Final Project Presentation

ENVS 301| Dr. Dmochowski | Fall 2021

ABSTRACT:

The Keystone XL Pipeline is an addition to the existing Keystone Pipeline meant to shorten the distance extracted bitumen would have to travel to be processed. Major disagreements have arisen over the past decade over the impacts the pipeline would have on the environment, jobs, and local and native populations in the area of construction. There are many groups and corporate interests making competing claims, so it is difficult to decipher what is true from false, especially when cleverly masking or omitting negative environmental impacts from analyses.

The decision of whether to permit the pipeline flip-flopped over the course of three administrations. This case study will show how the decision of whether to permit construction of the pipeline became entangled in political, economic, and climate debates. The case shows how infrastructure projects can become a focal point of climate change debates and how corporate interests and grassroots advocacy interact.