Pipelines today less dangerous

I am writing in response to the May 3 letter of Mary CowperSmith. She says, “the federal government must not support the Kinder Morgan pipeline.” A lot of people feel that way and would agree.

However, I don’t believe they have their facts straight. They are concerned about climate change as most of us are. The pipeline will transport oil from Alberta to the west coast and then ship it to the market.

The amount of carbon dioxide produced in the production of the tar sands, the transportation by the pipeline and the shipping is very minor compared to the combustion of the oil sold in the marketplace.

Now if Kinder Morgan didn’t transport the oil, some would be transported by train or trucks.

Oil that wasn’t transported would be produced elsewhere such as Saudi Arabia or Russia etc.

If oil is produced elsewhere, Alberta would lose its royalties and the governments would lose their income taxes and Canadians would lose their jobs but the same amount of oil would be consumed in the marketplace.

Also, the world’s population is still growing and each year the demand for oil continues to grow by more than a million barrels a day.

With respect to leaks and spills, the technologies today are superior to the time of the original pipeline that is being twinned. This pipeline is the same route as the original pipeline. Also, oil continues to be shipped into our east coast with no serious spills. Technologies keep improving.

Michael Meacher, Charlottetown