This alone should be good reason to nix the whole Keystone idea.
The terrorism angle isn't just us versus the bad guys. It's also a way for oil companies to push for more surveillance of environmentalists who might dare to protest something like Keystone. And as you'll see, they don't think there's any real good reason to pay for security.
Steve Horn at DeSmogBlog:
Dave Cooper, Command Master ChiefSEAL (Retired) for the Naval Special Warfare Development Group (DEVGRU), has authored a threat assessmentconcluding TransCanada's Keystone XLtar sands pipeline is potentially at-risk of a terrorism attack.
In the report, Cooper concluded operational security vulnerabilities for the pipeline have been overlooked by the U.S. government. Cooper — most famous for overseeing the Abbottabad, Pakistan Osama Bin Laden raid as the commander of Navy SEAL Team Six — wrote the report as a consultant for billionaire Tom Steyer's advocacy group NextGen Climate Action.
“The very nature of Keystone XL’s newsworthiness, should it ever be built, increases its attractiveness as a target to terrorists: Keystone XL, aside from being a 'soft' target just like any other pipeline, has a built-in emotional impact that can’t be denied or wished away,” he wrote in the report's introduction.
“That simple fact, a newsworthy proposal that engenders strong passions, should clue in pipeline owners and government officials to the very real possibility of intentional attack.”
While I don't agree with the focus on so-called domestic terrorism, I do agree that the pipeline is a soft target for anyone wanting to do harm to the country. What is it that Saddam Hussein did when we invaded Iraq? Oh, right. He blew up the pipelines and wells.
