Nothing neighborly about Keystone XL pipeline

In Andy D. Anderson's Dec. 8 letter “Support the Keystone Pipeline,” he argues that the Keystone XL pipeline would improve ties to a neighboring country.

I'd say acquiring American land by eminent domain doesn't sound very neighborly. Just ask farmer Susan Dunavan from McCool Junction, Neb., who's fighting TransCanada and its plan to take over her farmland via eminent domain.

Anderson also claims that 340,000 jobs would be created by the pipeline. According to Bill McKibben's new memoir, “Oil and Honey: The Education of an Unlikely Activist,” the XL pipeline would create about 2,000 temporary jobs for two years at good wages, then use only 35 people to maintain the pipeline (p. 80). This fact was established by a Cornell University study and ultimately conceded by TransCanada.

Anderson doesn't address one key question: Why build a pipeline all the way down to Texas? Because there is no intent to keep this friendly oil in the United States, but rather to send it overseas to fetch a higher price (and higher profits) for our friendly neighbors at TransCanada.

That's definitely not Iowa nice.

Charles R. Crawley

Cedar Rapids