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Notes from the Underground: Season’s Greetings! Pipelines Leak! We need responsible energy!
By Adam Arnold, Environmental Consultant
In 2022, we learned that humanity’s need for safe, reliable, responsible energy is still paramount. Or should have – just as it should in any of the forty or fifty years since the threat of anthropogenic climate change became public. Or even before that – anytime since we became aware of pollution and its effects on health. Regardless, 2022 offered many learning opportunities.
Despite some bright moments, this year there was more cause for disappointment than celebration when it came to energy production, transport and consumption. But to start on a high note, one cause for celebration came in Pennsylvania, where the state’s Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) fined Shell Pipeline for various spills and releases — and failure to report — during the construction of the Falcon pipeline. In doing so, the DEP upheld whistleblower disclosures about the shoddy work being done (which would appear to contradict Shell’s website claim that the corporation is “operating[s its] property responsibly and [is] dedicated to protecting the health, safety and environment of the communities in which [it] to operate[s].”).
The year ended up offering several acute examples of the problems posed by energy sources that are neither safe nor accountable to the public, culminating in the massive, entirely predictable leak from the Keystone pipeline.
All Leakers, big and small
Holding Shell Pipeline accountable is an important event, but the sheer scale of it means that this victory (about $700,000, the penalty is a slap on the wrist) will inevitably be overshadowed by a massive spill like the estimated 14,000 barrels that spewed from Keystone into northern Kansas.
There have been several significant leaks along the length of the Keystone – which brings oil from Canada through the US for refining and export – since it began operating in 2010. That these leaks seem to be getting less and less press coverage should be of concern to anyone member of the public, but the focus of that reporting, which often emphasized economic impacts, is just as telling. Not because of environmental damage or cleanup costs, or property damage to those whose land the pipeline runs through that will likely never be fully compensated, but because of the price of oil.
If prices rising from market panic every time there is a significant leak or spill is a form of “accountability,” it is not one that provides a stable foundation for a healthy economy.
An extreme example of the problems – economic and otherwise – of reliance on the pipeline can be seen in the Baltic Sea, where authorities in several countries have still failed to identify the saboteur of the Nord Stream gas pipeline.
Underwater explosions in September blew huge holes in the pipelines that are supposed to deliver natural gas from Russia to Europe via Germany. Although it is believed to be linked to Russia’s war in Ukraine, the only sure thing about the attack is that it exposed the risk of reliance on fossil fuel pipelines.
Pipeline problems Plus
If the mystery of who sabotaged Nord Stream is likely to be solved eventually, the mystery of how to provide energy without risk and instability is a tougher nut to crack.
And if the answer that comes to mind is “nuclear power,” the conflict in Ukraine has highlighted concerns on that front as well. In that country that experienced the Chernobyl disaster, nuclear facilities have become pawns of Russian aggression. While they have so far been hijacked to control Ukraine’s electricity supply (combined with the deliberate destruction of energy infrastructure), the fear of a Russian endgame becomes increasingly visceral as the war progresses. Russian President Putin claimed that the use of nuclear weapons is not on the table, but that the arming of nuclear energy facilities still looms over Ukraine.
So, for those who would argue that nuclear energy is a safe alternative to fossil fuel energy, Ukraine is an example of a steep decline in reliance on another energy source that carries with it considerable risk. Under the control of those who would do evil, a nuclear facility no longer seems ideal.
The air conditioner talks, but no one listens
As a final reminder of the nexus in which we – humanity – find ourselves, in 2022 another Conference of the Parties (COP) tried – and failed – to find solutions to the global climate crisis. The rally in Egypt has not been entirely without reward, but if people are waiting for a silver bullet to stabilize the climate, it has not materialized this year, and probably won’t anytime soon. As with pipelines and nuclear power plants, the problems are inherent in the product: pipelines leak, reactors can be weaponized, and the use of fossil fuels harms the environment and affects the climate.
These facts, the fragile, vulnerable infrastructure that accompanies large-scale energy production and distribution, and the economic power that can allow large energy suppliers to self-regulate with no accountability other than a spastic market, require changes in the way we produce and use energy. Accountability, transparency and sustainability point to the need to maximize local and renewable energy production, improve efficiency and minimize waste.
The year ends without a resolution to the man-made climate change crisis, without a solution to the conflict in Ukraine, without a solution to the dangers posed by hazardous energy sources, and without continued reliance on pipelines to transport oil and natural gas.
But with every new year, there is new hope
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