As he did with his probably illegal “recess” appointments, President Obama picked a politically advantageous time to cancel the Keystone pipeline project — while the media is obsessed with the South Carolina primary, Newt Gingrich’s second wife, and Mitt Romney’s investments. Yet it is hard to remember a presidential decision that had as many negatives as this one:
a) Jobs in tough times? Anywhere from 10,000 to 20,000 high-paying jobs were lost. These were shovel-ready and private-sector, and they would have led to the real creation of wealth — the antithesis of Solyndra. How strange — we pay tens of millions of dollars for a few hundred subsidized, money-losing jobs, while passing over thousands of money-making ones.
b) National security? While we ratchet up the pressure on Iran, as gas prices climb, and as our subsidized wind/solar alternatives fizzle, we hope that, in extremis, the Saudis can reroute their exports through the Red Sea. How strange — we cancel our own pipeline while expecting others will never do the same.
c) Environment? If the Keystone project raises environmental issues, then every other comparable one would too. It is not as if the route bisects Yosemite on its way to Big Sur. How strange — we assume that the Saudis or the Turks can build pipelines across their own lands without environmental problems, but that we, the apparently less technologically advanced, cannot. We hear that oil is “fungible”; if so, each barrel that we pass on, someone else less green won’t.
Obama’s buddy Warren Buffett (He’s not taxed enough!) has spent $40 billion to buy the entire Burlington Railroad.
Here’s the map.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:BNSF_Map.png
See why Obama is not going to allow a pipeline to compete with his buddy’s plan to move oil by rail?
This is already in place, note the date:
http://www.forbes.com/2009/11/03/warren-buffett-burlington-northern-business-logistics-burlington-northern.html
Insider Crony Capitalism writ large!
Not likely that simple, Nan G. The map of the proposed Keystone Pipeline is far more direct, and there would be no sense in presenting inefficient and costly rail delivery… an alternative that also would not meet enviros approval for increased fuel use and emissions. Right now, with Nebraska, it’s trying to steer clear of aquifers… even tho it would not be the only pipeline already running thru aquifers.
Obama is running into headwinds here since even Obama’s energy secretary, Steven Chu, looks on it as favorable. And Obama’s tsk tsk/no no is being met with Transcorp moving ahead with it’s plans on an alternate route, bypassing areas that make Nebraska skittish, because building US dedicated only pipeline doesn’t require a federal permit and approval. heh… thumbs up from me on that one.
In short, I don’t think that there is any plan to use Buffet’s inefficient rail services. But Buffet owning a RR strikes me as great insider business savvy, since they tend to garnish lots of federal funding, alleviating any need to depend upon the private sector for profit.
According to the linked article, this is nothing more than national and local politics as usual. The behind-the-scenes opinion is that the pipeline will get built, and that the project probably won’t even fall behind schedule:
Why Keystone Pipeline Project May Get Built After All
This President never ceases to amaze me at either his utter stupidity or deliberate sabotage of the US economy and foreign policy. I have yet to decide which. If I wasn’t so loathe to believe in conspiracy theories I would swear he was The Manchurian Candidate.