A reason for the decision? Buffett’s Burlington Northern Among Pipeline Winners

[Karmadillo]

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-01-23/buffett-s-burlington-northern-among-winners-in-obama-rejection-of-pipeline.html

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.”

The State Department denied TransCanada a permit on Jan. 18, saying there was not enough time to study the proposal by Feb. 21, a deadline Congress imposed on President Barack Obama. Calgary-based TransCanada has said it intends to re-apply with a route that avoids an environmentally sensitive region of Nebraska, something the Obama administration encouraged.

more...

[eridani]

1. Doesn't make tar sands a better source of energy. However--

--rail shipping beats the bejeezus out of sandblasting the interior of a metal pipe.

[tsuki]

2. TransCanada, Koch Brothers.

I prefer Buffett's Burlington RR. Less dead bodies.

[T S Justly]

3. K&R (nt)

[muriel_volestrangler]

4. A reason? You're accusing Obama of doing it to benefit Buffett?

Wow. I didn't think I'd see DU start a rumour like that. Were you in favour of the pipeline, then? Could you not see any reason to turn it down, so you have to reach for this?

[FSogol]

5. Why spread right wing talking points?

You think Burlington Northern Santa Fe LLC looks for pipeline projects to stop on the off chance they get the bid to hall the freight themselves?

You think Buffet has enough of a connection to the company to mastermind this tenuous conspiracy?

You think Obama had a meeting where he said, "let's stop the pipeline not because of environmental concerns, but so Super-liberal mastermind, Warren Buffet gets a freight contract?

Are you promoting Canadian rail companies over US based companies? Are you promoting the pipeline?

Hope the your local grocery store has plenty of Alcoa's products.

[SidDithers]

6. Keep trying...nt

Sid

[karynnj]

7. You ignore the very obvious true reason that was given by the administration

The fact is that the Republicans doomed the project by demanding that it be rejected or approved within two months. This meant that to approve it - they would have had to waive ALL of the environmental investigations because the route had just been changed because the Republican state of Nebraska rejected the original route (correctly) for environmental reasons.

This changed a politically difficult decision that pitted unions (who would build the pipeline) against environmentalists to a decision based on the need to do the appropriate planning. This article says that TransCanada may reapply. If they do, the affect of teh republican powerplay was that they just shifted the timeline by at least 3 or 4 months into the future because they have to restart the effort.

[FreakinDJ]

8. BULL SHIT

Besides all the environmental concerns - the refineries in the Gulf where that oil is destined are designed to EXPORT petroleum products from a Free Enterprise Zone (Tax Free) and would have caused HIGH GAS PRICES IN THE USA

Being the US Economy is dependent on the price of gas - Obama dodged an Economy Killer