The Keystone XL Pipeline Story in the United States

Award-winning production company, Leslie Iwerks Productions is producing a 40-minute documentary that will explore the social, political and environmental impacts of the $13 billion construction of the proposed Keystone XL Pipeline by Canadian energy corporation TransCanada. This controversial pipeline is set to carry up to 1.1 million barrels of heavy crude oil per day from the Alberta Tar Sands through the middle of the United States down to the Gulf Coast. Academy Award and Emmy  nominated filmmaker Leslie Iwerks is directing. Award-winning producer Jane Kosek is producing.

This film will uncover the realities behind building this 1,980-mile pipeline through the heartland of America. It will discuss the ramifications of the growing U.S. reliance on Canada's tar sands, as well as the sacrifices on people, wildlife and the environment in the long term. On the opposite side, it will discuss proposed job creations, proposed revenue for landowners and taxpayers, proposed land reclamation, carbon capture and storage developments, and pipeline safety history in America. At a time when the country needs job creation and seemingly unlimited oil, we will hear from proponents and advocates who feel it is a good thing for America vs. those who feel we are facing environmental catastrophe in the long term. Many accounts state this pipeline is just the bridge for Transcanada to ship oil overseas to an oil hungry China and other countries at the expense of the U.S. heartland. Is this just another corporate move at the expense of landowners, taxpayers, and U.S. citizens nationwide, under the veil of a friendly Canadian/U.S. relationship? Many people are asking.

Leslie Iwerks previous films Dirty OIl and Downstream (shortlisted for an Academy Award in 2009) have covered the environmental and social consequences of oil production from the tar sands regions in Alberta, Canada. (visit: www.babelgum.com/dirtyoil and www.downstreamdoc.com)  This new documentary will not only cover the impacts of this oil production and transport in the United States, it will also present developments as they have been unfolding in the United States leading up to the decision on a Presidential permit to allow TransCanada to complete this pipeline. An affirmative decision on this pipeline will affect the land, economy, people, and the world, for decades to come, and this film will tell you how.

The Impact

Many Americans are not aware of the real environmental and social impacts this country faces if it continues a greater reliance on excavating the world's most energy-intensive oil, an extreme and low-grade tar-like crude, that comes with production emissions that are 17 to 23 percent higher than conventional oil. 

Having flown over and filmed the myriad forms of destruction at the source in Ft. McMurray, Alberta, Leslie will now examine the potential threats this pipeline will pose to citizens, resources, and wildlife in the United States. Threats that include increased greenhouse gas emissions and toxic by-products, potential pipeline spills, a proposed increase in gas prices across the country due to production, potential contamination from leaks into major water supplies such as the Ogallala Aquifer which yields 30 percent of the nation's groundwater used for irrigation, production and property value losses, surface damage, and continual destruction of one of the world's largest ecosystems in North America: the Boreal Forest. In this documentary, American people will have a voice for their concerns on both sides of the issue. We have and are continuing to invite interviews with representatives from organizations such as Transcanada, Flint Resources, The Department of Defense, The Environmental Protection Agency, NRDC, U.S. Department of Transportation, the State Department, and more. 

What We Need

Leslie Iwerks Productions has budgeted the need for $25,000 (travel, lodging, equipment and crew) to commence the first phase of production, principal photography in Washington DC, as well as interviews with Nebraska senators, landowners and activists along the pipeline route from Nebraska, South Dakota to Montana. Interviews with additional governmental representatives, scientists and lobbyists on both sides of the issue are being secured in California and Canada. 

Once principal photography is complete, Leslie Iwerks Productions will then propose a a second phase of funding to edit and complete the film prior to the presidential permit decision this fall. These funds will also help to qualify the film into the 2011 Academy Award Documentary Short Subject Category. The film will be screened on Capitol Hill and used for public awareness about our country's growing energy addiction and dependence, as well as the environmental and economic impacts. 

Time is of the essence. A bill, sponsored by House Republicans, aimed at a speeding up of a decision on the pipeline is on a "fast track" to move through the House Energy and Power Subcommittee. It imposes a November 1 deadline on the Obama administration to decided whether or not to approve. The State Department and Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, is currently reviewing the pipeline proposal to determine whether its construction is in the best interest of the U.S.  The Keystone XL Pipeline will affect all of us and we hope you may be able to support the creation of this important documentary for public awareness regarding this issue. 

Please share this campaign with your friends and family. We are grateful for everyone's financial support and hope the telling of this story will benefit the future of America. 

Thank you! 

Please take a look through the below importance articles:

http://ecocentric.blogs.time.com/2011/06/07/sho...

http://www.salon.com/news/politics/barack_obama...

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/02/10/idUS2...

http://thetyee.ca/Opinion/2011/05/27/KeystonePi...

http://www.vancouversun.com/business/Canadian+o...

http://blogs.forbes.com/oshadavidson/2011/05/11...

http://thetyee.ca/Blogs/TheHook/Environment/201...

http://thetyee.ca/Blogs/TheHook/Election-Centra...

http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20110509-71...

http://switchboard.nrdc.org/blogs/sclefkowitz/u...

http://content.usatoday.com/communities/greenho...

http://groundwaterfoundation.blogspot.com/2010/...

Helping to Protect:

http://www.thenebraskasandhills.com/Home.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ogallala_Aquifer