Hydrogen would be a viable alternate use for the pipelines in the long term. There are some promising projects going on in Alberta for producing hydrogen in less carbon intensive ways.
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/business/article-air-product...
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/business/article-air-product...
I hypothesize that a hydrogen leak is less destructive than an oil leak, but that's still a problem.
Plus hydrogen burns much more easily and the flame is transparent.
That question isn't intended as rhetorical