CLIMATE 101: WHY ARE OIL AND GAS PIPELINES SO HARMFUL?

The science is clear: Any new fossil fuel infrastructure threatens our ability toprevent catastrophic warming. So why are we still building pipelines?

THE BASICS
Over the past decade, oil and gas pipelines have been the site of some of our biggest
climate battles. Across the United States, climate activists, community members, andorganizations have fought hard to oppose new pipelines. And for good reason.
Yet just last month, the Biden administration approved the Willow Project: an $8-billion
oil project on the 23 million acre Alaska's National Petroleum Reserve. The project has
the potential to emit 280 million metric tons of carbon emissions over its 30-year
lifetime.
Let’s dig into just how harmful fossil fuel infrastructure can be.
WHAT ARE PIPELINES?
Pipelines have transported oil and gas across the United States. Now, the United States
has the largest oil and gas pipeline network in the world at a whopping 2.6 million miles.
This network is made up of several different pipelines, including:● Small gathering lines that connect wells to processing facilities.
● Medium feeder pipelines that transport liquid hydrocarbons like crude oil andnatural gas liquids from oil and gas fields.
● Larger transmission pipelines that carry the products to the destination regions orcountries.
● Distribution pipelines that funnel the processed fuels to homes and business.

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WHY ARE OIL AND GAS PIPELINES SO HARMFUL?
Carbon Emissions
Whether it’s severe weather events, rising sea levels, or an ever-warming planet, eachday brings new evidence that the effects of climate change are here – and that we
desperately need a just transition to clean energy. Investing in fossil fuelinfrastructure does just the opposite. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate
Change’s latest report spells it out: Adding even more fossil fuel infrastructure will pushus past our climate goals.
Building more pipelines could drive climate change for decades to come. Even just one
additional large-scale pipeline could lead to millions of metric tons of carbon dioxide
emissions annually – the equivalent of adding dozens of coal plants or millions ofpassenger vehicles.
If the United States is going to reach its emission reduction goals, we can’t afford tobuild new pipelines – or even keep running the ones we do have.
Disruption of Land, Ecosystems, and Communities
From the moment construction begins, pipelines disrupt and destroy the ecosystems
they cut through. Building a pipeline across thousands of miles is no small project.
When pipelines crisscross through forests, they end up cutting the land into smaller
pieces of ‘forest fragments’. The negative effects of forest fragmentation on the health of
its ecosystems are well documented: declining biodiversity increases susceptibility to allsorts of threats like wildfires and diseases.
Pipelines also disrupt communities and livelihoods. People living in the path of pipelines
can be forcibly separated from their land, homes, and resources. While landowners cansell or lease their land out to projects, some find that Big Oil has left them with nochoice. These people may be surprised to find out that a fossil fuel company has beencourt-authorized to take or use their land.
Pollution
Once up and running, pipelines continue to threaten human and environmental health.
Compressor stations – those industrial facilities needed every 40-70 miles to keep
natural gas moving – are especially heavy polluters. In addition to greenhouse gases
such as carbon dioxide and methane, compressor stations emit nitrogen oxides, carbon
monoxide, volatile organic compounds, and particulate matter.
Nitrogen oxides (NOx) are a group of gases that are notoriously unhealthy for us tobreathe in. Nitric oxide (NO) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2), two compounds in this group,
are emitted from the combustion of fossil fuels. In the presence of oxygen and a bit of2

sunshine, these NOx gases form smog that can harm our respiratory and nervoussystems.
Compressor stations are also loud. One Pennsylvania resident described thecompressor station he lives about half a mile away from as sounding like “a truck in thedriveway.” Imagine constantly hearing that when you’re trying to work, relax, sleep, oreven when you’re trying to have a conversation at home.
Spills, Leaks, and Explosions, Oh My!
Pipelines almost inevitably bring spills, leaks and even explosions – especially as themillions of miles of pipelines continue to age. Federal data shows that from 2003through 2022, pipeline incidents resulted in 257 deaths, 1,085 injuries, and over $12billion in financial damages in the United States.
The Keystone pipeline, for example, had 22 spills from the time it began operating in2010 through the end of 2020. Its most recent spill, in December 2022, leaked morethan half a million gallons of crude oil into a Kansas creek and farmland. This was thelargest spill in the history of the Keystone pipeline and the largest onshore oil spill in theUnited States since 2013.
Direct exposure to crude oil can lead to all sorts of acute health impacts like respiratory
distress, memory loss, and headaches. Even without direct exposure, oil can reach
us by contaminating the water we drink and bathe in, the soil we grow our foodin, and the air we breathe.
Because natural gas is easily ignitable, when it leaks, it can also explode if it comes into
contact with a spark or flame. Last year, a pipe containing natural gas exploded into a
450-feet-high fireball at a natural gas export facility in Freeport, Texas. Freeport, theresponsible company, estimated that the event burned 1.6 million cubic feet of naturalgas.
The explosion exposed not only the volatility of gas, but of the gas market. The loss of
this US export sent gas prices up throughout Europe, as the explosion rocked an
unstable global market.
LET’S BUILD A CLEAN ENERGY ECONOMY
It’s time to transition away from our fossil fuel-centered economy. We need a clean
energy economy and we need it now.
To contribute to the clean energy revolution and help build a world that works for people
and communities, join our digital community advocates around the world today.
Learn more at https://www.climaterealityproject.org/
Last updated July 2023

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