May 2013, Vol. 240, No. 5
Features
TransCanada Exec: Oil Lines Safer Than Rail
A TransCanada executive said opponents of the Alberta-to-Texas Keystone XL pipeline should consider one consequence of delays in building the oil pipeline – an increase in dirtier and more dangerous rail transport. Alex Pourbaix, president of energy and oil pipelines at the Calgary-based pipeline company, said although rail has an important role to play in moving oil sands crude to market, there are downsides to consider. “For every mile you move a barrel of oil by rail, you emit three times the (greenhouse gases) that you do by moving it by pipeline and you have an order of magnitude higher risk of having some sort of incident, leak or spill,” Pourbaix told an
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