Grand Theft Oil
Once again, we’ve been had:
Warren Buffett’s Burlington Northern Santa Fe LLC is among U.S. and Canadian railroads that stand to benefit from the Obama administration’s decision to reject TransCanada Corp. (TRP)’s Keystone XL oil pipeline permit.
With modest expansion, railroads can handle all new oil produced in western Canada through 2030, according to an analysis of the Keystone proposal by the U.S. State Department.
“Whatever people bring to us, we’re ready to haul,” Krista York-Wooley, a spokeswoman for Burlington Northern, a unit of Buffett’s Omaha, Nebraska-based Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (BRK/A), said in an interview. If Keystone XL “doesn’t happen, we’re here to haul.”
I’m sure you are, dear.
Meanwhile, the rest of us will enjoy higher gas prices, for the privilege of lining Warren Buffett’s pockets.
ding, Ding, DING! We have a Winnah! Please vote accordingly. Thank you and good day.
Crony capitalism at its finest!
It is just a friend helping out a friend. What is wrong with that? It is the Chicago way!
Evidence insufficient.
Given that “a sop to the Green base” explains the rejection well enough, the fact that railroads may benefit, and that Buffett, a prolific investor, happens to own one of the big ones via his giant holding company, is insufficient to suggest it was done for his benefit.
Qui Bono, indeed – who benefits from it, in the President’s mind, is presumably the President and his Party more than Mr. Buffett.
(And “Warren Buffett’s Burlington Northern Santa Fe LLC is among U.S. and Canadian railroads [...]“ ?
Yes, it is among the railroads who stand to benefit from potential increases in freight traffic.
Even given this Administration’s penchant for Crony Capitalism, there still ain’t any there there, on the extant evidence.)
Consider it a two for one.
I’m shocked, shocked to find gambling going on in this establishment!
While it is true that we are NOT convicting Mr. Buffett in ANY court, except the one of public OPINION. The level of evidence required to obtain sufficiency of guilt is very low. Walks like a duck and all that. Besides, Obama doesn’t hold to any moral standard as we have seen in his actions thus far.
It didn’t take long for that Bloomberg link to go dark. Apparently Mike got the orders that the article was proving too embarrassing to the wrong people; causal link or no.
Quelle surprise!
Buffet should be visited by Marley’s ghost or Clarence the Angel. Or both.
I would be interested to find out how much it will cost to ship the oil via railroad lines. The cost may not be as high as the alarm is sounding. That said it is still crony capitalism because the money is going to certain people and not others. And that is the way America became great and why we have the term ‘Fat Cats’.
We already know that shipping by rail is more expensive than by pipe. The Bloomberg article discusses it but does not put numbers. Still, we know that trains are less efficient, produce more carbon emissions and can produce much more catastrophic environmental contamination from accidents. Has anyone considered the effects of a 100 tank car derailment!? Also, this story means that the tar-sands oil is already getting out of AB and to market; something that the greenie lobby would be loathe to admit. Some of their talking heads seem to be operating under the fantasy that the “dirty oil” is piling up outside Fort McMurray and not going anywhere.
So, what of it eco-nuts? Why do you hate the environment so much?