A coalition of environmental groups in opposition to the Keystone XL pipeline launched a new national TV ad campaign on Sunday morning, hitting many of the morning talk shows, to tell a broad audience that Keystone is “putting us at risk, while big oil gets the rewards."
"Oil spills. It’s not if, it’s when,” states one of the ads. The ads bring to light the likelihood of catastrophic oil spills, such as the recent massive leak from an Exxon pipeline in Arkansas, which has spilled thousands of barrels of toxic tar sands oil.
The coalition behind the ads includes the League of Conservation Voters (LCV), Bold Nebraska, Oil Change International, the Nebraska Farmers Union and other groups.
“There is no reward of energy independence with this pipeline. Only risks to our land and water. The jobs will soon disappear, the energy independence will be on a ship to some unknown destination, but the scar on America’s landscape will be with us forever,” writes Randy Thompson, a Nebraskan farmer featured in one of the ads and chair of All Risk No Reward Coalition to Stop Keystone XL, on Sunday.
He continues:
Neither Nebraska landowners such as myself, nor American citizens across the country are prepared for these consequences. We rely on fresh water for drinking and for agriculture — and a spill in the Ogallala Aquifer would make both of these impossible. We’re talking about public health, environmental risks, lost agricultural land and enormous economic costs.
These are huge risks, and the benefits don’t come close to balancing them out. Americans are taking the risks while the oil industry and Canada are reaping the benefits.
Another example:
