Directed by Leslie Iwerks
Pipe Dreams is a short film (39 minutes) but it packs an enormous wallop. In it, filmmaker Leslie Iwerks examines the Keystone XL project, a proposed oil pipeline that would stretch from Canada to the Gulf Coast. At stake among other things is America’s heartland—the wheat fields, cattle ranches and Ogallala Aquifer, the country’s largest freshwater resource, critical not only for basic human needs, but also for ranching and farming.
This pipeline would carry tar oil, a sludge known as “dirty oil,” right across one of the nation’s most environmentally sensitive areas. In a spill, dirty oil is much more difficult to clean than conventional crude, so a leak could potentially wipe out the food supply this region generates. The existing Keystone I project, it’s immediate predecessor, already has a besmirched record; in its first year of operation it’s racked up a dozen spills. And while this dirty oil would be refined by U.S. companies and workers, the end product is not even intended for our use. Instead, it would continue on . . . to China and beyond. In essence, Iwerks contends, owner TransCanada Corporation would reap tremendous profits while the American Midwest would incur all the risk. The scheduled route crosses the world’s largest freshwater aquifer, where a spill would be disastrous, as well as sensitive agricultural lands.
In interviews with Nebraska ranchers, we learn that TransCanada is using scare tactics and intimidation to acquire the necessary land easements to build. Yet the ranchers and farmers have only the vaguest idea of where exactly the pipeline will run. TransCanada declined to be interviewed for the film, which probably speaks loudest.
Keystone I received quick approval with almost no discussion during the administration of George W. Bush. This past November, after Nebraska lawmakers, environmental groups and the public voiced record opposition, Pres. Obama asked for more study and alternate routes, at which congressional GOPs demanded a response by mid-February. As press time, the president officially declined to decide until adequate studies can be completed. TransCanada is already mapping a new route.
