Energy Overlords and the Keystone XL Pipeline
Timothy Birdnow
Proof that the Democrats didn't kill the Keystone pipeline for any reason beyond a desire to deindustrialize. http://www.masterresource.org/2012/02/waxman-and-markeys-fix-for-keystone-xl-protectionism-in-reverse/
From the article:
"Committee Democrats lack the votes to defeat the bill, but they hope to use the markup to turn the rhetorical tables on Republicans, who claim Keystone XL will enhance U.S. energy security by reducing our dependence on Middle East oil.
Reps. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) and Ed Markey (D-Mass.) will offer an amendment barring exports from the USA of any Canadian oil shipped via the pipeline and requiring all petroleum products made from Keystone crude to be sold in U.S. domestic markets.
Waxman and Markey know full well that such restrictions would impair the profitability and competitiveness of U.S. refiners, potentially causing them to back out of the long-term sales contracts they negotiated with pipeline builder-operator TransCanada Corp. They know, in other words, that the amendment could scuttle the Keystone XL project and, therefore, that Republicans will vote against it.
But that’s the point. By forcing Republicans to vote no, Waxman and Markey hope to ”expose” Keystone XL as an “export pipeline” and, thus, supposedly, as an energy security “scam.” The question they’re likely to pose again and again: If you Republicans really believe the pipeline will reduce U.S. oil imports from unstable, undemocratic, or unfriendly countries, then why won’t you guarantee in law what you say is going to happen anyway?
Keystone crude won’t back out any oil from OPEC, Waxman and Markey contend, because Gulf Coast refiners will simply turn it into products for export. What’s more, they assert, because the oil won’t be used to increase the supply and lower the price of gasoline and other finished products here at home, U.S. consumers won’t get any benefit from it. This line of argument is now the chief talking point against the pipeline."
End excerpt.
Barack Obama vetoed the pipeline because of alleged environmental concerns - and said we needed further study, despite the fact that this is tried and true technology (unlike wind and solar which he advocates) and it has been in the works for years. Now Waxman and Markey try to put a poison pill in the new bill by making it impossible to export any of this oil. How, pray tell, does that tie in with enviromnental concerns?
They aren't giving us their true reasons for wanted to kill this pipeline.
What these oracles of dufi fail to understand (or, more likely, understand but will not point out) is that 1. America exporting gasoline and diesel IS in the service of national security because it allows us to infuse the national economy with foreign cash and 2. with crude flowing from Canada the supply cannot be shut off, so in times of war we have a steady supply. The same cannot be said for Middle Eastern oil, which is subject to being cut off suddenly. Consider how prices jumped when Iran threatened to close the Strait of Hormuz; there would still be a jump because the market responds to such things, but that jump would be less because the U.S. would have a decent supply of crude to both supply her own needs and to supply the needs of her allies.
But nothing is accomplished by what Waxman and Markey are doing, and that speaks volumes. The only reason to do this is to force America to pay high prices for oil-based fuels (and other products such as plastics) and to make America dependent on the rest of the world.
That is the real reason for this. It is ultimately about fundamentally tranforming America. It is about government gaining control of the energy flow, and doling it out as they see fit. It is about forcing Americans into a low energy lifestyle, and into subservience to the international community. It is about an eventual empowerment of said international community to form the nucleas of world government.
And the fact that both Obama and his friends in Congress would dare such a radical move - especially at a time of very high fuel prices and extraordinary unemployment and in an election season - shows that they are more committed to radical action than to doing what is best for the country. Why did they do it? Because they know the media won't report it, and despite the fact that they are handing over a huge weapon to their political opponents they won't pay a major price as most people won't even be aware of what they have done.
Republicans should make this a major issue. This is a loser for the Democrats.
But to do that they have to have an outlet for the story, and the mainstream media simply won't give it any airtime - or will give it little, with their own particular spin put on it.
High fuel prices cost the GOP the House of representatives back in 2006, and it should cost the Democrats likewise in 2008. This pipeline would be the start of a long-term solution to high fuel prices and energy blackmail. It shows Obama and his friends to be radicals, internationalists, and manipulative overlords.
