Keystone XL Pipeline Cleaner And Cooler Than Texas Wind Farms In Terms Of Climate Change And Global Warming Say Friends Of Science

Recent research indicates that Texas wind farms cause more heating and climate change than would the Keystone XL Pipeline; consequently prospects of the President approving Keystone look brighter for thousands of jobless Americans. Based on US State Department parameters, Keystone is calculated to potentially contribute just 0.00002 °C in 50 years, while Texas wind Farms have been shown to have increased local temperatures by 1°C, at the same time requiring inordinate amounts of carbon dioxide (CO2) intense cement during construction.

Calgary,Alberta, Canada (PRWEB) - While the US limps through the recession, thousands of ‘shovel-ready’ jobs are on hold waiting for President Obama to approve Keystone XL pipeline, a 36 inch oil pipeline that will carry product from Canada’s oil sands to Gulf Coast refineries. Environmentalists ignore the impacts of renewables like wind farms, while claiming Keystone will cause global warming or climate change.

At the same time that vocal environmentalists are trying to block Keystone XL Pipeline, some 37 other pipeline projects are under construction in the U.S.

“Oil and gas pipelines already cross the US and Canada,” says Ken Gregory, director of Friends of Science. “Keystone XL pipeline has become a contrived flash point in environmental crusades against fossil fuels.”

The 9th Annual Conference of the International Funders of Indigenous Peoples states on page 47 that TIDES Canada will make a concerted effort to shut down oil sands production by shutting down Keystone XL Pipeline, stating: “A number of U.S. groups are backing the [Rethink Alberta] effort, including Rainforest Action Network, Forest Ethics, Global Community Monitor and Friends of the Earth.” ...According to [Michael] Marx, the campaign's "big goal" is to end expansion of the oil sands. Key to that, he said, is blocking approval of a $7 billion pipeline under review by the U.S. Department of State.”

“So it’s not about science, but politics, and foreign interference,” says Gregory. “The science is clear. Carbon dioxide (CO2) is a harmless trace gas. You breathe out 40,000 ppm; will you be taxed for breathing?”

He goes on to say: “Do the math based on the midpoint of a range of estimates by US Department of State of 2.7 million metric tonnes CO2/yr incremental emissions from pipeline approval. Assuming a climate sensitivity of 0.7 °C per doubling of CO2, the emissions would result in a temperature change of 0.00000043 °C/year. That means Keystone XL approval might lead to 0.00002 °C temperature change in 50 years, which is obviously insignificant.”

Ironically, peer-reviewed research of NASA satellite data shows that by contrast Texas wind farms in a west-central area warm the area at a rate of 0.72 degrees Celsius per decade.

“The sun is the main driver of climate change,” says Ken Gregory, director and frequent author on the topic of climate change. “Based on the hundreds of academic and peer-reviewed materials we have assessed over the past decade, it is clear that the sun is the main driver of climate change. Not carbon dioxide (CO2).”

Long-lived pipelines, some 50 years old, also require less invasive constructs than wind farms, which are subject to massive pours of concrete for footings. Wind farms require replacement within 15-25 years; output drops dramatically after 10 years. They require 24/7 back-up by always-on gas power plants as well, meaning few emissions are saved by wind power.

“There has been no global warming for 16 years,” says Gregory. "Water vapor is the more important greenhouse gas. Satellite and weather balloon measurements show that water vapor counteracts much of the CO2 greenhouse effect."

European carbon taxes and climate policies, like those Obama proposes, have sent electrical prices 37% higher than America’s today in just 8 years.

About Friends of Science 
Friends of Science have spent a decade reviewing a broad spectrum of literature on climate change and have concluded the sun is the main driver of climate change, not carbon dioxide (CO2). The core group of the Friends of Science is made up of retired and active earth and atmospheric scientists. Membership is open to the public and available on-line.