Blame the politicians

Here we go again on the Keystone XL. With over 200,000 miles of operating pipelines in the U.S., what's another 1,200 miles? Three hundred miles are already in use.

Some say the problem is that it is Canadian owned. If that were applicable, why didn't we see the same indignation when Chinese companies were taking over GE appliances, AMC theaters, Smithfield Foods, Starwood Hotels, Motorola Mobility, etc.? Canadian companies own three of the 10 largest pipelines in the U.S., and they do pay federal, state, local taxes, in addition to royalties. They don't get a free lunch.

The critics have described the oil as dirty, vile, unclean, etc. - everything but essential. Why would a company spend millions of dollars to construct a pipeline if it weren't needed in the refining process? From what I can see on the map, oil from the tar sands region is being pumped into this area for refinement, That refined "dirty" stuff may be in the tank of your car. Horrors.Better go trade it in.

The capacity of the line is 800,000 barrels per day. Without the line, shipping by rail would require over 1,100 tanker cars per day. If they were to be placed on the same track, it would be over 12 miles in length.

The Biden administration is going forward with their plans to reduce exploration, drilling and production through a series of increasing regulations. This reduces supply and when that happens, you don't need a Ph.D. to figure out that prices will rise at the pump and on your home heating bill. Guess who would be affected the most? Lower income individuals.

When the prices go up and the politicians shout "corporate greed," I hope you folks are smart enough to realize that you are being screwed over by the people you elected and not by the energy sector.

Harvey Jacobson

Buffalo Grove