Evacuation order over after pipeline rupture in Berrien County (MI)

[KamaAina]

http://www.wsbt.com/news/local/breaking-evacuations-after-massive-gas-line-rupture-in-benton-twp/28079504

After a long day of waiting, just moments ago people started allowing 500 people from rural Berrien County, evacuated after a gas pipeline ruptured, back into their homes....

Vic Rogers, a farmer that lives just a quarter mile from where the blast occurred, says he heard a loud noise around 2 a.m. and came outside to see a geyser of mud and dirt 200 feet in the area.

The area around the pipeline is now swampy.

Rogers says Trans Canada, the company that owns the pipeline, has advised him that his three acres of potatoes around the explosion may be contaminated and should not be harvested.

And this was a gas pipeline. Imagine if it had been Keystone XL!

[MineralMan]

1. "Imagine if it had been Keystone XL! "

Imagine if it had been a train of tank cars in your town that derailed, followed by explosions and fires. That exact thing has already happened in Canada. Pipelines generally go through rural areas. Trains pass through our major cities and towns. The oil will be transported. There's no question about that. The question is how it will be transported. There are arguments on both sides.

Three acres of potatoes. An entire downtown district. Think about the difference.

The answer, of course, is to cut our use of petroleum products dramatically, so that oil would not need to be transported. I'm not seeing that coming anytime soon, though, so the oil will be transported.

[KamaAina]

2. A large part of the opposition to KXL

is the belief that the incredibly dirty tar sands oil should not be transported.

[MineralMan]

3. Yes, I'm aware of that.

The thing is that the oil will be produced and it will be transported. I have absolutely no doubt of that, and see nothing that will stop that process. I object to it as well, but I realize that my objections, along with those of others, are not going to prevail. The demand is simply too high. Can we end the demand? I doubt it very much.

Hobson's choice is what it is. There's no good option available, frankly, on any sort of realistic basis.

[Takket]

4. -

"The answer, of course, is to cut our use of petroleum products dramatically, so that oil would not need to be transported."

Pffffffffffffffffft oh yeah sure. How do you propose we do that? Magically turn the suns rays into electricity? LOL

[MineralMan]

5. I see your sarcasm and raise you some realism.

Petroleum is not all used to generate electricity, nor can electricity create many of the things that come from petroleum. Solar electrical generation is very important, and is growing in its ability to replace petroleum fuels. However petroleum has many uses, and not all of them involve burning it to make power.

Still, our use of petroleum based fuels is extremely extensive and is not likely to be reduced by anything like a large percentage anytime soon. I believe your sarcasm is misplaced.