To the editor:

The Aug. 27 article “Kansans Upset about TransCanada pipeline” needs correction or clarification on several points. First, it is not quite the case that oil is being supplied “to the U.S.” If that were the case, why construct such a long pipeline? Why not just build refineries in North Dakota? The pipeline is headed to “the refineries on the Gulf Coast” because the refined oil can then be loaded on barges and sent anywhere in the world, to the highest bidder, just like any oil produced from American wells. Obviously if there are any long-term job effects from this process they will benefit Texas, exclusively.

The article later refers to “Nebraska’s Ogallala Aquifer,” which of course is also our own Ogallala Aquifer. The increasing salinity of the water in this formation is bad enough without the additional pollution of oil spills. Even small cracks in the line will create air and water pollution. And how many hundred thousand gallons of water will be required to move this oil shale (not “oil sands”) through the pipeline?

The state of Nebraska has been putting up a fight on this despite energy interests there. Texas and Oklahoma are always ready to let big oil gamble with people’s health and safety. President Obama, it appears, is our last hope.