Memes like this flooded Facebook and Twitter over the weekend, with content creators praising former President Barack Obama for having psychic-level foresight on the post-apocalyptic dangers of moving forward with the Keystone XL pipeline.
Here’s the thing: the Keystone XL pipeline doesn’t exist yet. The recent spill affected the existing Keystone pipeline — which the XL variant would have augmented or replaced.
The Keystone XL pipeline has been a popular headline over recent years, but it’s apparent few have done any actual research on the topic.
The pipeline is a U.S.-Canadian project constructed to export oil from the United States to its northern neighbor. It was commissioned in 2010, and contracted to manufacturer TransCanada. Since then, it has seen notable opposition from environmental groups and a handful of land owners.
Now, there are obviously environmental risks with public works projects like this. But praising the former president for something he clearly had nothing to do with is the literal definition of shilling.
~ Facts Not Memes
