North American Pipe (line) Dreams

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North American Pipe (line) Dreams

I was a sophomore in high school, first time driving solo down the long country roads of Dekalb, paralleled with corn just starting to sprout through the damp, dark soil. 21 dollars, the price to fill up my rickety 89' honda prelude's 14 gallon tank. 4.35 last time I checked was the price for one gallon of gasoline. Oil reserves are very close if not past the 50% tapped out mark. That is the tipping point. Meaning we will not see gasoline for anything less than the yearly average which we are seeing now. We will start to see European prices in the near future. On top of it all, the consequences of burning fossil fuels as rapidly as a sleaze-bag ceo of circa 2000 enron can sell out his employees. The few get overly wealthy while the general population reel with the effects of a quick buck, and a stubbornly evolving energy campaign.

There is no substantial oil field within 600 miles of Dekalb. Yet, just this summer there is now a two way, 2,300 mile pipeline running less than a mile from my house bisecting corn fields and properties. I am not exactly sure what the reasons are, but west coast Canadian slag oil is pumped over to Indiana, then the refined oil is pumped all the way back over to western Canada. I may be missing a lot but it seems like it would have been a little more economical, environmentally friendly, and frankly much easier if the refinery plant was placed closer to the origin of the oil.

Either way, it's sad that it is necessary to continue projects that force oil as part of our future energy plan for at least the next quarter century. I take solice in the fact that Illinois is now the number one producer of wind energy and is still expanding it's green projects. But it's time that the United States takes many more and larger steps in an attempt to create an energy plan that reduces oil and fossil fuel usage by huge percentages. Breaking the all encompassing grip that oil has on the US and the environment is the next space race, the new Manhattan Project and it should start to be treated that way.

Here are some photos of the line that's cutting it's way over the plains and through the hills. Even though I find it relatively unsettling that there will now be a pipeline so close to my home, I find the whole construction process really intriguing. I wonder if it is the same crew and equipment that just travels the whole line from Canada and then back.









Reading: (now) Spy

Listening to: Minus the Bear, Burning Luck