Pipeline won’t serve common good

To the editor:

I agree with Mark S. Edwards' Jan. 5 letter on the Bakken crude oil pipeline ('Public information lacking on Bakken”).

There are many natural resources, property rights and climate change concerns regarding this unnecessary pipeline. Energy Transport Partners wants to transport Bakken crude oil from North Dakota to Illinois across 18 counties in Iowa. They want to fast track its construction and minimize citizen awareness and involvement. Seems like just another example of corporate power prioritizing its profits at the expense of our land and water.

This pipeline will transport up to 570,00 barrels of crude oil daily, crossing every major watershed in Iowa, including many impaired by Department of Natural Resources standards. Pipelines leak. There have been horrible environmental disasters from oil spills in Arkansas, Michigan and North Dakota, with the cost of clean up often passed on to taxpayers. This pipeline won't serve our common good. It'll only benefit the shareholders of Energy Transport Partners. It doesn't deserve our support. We need to support clean, renewable energy and remain a national leader in wind an solar energy development. The Iowa Utilities Board should reject this pipeline.

Tom Mohan

Cedar Rapids