Even as TransCanada attempts to build their continent-spanning $7 billion Keystone XL pipeline from Alberta to the Gulf of Mexico, and BP continues to shrug off the burden of further oil cleanup with "scientific" contrivances, and the Gulf continues deal with the largest deadzone in recorded history  from the spilled crude, Exxon recently reports that one of their pipelines in Montana has recently ruptured, spilling 750 to 1,000 barrels of crude oil into the Yellowstone River, according to IBT News yesterday. Although the hype and the glossy commercials show a "greener, friendlier, everyman's" kind of approach to fossil fuels, for the companies actually extracting and processing the stuff (and continuing to make historic profits) it's business as usual.

     In Billings, Montana, Exxon spokeswoman Pam malek reported that late Friday evening the ruptured pipe leaked between 750 and 1,000 barrels of tradition crude oil into the Yellowstone River over a period of 30 minutes before it was shut off. Emergency services in Montana evacuated residents from a nearby town, but they were later allowed to return.

     This comes after TransCanada, Canada's biggest oil company and proponent of controversial tarsands crude oil, fights allegations by the EPA that the Keystone XL pipeline poses "serious risks" to surrounding ecosystems and aquifers. The company had attempted to convince the U.S. that tarsands oil is not significantly different than regular oil and that by building this 1,900 mile long pipeline that would be able to cheaply and safely increase the amount of oil imported to the U.S. Despite two leaks already, and evidence that clearly shows the dramatically higher toxicity and chemical levels in tarsand oil than traditional crude, not to mention warnings from the EPA, the pipeline continues to get legislative support. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told a Congressional Committee in March that she was, "generally supportive of receiving more oil from Canada."

     In my home state of Nebraska, where the Keystone Pipeline has met serious opposition, U.S. Representative Lee Terry proposed a bill that would essentially rush construction of the pipeline, bypassing many landowners rights. This despite the fact that TransCanada continues to pay for cleanup efforts in Michigan, where another of their tarsands oil lines leaked 840,000 gallons of toxic crude into the Kalamazoo River last summer. The company has also been accused of threatening landowners in the Dakotas, Nebraska, and Kansas with "eminent domain", of which they have no power to enact, in order to get their pipeline built.

     Rsource wrote on Earth Week earlier this week on the dangers of tarsands extracted oil, and mentioned the growing accusation of U.S. policymakers and citizens that we are "addicted" to fossil fuels. Despite historic spills, massive environmental impacts, and often inflated prices, demand continues to grow and production continues to increase. As public transportation initiatives and alternative energy programs are defunded by Republican budget-cutting enthusiasts in the House who pay lip-service to clean energy, oil and gas companies are collecting massive profits as well as government subsidies to continue to "end our dependence on foreign oil" by simply spilling it in our own back yards; business as usual.