Former Oklahoma Corporation Commissioner Patrice Douglas voiced her concerns this week about what she called “the real consequences of anti-pipeline activism.”
Writing in the Tulsa World, the former Commission chairwoman said, “Underlying most anti-pipeline activism is a fundamental misunderstanding of the rigor of the permitting process.
She explained that most pipeline projects, whether they be in Oklahoma, Texas or North Dakota undergo extensive scientific review. But Douglas warned of the dangerous consequences of anti-pipeline extremism.
“A recent Consumer Energy Alliance report found that pipeline delays are already causing nearly $14 billion in lost investment, threatening more than 66,000 jobs and sapping hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of state tax revenue. Another report found a Dakota Access shutdown alone would lead to the loss of more than 7,000 jobs and $900 million in state tax revenues.”
She also warned of anti-pipeline efforts that wind up in court where “there is a risk of long-term economic damage.”
“—the excessive politicization and litigation of the issue by ill-informed environmental reactionaries, who more often than not are immune to the negative economic consequences of their own advocacy, is measurably harmful,” wrote Douglas.
Click here to view the entire opinion piece by Patrice Douglas in The Tulsa World.
