The GOP has been running ads accusing Sen. Maggie Hassan of being against American oil and responsible for higher gas prices because she voted against the Keystone pipeline project. These are ridiculous charges and disproven by facts.
The Keystone pipeline was about a Canadian company, Canadian oil and Canadian profits, not about American oil or American gas prices. The crude oil for Keystone would have come from the tar pits of Calgary, Alberta, Canada and the refined oil was to be shipped abroad, not to be used in the United States.
The Keystone pipeline would not have affected the price of gas. That price is set by an international consortium of industry representatives and the OPEC countries. Earnings reports of oil companies show how much they have benefited from the ability to manipulate prices at our local gas station. Both the Obama and Trump administrations concluded that the Keystone pipeline would not have any effect on the price of gas in the United States.
Tar sands oil is extremely dirty oil. It contains an excess of corrosive materials that have been responsible for deteriorating pipes and higher-than-average leaks. The costs associated with the environmental impact of this pipeline would be borne by the taxpayers of the states through which it was to travel: Montana, South Dakota and Nebraska, despite these people getting nothing in return. Jobs associated with pipeline construction are usually filled by the companies themselves, with traveling expert teams taking most of the higher paying jobs. Locally filled jobs tend to be limited and short-term.
Don’t be taken in by the smoke and mirrors of these ads . Maggie Hassan cast the right vote on the Keystone pipeline project and is not to blame for the price of gas
Susan Levin Wessels
Rindge