Keystone offers:
1. An opportunity to be a good neighbor, and help a stalwart ally access other foreign markets. As well as a proven and ready supply for the US should instability in other parts of the world put a pinch on foreign supply.
2. An opportunity to put ~10% of Baaken production into the pipeline instead of the rail lines, with the opportunity for expansion as well.
3. An opportunity to free up rail lines to help move other commodities. Many ag producers and/or their elevators/marketers are seeing significant lag times to move product and are either paying a premium to ship or are piling corn and beans on the ground because they just plain can't store it all. At present I sit not 300yds from a corn pile sitting on the ground (vs. in an elevator or bin) big enough to fill every corn flinger in TX enough times to feed every deer and exotic all winter long.
4. Jobs, yes many of them are temporary to the construction phase but there is also permanent/ongoing monitoring, maintenance, and repairs.
5. Once in place, and now I'm spitballing, perhaps another pipeline occupying the same geography could be added to move more nat'l gas and ultimately improve/stabilize our nat'l electrical power grid. Baaken oil is still flaring off 26% of the bi-product nat'l gas, like a giant bic lighter all day, all night. One would think that capturing that and using it to heat water, make steam, and turn turbines is a far better use than just wasting it.
