The Friday night document dump was especially large today, and reporters were cranky. After a long week of sequestration coverage, members of the press were looking forward to the weekend, but some couldn’t escape a Friday afternoon conference call from the State Department on the potential effects of the proposed Keystone XL pipeline. What was the big news, then? As it turns out, the big news was no news, according to CNN Radio’s Lisa Desjardins.
KEYSTONE KEY?: Pt. 4.16 "The analyses…suggest…there wld be no significant impacts to most resources along the proposed Project route…"
— Lisa Desjardins (@LisaDNews) March 1, 2013
We knew this. RT @seanhackbarth RT @joshrogin: State Department has approved the Keystone XL pipeline plan as being environmentally sound.
— RBe (@RBPundit) March 1, 2013
KEYSTONE GREENHOUSE GAS: State says any one crude oil project, including this one, remains "unlikely" to affect rate of oil sands developmnt
— Lisa Desjardins (@LisaDNews) March 1, 2013
KEYSTONE more: On conf. call, reporters asked specific ?s. (Ex: "what's your conclusion?") State Dept. dodged, said "read the report".
— Lisa Desjardins (@LisaDNews) March 1, 2013
KEYSTONE IMPACTS: At risk to Twitter feed (Keystone=Foloer loser, sadly) here comes what State said Keystone will mean for each resource.
— Lisa Desjardins (@LisaDNews) March 1, 2013
KEYSTONE – GEOLOGY: State Dept. writes the pipeline will have no or negilble impact on area rocks and geology.
— Lisa Desjardins (@LisaDNews) March 1, 2013
KEYSTONE – SOIL: State Dept. finds upkeep of the pipeline would have impact similar, but less extensive, than a construction project.
— Lisa Desjardins (@LisaDNews) March 1, 2013
KEYSTONE – GROUNDWATER: Report finds groundwater could be affected by oil spills, but says the "potential volumes" of spills is small.
— Lisa Desjardins (@LisaDNews) March 1, 2013
KEYSTONE – SURFACE WATER: Report finds pipeline wld impact 120 acres of wetlands, some substantially some negligibly.
— Lisa Desjardins (@LisaDNews) March 1, 2013
KEYSTONE – PLANTS: This is how detailed this thing is. The report says the heat from the pipeline might affect prairie grass growing nearby.
— Lisa Desjardins (@LisaDNews) March 1, 2013
KEYSTONE – WILDLIFE: State says could be breeding, survivability problems for some species. Highlights risk of birds hitting electric wires.
— Lisa Desjardins (@LisaDNews) March 1, 2013
Maybe we could build some windmills to scare away the birds before they hit the electrical wires.
KEYSTONE – ENDANGERED SPECIES: Report says 13 species could be affected, but only one adversley affected: the American burying beetle.
— Lisa Desjardins (@LisaDNews) March 1, 2013
As concerned as we are for the American burying beetle, would it be terribly selfish if we skipped ahead to the effect on human beings?
KEYSTONE – JOBS: State Dept. says pipeline would mean 42,100 construction jobs for 1-2 years and 35-50 perm. jobs.
— Lisa Desjardins (@LisaDNews) March 1, 2013
NBC News managed to find a way to spin the report in ways that Fox News and even the New York Times wouldn’t touch.
U.S. Report Sees No Environmental Bar to Keystone Pipeline http://t.co/ZwXDdaz0UI
— The New York Times (@nytimes) March 1, 2013
State Dept: No major objections to #Keystone XL oil pipeline http://t.co/CmLm5SY2gq
— Fox News (@FoxNews) March 1, 2013
Big beetle must have gotten to someone.
Controversial Keystone pipeline will hurt the environment, feds say, but still better than alternatives http://t.co/ARlOSS5mqF
— NBC News (@NBCNews) March 1, 2013
Update:
Slate’s Matt Yglesias hasn’t read the State Department’s report and doesn’t need to.
https://twitter.com/mattyglesias/status/307604155189567488
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