As potential oil spills go, this one is relatively small, but it’s a harbinger of things to come if the Keystone XL project is approved: Everything You Need to Know About the Exxon Pegasus Tar Sands Spill.

In Greek legend, every time the winged horse Pegasus struck his hoof to the Earth, an “inspiring spring burst forth.” Unfortunately for residents in Mayflower, Arkansas, when the Pegasus pipeline ruptured, the only thing bursting forth was a nasty tar sands oil spill.

On Friday afternoon, the Pegasus pipeline operated by Exxon Mobil ruptured, flooding an Arkansas neighborhood with thousands of barrels of Wabasca Heavy crude from the Athabasca tar sands in Alberta.

Here’s what you need to know about the spill, with links to some reporting on this awful event, which at very least ruined the holiday weekends of many Mayflower, Arkansas residents, many of whom didn’t even know the pipeline was running through their neighborhood.

Read the whole thing…

Also see:
Because ‘Bitumen Is Not Oil,’ Pipelines Carrying Tar Sands Crude Don’t Pay Into US Oil Spill Fund
Exxon’s Duck-Killing Pipeline Won’t Pay Taxes to Oil Spill Cleanup Fund

Garth Lenz is one of the world’s most famous conservation photographers (with a perfect name for it), and here he is with a TED Talk, using his stunning photography to illustrate exactly what happens to an ecosystem when we mine its tar sands to extract oil. It’s pretty shocking to see the terrible reality behind the Keystone XL debate.

Lenz gets choked up at a couple of points in his presentation, and it isn’t hard to see why.

The Washington Post is reporting that the Obama administration will reject a Canadian company’s application to build a gigantic oil pipeline crossing the US-Canadian border: Obama administration to reject Keystone pipeline.

Forecast: frothing outrage across the entire right wing blogosphere. In other words, the usual.

The administration will allow TransCanada to reapply after it develops an alternate route through the sensitive habitat of Nebraska’s Sandhills. Deputy Secretary of State William J. Burns will make the announcement, which comes in response to a congressionally-mandated deadline of Feb. 21 for action on the proposed Keystone pipeline.

Also see:
What Is the Keystone XL Pipeline — and Why Is It So Controversial? - ProPublica
Keystone XL decision is a big win — for now