Why is Hillary Clinton Against the Keystone XL Pipeline?

With the US on the brink of an election, presidential candidates are doing everything that can to up their profiles and win over voters. Hillary Clinton is undoubtedly one of the most popular contenders, charming America with her ‘tell it like it is’ approach. Now, she’s gone one step further and publically opposed the controversial Keystone XL pipeline, claiming that it’s a “distraction” and is not “what we need to do to combat climate change.”

The public denouncement is the biggest environmental move of her presidential election campaign and is sure to have got the USA’s most avid eco warriors on board.

Hillary speaks up

So why is Hillary so against the project? While in the past she’s refused to reveal why she opposes the development, at a recent Iowa event she maintained that support would be inappropriate given the fact that she’s a former member of the Obama administration.

“I think it is imperative that we look at the Keystone pipeline as what I believe it is, a distraction from the important work we have to do to combat climate change, and unfortunately from my perspective one that interferes with our ability to move forward to deal with all the other issues,” explained Clinton.

“Therefore, I oppose it and I oppose it because I don’t think it’s in the best interest of what we need to do to combat climate change.”

Getting eco groups on-board

Global anti-climate change movement group 350.org was thrilled to have Hillary on side, with May Boeve, organisation director stating, “Today’s news is a huge win for our movement, and ups the pressure even more on President Obama to reject the Keystone pipeline once and for all.”

Meanwhile, TransCanada maintains that it still plans to go ahead with the build, releasing a statement reading “Pipelines are the safest and least greenhouse gas-intensive way to transport needed Canadian and American crude oil to Americans – safer than rail.”

Rail is an alternative to pipeline transport, however it’s nowhere near as widely used. The article ‘Proliferation of Crude by Rail and its Impacts’ explores how shale oil and gas exploration has revolutionised the USA’s energy outlook, and the role rail infrastructure when transporting crude from A to B.