I heard this on the drive-time this morning.
Apparently the argument is being made if we build the Keystone XL pipeline that the US would be gaining experience in the construction of 'high-speed' pipelines which will allow the rapid movement of oil and other liquids from one part of the country to another. And the the US could then leverage this technology and the knowledge gained to somehow become experts at this which could then be marketed to other parts of the world. This sounds all well and good until you realize that the same people supporting this pipeline, if you went to them and said why don't we also construct 'high-speed' rail lines which could rapidly move PEOPLE from one part of the country to another, they would look at you like you're crazy or that you're trying to ram some Euro-socialistic concept down the throat of freedom loving Americans. So apparently it's OK to invest in 'high-speed' pipelines to move 'foreign' oil across the country but it would be insane to think that we should do the same for people.
Then there was a discussion about somethings that none of the Keystone supporters are willing to talk about. First of course, is that NOT one drop of this oil which would be transported in the pipeline will ever make it into domestic stockpiles which might actually help keep prices down. NO, this oil will be refined into products which will be for EXPORT only. That's the deal that has been worked out with the oil companies and the refiners. Since this is 'foreign' oil (it's coming from Canada) and if the final refined products are sold in some 'foreign' country (such as in Europe or Asia), then it can be considered as NOT actually having ever been in the US at all thus allowing the oil companies and refiners to NOT having to pay any state or federal taxes on the profit which will be made on this operation. But to add insult onto injury, it seems that the refineries in the Gulf Coast areas of Texas and Louisiana, where the pipeline will terminate, they are not currently capable of refining this type of so-called 'Tar Sands' oil, at least not without some major upgrades and modifications to their existing facilities. And guess who they are going to get to pay for these upgrades and modifications? The oil companies? The refining companies? NO WAY! It's going to be the American taxpayers. That's right, you and I.
It seems that once the pipeline is approved and funded, they will then let the 'cat out of the bag' and explain how all of this effort will be a waste if they don't find the money to upgrade their refining facilities. So the plan is that there will be a request for a special $12+ billion tax subsidy given to these companies so that they can make the needed changes and be ready for when the oil finally does arrive in Texas and Louisiana, the oil that they are not going to have to pay any taxes on the profit that they'll make when they sell it to China, Japan and other places around the world.
And if that wasn't enough, there was then a discussion about a rumor where Shell Oil, and perhaps a couple of other oil companies, have hired some right-wing think-tank to come-up with a plan outlining how best to drive up the price of gasoline quickly enough and high enough so that the Right (i.e. the GOP) can use this as a 'club' to convince the voters in November that their people MUST be elected/reelected since Obama and the Democrats will never allow something like the Keystone pipeline to be built, or to open up drilling in the arctic or off the coasts of Florida and California, or to relax the pollution laws which are preventing the construction of new refineries and that THIS is why the price of gasoline is now up around $5 or so. And if this can be done quick enough to actually have a negative impact on the improving economy and unemployment figures before November, so much the better.
And if you look at the gas stations around here, you start to think that perhaps the 'fix' is already in (it was reported yesterday that prices at the pump are up 22 cents just since the first of February here in SoCal).
OCU
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