Keystone Name Not Doing So Well These Days

The Keystone Pipeline has been the target of environmentalists for a while now because of the particularly dirty tar sands oil it will carry, the environmental damage necessary to get that oil, and the concern for spills along the route through the US.   TransCanada, the company building the pipeline, of course, touts the line as

"the safest and most advanced pipeline operation in North America. It will not only bring essential infrastructure to North American oil producers, but it will also provide jobs, long-term energy independence and an economic boost to Americans."

Meanwhile, in Alaska, the Keystone Canyon on the Richardson Highway, the only road into the town of Valdez, has been shut off by a massive avalanche.

Alaska Department of Transportation Photo

 Here are two videos from the Alaska Department of Transportation:








 For those who are just thinking of the names here and not the meaning of the word, from the Oxford Dictionary:

• 1a central stone at the summit of an arch, locking the whole together.
  More example sentences

  1.1 [usually in singular] the central principle or part of a policy, system, etc., on which all else depends:
  cooperation remains the keystone of the government’s security policyMore example sentences

So, when there's problems with the keystone, everything else it holds up is in danger too.  


Should other 'keystones' worry?  Not because their name is Keystone.  The title here is to point out how easy it is to generalize from two examples to the universe.  If any of the other organizations named Keystone have problems, I'm sure it's not related to the name.  Though, if there is some terrible scandal related to a particular name, people will think about that name differently when they encounter it.  The name Monica, for example, took a beating in 1998.

There's enough organizations named Keystone that you could probably set up a town and be self-sufficient.  And only a few on this list are in  The Keystone State.  Here is a sampling:  

Keystone Cinemas
Keystone Technologies
Keystone Resort
Keystone Industries
Keystone College
Keystone Electronics
Keystone Symposia
Keystone Credit Union  and Keystone Bank
Keystone Substance Abuse Services (does that include oil?)
Keystone Sporting Arms
Keystone Realty
Keystone Cement
Camp Keystone  and Keystone Camp
Keystone Cafe   (There are lots of these)
Feeney-Hornak Keystone Funeral Homes
Keystone Rugby Club
Keystone Chiropractic
Keystone Church