In an interview on Fox News this Friday, Nebraska farmer Art Tanderup stood up to host Sandra Smith’s suggestion that his opposition to the Keystone Pipeline was for selfish reasons.
During the interview, Smith asked if Tanderup would still be opposed to the pipeline if it wasn’t in his own backyard.
“After we learned how destructive the chemicals and the tar sands are, we have come to realize that this type of fossil fuel should not be happening,” Tanderup said. “It doesn’t matter where it’s at ― we need to look for other sources of renewable energy. We would fight it wherever it was.”
Smith regurgitated the usual pro-pipeline talking points, citing a study by the conservative think tank the Fraser Institute that found transporting oil by pipeline is safer than by rail. But Tanderup mentioned that the existing Keystone pipeline leaked 16,800 gallons of oil in Yankton, South Dakota, in 2016.
“When something is out of sight and underground, and when TransCanada’s fancy detection system doesn’t work most of the time, it’s much more dangerous because you don’t know when those leaks happen,” Tanderup said.
“Let me ask you, what’s the solution?” Smith countered. “Because we all want to achieve energy independence in this country. This was an effort and a step in that direction. How do you achieve that?”
“This is not American oil, and it is going across America…”
“But it’s coming from Canada, rather than the Middle East, would be the argument,” Smith said, interrupting.
“That’s true, but it’s going across America to be refined and exported, which is not for America’s use,” he replied. “If they do not mix some high-quality crude with this, the best they get is poor-grade diesel fuel, which we can’t even burn in this country.”
Watch the exchange below, via Fox News:
Featured image via screen grab. To follow Sky Palma on Facebook, click here.
