by Anthony Kaskurs

Natural Gas Pipelines help transport millions of dollars worth of energy in the form of gas each year.

With approximately 68,000 miles of pipelines, Kinder Morgan owns an interest in or operates the largest natural gas network in North America, and has continued to expand its hold on this vital commodity. Kinder Morgan pipelines transport approximately one-third of the natural gas consumed daily in the U.S. No doubt this company has allowed Americans to continue use natural gas as a resource, but many of these implemented pipelines are not located where they might have a huge, irreversible effect on marine life. The proposed Kinder Morgan pipelines in Canada should not be constructed because the profit gained by the Kinder Morgan would not directly enhance the communities around their pipelines, would devastate income generated by tourism for the communities, and would make the marine life in those communities non-harvestable. In the end, the only people who gain from these proposed planes are the bigwigs at KM.

Many people believe that by bringing jobs to a certain area will raise the economy of that area. While this is true, many fail to realize that these proposed pipelines are virtually unmanned, meaning that less people would receive income from these proposed pipelines. Recently, Kinder Morgan reported a profit of $469 million and revenue of $3.6 billion. These monetary gains are directly re-invested into the company, allowing Kinder Morgan to grow even larger, and to expand into other marine and aquatic territories. This would only decrease the quality of life in other parts of the world, effectively spreading pollutants, and increasing carbon emissions.

Tourism throughout the U.S generates billions of dollars each year. Even here in the Salish Sea, tourism generates 158 million dollars annually for small, independent companies and the cities they reside in. In Canada, where these pipelines are being built, tourism is a huge attraction. By allowing Kinder Morgan to construct more and more pipelines, less and less people want to travel to these parts of the world. Because less and less people would want to travel to these parts of Canada, the small communities would loose a huge source of profit, and would be unable to survive economically, and, in some respects, emotionally.

Many of these coastal communities rely on marine life to sustain their cultures and economies. The Queen Charlotte Islands in northwest Canada is home to many small communities who rely on an abundance of fish and marine life to sustain their livelihood. The northern Canadian cod fisheries have decreased in size because, due to increased pollution, the number of codfish has declined. This huge northwest commodity would be at an increased risk if Kinder Morgan continued with its plans to increase the number of pipelines in these coastal areas. Fish would be lost, meaning that these small communities would not be able harvest enough product to meet their financial means. These communities would eventually dwindle away, leaving Kinder Morgan to stomp in and grow even larger.

Many individuals believe that these proposed pipelines are necessary because natural gas is necessary. These people argue that the U.S will never truly be able to wean itself off oil and gas, and instead continue to use them until the very last drop. While, indeed we are a nation of gasoline and carbon emissions, increasing the amount of pipelines serves no other reason besides generating revenue for these large companies like Kinder Morgan. The oil transported is not being transported to U.S. soil, but instead to locations like China and Japan, and in this process, the Kinder Morgan people are essentially damaging and polluting North America to serve the interests of Asia and Europe.

Kaskurs is a student in Mrs. Tidwell’s marine science class in the public school.