Proof that the Democrats didn't kill the Keystone pipeline for any reason beyond a desire to deindustrialize. http://www.masterresource.org/2012/02/waxman-and-markeys-fix-for-keystone-xl-protectionism-in-reverse/
From the article:
"Committee Democrats lack the votes to defeat the bill, but they hope to use the markup to turn the rhetorical tables on Republicans, who claim Keystone XL will enhance U.S. energy security by reducing our dependence on Middle East oil.
Reps. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) and Ed Markey (D-Mass.) will offer an amendment barring exports from the USA of any Canadian oil shipped via the pipeline and requiring all petroleum products made from Keystone crude to be sold in U.S. domestic markets.
Waxman and Markey know full well that such restrictions would impair the profitability and competitiveness of U.S. refiners, potentially causing them to back out of the long-term sales contracts they negotiated with pipeline builder-operator TransCanada Corp. They know, in other words, that the amendment could scuttle the Keystone XL project and, therefore, that Republicans will vote against it.
But that’s the point. By forcing Republicans to vote no, Waxman and Markey hope to ”expose” Keystone XL as an “export pipeline” and, thus, supposedly, as an energy security “scam.” The question they’re likely to pose again and again: If you Republicans really believe the pipeline will reduce U.S. oil imports from unstable, undemocratic, or unfriendly countries, then why won’t you guarantee in law what you say is going to happen anyway?
Keystone crude won’t back out any oil from OPEC, Waxman and Markey contend, because Gulf Coast refiners will simply turn it into products for export. What’s more, they assert, because the oil won’t be used to increase the supply and lower the price of gasoline and other finished products here at home, U.S. consumers won’t get any benefit from it. This line of argument is now the chief talking point against the pipeline."
End excerpt.
Barack Obama vetoed the pipeline because of alleged environmental concerns - and said we needed further study, despite the fact that this is tried and true technology (unlike wind and solar which he advocates) and it has been in the works for years. Now Waxman and Markey try to put a poison pill in the new bill by making it impossible to export any of this oil. How, pray tell, does that tie in with enviromnental concerns?
They aren't giving us their true reasons for wanted to kill this pipeline.
What these oracles of dufi fail to understand (or, more likely, understand but will not point out) is that 1. America exporting gasoline and diesel IS in the service of national security because it allows us to infuse the national economy with foreign cash and 2. with crude flowing from Canada the supply cannot be shut off, so in times of war we have a steady supply. The same cannot be said for Middle Eastern oil, which is subject to being cut off suddenly. Consider how prices jumped when Iran threatened to close the Strait of Hormuz; there would still be a jump because the market responds to such things, but that jump would be less because the U.S. would have a decent supply of crude to both supply her own needs and to supply the needs of her allies.
But nothing is accomplished by what Waxman and Markey are doing, and that speaks volumes. The only reason to do this is to force America to pay high prices for oil-based fuels (and other products such as plastics) and to make America dependent on the rest of the world.
That is the real reason for this. It is ultimately about fundamentally tranforming America. It is about government gaining control of the energy flow, and doling it out as they see fit. It is about forcing Americans into a low energy lifestyle, and into subservience to the international community. It is about an eventual empowerment of said international community to form the nucleas of world government.
And the fact that both Obama and his friends in Congress would dare such a radical move - especially at a time of very high fuel prices and extraordinary unemployment and in an election season - shows that they are more committed to radical action than to doing what is best for the country. Why did they do it? Because they know the media won't report it, and despite the fact that they are handing over a huge weapon to their political opponents they won't pay a major price as most people won't even be aware of what they have done.
Republicans should make this a major issue. This is a loser for the Democrats.
But to do that they have to have an outlet for the story, and the mainstream media simply won't give it any airtime - or will give it little, with their own particular spin put on it.
High fuel prices cost the GOP the House of representatives back in 2006, and it should cost the Democrats likewise in 2008. This pipeline would be the start of a long-term solution to high fuel prices and energy blackmail. It shows Obama and his friends to be radicals, internationalists, and manipulative overlords.
posted by Timothy Birdnow | 5:49 AM
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