KeystoneXL--Blowing Stuff Up

Exploding pipelines, exploding trains, now exploding cows--the petrochemical industry has a definite image problem these days. On Sunday, a natural-gas pipeline in Manitoba owned by TransCanada--the company behind the Keystone XL pipeline--exploded, shooting flames nearly a thousand feet in the air. (Horrifying video here.) Then just the other day progressive burrito-chain Chipotle released the trailer for its upcoming 4-part series on Hulu, "Farmed and Dangerous" (see below), a very-promising satirical story about the "Animoil" corporation, which feeds cattle "petro pellets" and hopes to link its farms directly to the Keystone pipeline. An unfortunate glitch is that sometimes the cows, well, explode: 

 

Speaking of Keystone and explosions, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor says that 

Republicans are considering attaching a Keystone decision to a new law to raise the debt ceiling, which may be needed by the end of February for the U.S. to avoid another financial crisis.

So if President Obama doesn't OK Keystone, the GOP is prepared to blow up the world economy. KABLOOEY! 

PAUL RAUBER is a senior editor at Sierra. He is the author, with Carl Pope, of the happily outdated Strategic Ignorance: Why the Bush Administration Is Recklessly Destroying a Century of Environmental Progress. Otherwise he is a cyclist, cook, and dad. Follow him on Twitter @paulrauber