How about a massive water pipeline instead of Keystone?

How about a massive water pipeline instead of Keystone?

I hear a lot in the news these days about the so-called Keystone Pipeline in which the petroleum industry wants to build an enormous pipeline coming out of Canada and down across the United States from north to south. This highly questionable, environmentally dangerous project is hyped by the petroleum industry as providing 100,000 new jobs and adding to this country’s much-needed oil supply. In reality, very little of this oil will ultimately reach American consumers, because every drop will go into an international market, in which the United States will have to buy back what we need from this consortium.

While it is true that the construction of this enormous cross-continent petroleum project may possibly require 100,000 new workers, once it is built it will require far less workers to maintain it. Speaking of maintenance, how often have Americans witnessed horribly tragic situations severely affecting our environment and wildlife because of blunders, or just plain negligence, by the petroleum industry?

I believe the ultimate answer is water, not oil. In the wet areas of our country, we have enormous reserves of water in aquifers, reservoirs and groundwater, while dry areas (which could be planted with millions of tons of food for Americans) remain unproductive for want of water.

Why not a huge American project to build water pipelines from the wet areas of our country to the dry areas to irrigate the land so we could grow millions of tons of new food for hungry Americans? I’ll bet that such a project would provide at least 100,000 new jobs for unemployed Americans, perhaps a lot more. And, if the water pipelines leak, it would not cause the disastrous environmental destruction that petroleum does, which has been sadly proven over many years.

Why give one more dollar to the greedy oil barons that make billions in profits already, to the detriment of our country’s ecosystem, which is already in trouble?

I believe that answer is more water, not more oil.

Judy A. Guy, Boardman