Koch Brothers Are The Largest Foreign Lease Holder of Canadian Oil Sands
Funding think tanks, the Koch's are poised to influence debate on oil policy and shift the social fabric of Canada.May 5, 14
Bio
Linda Solomon Wood is publisher and editor-in-chief of The Vancouver Observer, a national, daily, independent, award-winning news site with a readership across Canada and the United States.
Transcript
Koch Brothers Are The Largest Foreign Lease Holder of Canadian Oil SandsSHARMINI PERIES, TRNN PRODUCER: This is The Real News Network. I'm Sharmini Peries in Baltimore.
Last week on the Canadian panel, we talked about Canada's shift to the right. This week we're looking at some evidence of this, mainly the Koch brothers' reach into Canada. The Washington Post recently reported that the Koch brothers hold the largest foreign leases on oil sands, but not only.
To discuss this and more we're joined by Linda Solomon Wood. Linda Solomon Wood is the publisher and editor-in-chief of The Vancouver Observer, a national, daily, independent, award-winning news site with a readership across Canada and the United States.
Thank you for joining us, Linda.
LINDA SOLOMON WOOD, PUBLISHER, THE VANCOUVER OBSERVER: Thank you, Sharmini.
PERIES: So, Linda, how is the Canadian landscape changing as a result of Koch brothers spreading their wings over Canada?
SOLOMON WOOD: Yes, they are one of the region's largest leaseholders, rivaled only by Shell and perhaps Canadian Natural Resources company. They are thought to have at least 1.1 million acres in the tar sands. And some industry insiders speculate that they actually have 2 million, but the Alberta government has confirmed the 1.1 million number. So that makes them the largest foreign owners of tar sands land.
http://therealnews.com/t2/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=31&Itemid=74&jumival=11815
KansDem
(28,498 posts)You didn't really believe it's about jobs for Americans and more oil for Americans (meaning lower gas prices)?
"You didn't really believe it's about jobs..."
Jefferson23
(30,099 posts)polly7
(20,582 posts)I always add this older one, when I see mention of the Koch/Canadian connection. They've been here for a long, long time.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=3006889
Koch Brothers' Activism Protects Their 50 Years in Canadian Heavy Oils
By David Sassoon at InsideClimate
Thu May 10, 2012 4:30am EDT
Long involvement in Canada's tar sands has been central to Koch Industries' evolution and positions the billionaire brothers for a new oil boom.
By David Sassoon, InsideClimate News
Over the last decade, Charles and David Koch have emerged into public view as billionaire philanthropists pushing a libertarian brand of political activism that presses a large footprint on energy and climate issues. They have created and supported non-profit organizations, think tanks and political groups that work to undermine climate science, environmental regulation and clean energy. They are also top donors to politicians, most of them Republicans, who support the oil industry and deny any human role in global warming.
What is less well documented are the many Koch businesses that benefit from the brothers' efforts to push the center of American political discourse rightward, closer to their own convictions. At the top of the list are the Koch family's long and deep investments in Canada's heavy oil industry, which have been central to the company's initial growth and subsequent diversification since 1959.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/05/10/idUS427145980520120510
Jefferson23
(30,099 posts)hedda_foil
(16,368 posts)They even put extra funds in the budget to scrutinize the legality of those charities.
Meanwhile the Kochtopus is heavily funding right wing "charitable" organizations.
Oh, Canada.
Jefferson23
(30,099 posts)Doctor_J
(36,392 posts)big business morans usually call this "synergy". 90 years ago when Capone and Big Bill Thompson did it, it was called "corruption" and "racketeering"