Majority Say Pipeline More Important Than Climate Change

[Typical. The majority of North Americans think that maintaining their comfort is more important than saving the planet. This poll reflects the mindset of individualist, capitalist culture that puts one person’s comfort above humanity’s. — NP]

Majority Say Pipeline More Important Than Climate Change By Susan Graybeal | Yahoo! Contributor Network

A new poll released this week by Nik Nanos, a public policy scholar at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, revealed that the majority of Americans and Canadians feel that the energy security that could be provided by the Keystone XL pipeline is more important than concerns over climate change.

* According to the poll, 63 percent of Americans think that having North America free from importing oil from outside the continent is more important than reducing greenhouse gases. Thirty percent of respondents felt that reducing greenhouse gases was the priority of the two issues.

* In Canada, 55 percent selected freeing North America for imported oil as more important, while 38 percent chose addressing greenhouse gases.

* Seventy percent of Americans and 60 percent of Canadians are favorable to the idea of the Keystone pipeline, Nanos’ poll revealed, with 74 and 68 percent respectively stating that they support or somewhat support proceeding with the project.

* Seventy-six percent of Americans and 66 percent of Canadians feel that a continental energy strategy should be pursued, and most of those polled from each country felt that there should be common environmental standards.

* When asked about the importance of reducing greenhouse gases separately from the issue of the Keystone XL pipeline, a majority of both Americans and Canadians felt that the issue was important.

* Eighty-eight percent of Americans feel that ensuring a stable energy supply is important, but that number drops to 60 percent in Canada.

* Eleven percent of Americans and 14 percent of Canadians expressed that reducing greenhouse gases is unimportant.

* The survey, which was conducted randomly on 1,007 Americans and 1,013 Canadians in late March and early April, is in sharp contrast to reports of thousands of Americans vowing a pledge of resistance against the Keystone pipeline.

* According to the Houston Chronicle, 60,000 people have stated that they will risk arrest to fight the pipeline.

* Meanwhile, the Environmental Protection Agency sent a letter to the U.S. State Department, urging the department to do a more thorough analysis of the risks of oil spills and alternative pipeline routes, in addition to a study of the greenhouse gas emissions associated with the pipeline.

* A State Department draft report of the $7 billion pipeline project in March indicated that it will not create environmental impacts, the Associated Press reported.