Following The Money

President Biden managed to alienate Canada on his first day in office by shutting down construction on the Keystone XL Pipeline. The Prime Minister of Canada was not fond of President Trump, but at least the policies of President Trump did not have a negative impact on the Canadian economy.

The Epoch Times posted an article today about some of the impact shutting down the construction of the pipeline will have–not only on America and American jobs, but worldwide.

The article reports:

Sen. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) criticized President Joe Biden’s revocation of the permit for the Keystone XL pipeline, saying the oil that would have traveled through the pipeline will go to China or another country or be shipped to the United States by rail, which Rounds said is less safe.

“Look, they’re going to pump the oil, and it’s going to go someplace. It’s too valuable not to, and we still need the oil. So, it’s either going to be shipped to other countries, including China, which has not the same type of environmental regulations that we have when it comes to the processing of that oil, or it could come back down into the United States to the specific locations where they actually know how to process it, to actually do that crude oil,” Rounds told Fox News in an interview aired on Jan. 23.

“This was the most efficient way to do it. It’s still going to get moved, but now they’re probably going to have to go to rail cars, and when you go to rail cars, it’s not as safe. And so, this was simply the most efficient way to move about 830,000 barrels of crude oil per day, that now will probably go either by rail or it’ll go to another country.”

Rounds said the decision will divert a lot of the oil onto rail cars, displacing grain shipments from his state. He also lamented the loss of 10,000 future jobs, including 2,000 Americans who were on the job when Biden signed the executive order gutting the project.

We might even have to put more rail cars into service. That’s really interesting.

In March of 2017, when the pipeline was delayed by environmentalists, I wrote (link here):

Without the pipeline, the oil would travel by truck and rail. Both of these methods have a higher carbon footprint and a higher risk than a pipeline. It is also no coincidence that without the pipeline the Burlington Northern Santa Fe railroad is transporting large amounts of oil through the area where the pipeline will be built. The railroad is owned by Berkshire Hathaway, a conglomerate controlled by Warren Buffett, a close friend of former President Obama. The delay of the Keystone Pipeline was truly a case of ‘follow the money.’

Unfortunately that is how our government currently works. As long as no one has the courage (other than a very few people) to drain the swamp, it will continue to work that way.

UPDATE:

A friend posted this on Facebook. Although I cannot vouch for the specific numbers, the basic premise is accurate:

“Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad (BNSF) owns all of the rail lines in the US that connect to western Canada, and they haul 80%-s of the crude from Canada to the Midwest and Texas or charge other Short Line railroads a fee to use their tracks. BNSF charges $30 per barrel to haul the oil while the Keystone Pipeline would cost $10 per barrel by the State Department’s own estimates. BNSF is owned by Berkshire Hathaway whose chairman is Warren Buffet. In the last 2 election cycles, Buffet gave extensively to democrat causes and candidates. He also bundled and hosted numerous fund raisers for Obama. If anyone believes the Keystone Pipeline isn’t being blocked by Obama on Buffet’s behalf, I’ve got a bridge to sell you. Buffet could stand to lose $2 billion+ a year if the pipeline is constructed. He makes the same amount every year that the pipeline is delayed.”