Chevron is in the process of getting permission to build an oil pipeline from San Ardo to the Kettleman-Los Medanos pipeline near Coalinga to be transported to refineries and distribution points in the East Bay area.

According to Chevron spokesman Mike Stafford, the pipeline will result in less pollution and lowered greenhouse gas emissions because it will take an estimated 200 oil-hauling trucks off the road. That claim was backed up in the project's environmental report, which found the pipeline was the most environmentally friendly alternative, better even than bio-diesel trucks or a train.

I've passed San Ardo many times and there is a loading facility that loads long strings of tank cars on a regular basis. That flies in the face of Chevron's contention that there are 200 trucks moving that oil. They appear to go south on the Coast Line, presumably to Wilmington. There's no logistical reason that the couldn't also go north, if that's where Chevron wants the oil, so it appears that they are ignoring the facts in order to get the pipeline approved. Maybe the "real" reason is a tariff dispute with UP.

Can anyone enlighten the issue?