? Ever?
I encourage Americans to voice their concern about this exact issue on behalf of, and standing alongside, your farmers, as we have been doing on this side of the border for identical reasons (though our gov't is just as crafty as yours and is exceptional at quietly side-stepping public processes). Our recent Bill 46 (see www.killbill46.ca) lubricates the delivery of the raw material to your doorstep, a 'desirable' umbilical between the material source and the same place the proceeds have been funneling for years: Ye Olde Texas.
I hope these guys are just holding out for a nice payout, since in the end, they will lose.
Something us Americans seem to always forget:
You don't own your land, you simply rent it from the government.
They aren't losing land. They can continue to farm the land after the pipeline is built. What the company needs and has asked for is a right of way so that once the pipeline is built no construction takes place on top of it.
I disagree wholeheartedly with the concept of eminent domain but I dislike warping or not stating all of the the facts to suit anyone's argument.
=== author's response follows ===
Suggest you read the linked article carefully. The farmer in the photo has a forested conservancy parcel that would need clear cutting. Pipeline right of ways have to be maintained without trees to allow for aerial inspection.
Moreover, soils characteristics are significantly altered by construction practices, will have an impact on crop yield, especially in Illinois with its flat terrain and very wet soils that require dense drain tile networks to maintain adequately dry conditions in the growing season.
Again from this side of the fence:
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/edmonton/story/2008/01/18/stelmach-confident.html?ref=rss