Some Disconnected Rambling

Updates

May 18, 2014: the man behind killing the Keystone. It turns out to be a gentleman who started his own investment company which is heavily invested in a competing pipeline company. LOL.  The man is billionaire environmentalist Thomas Steyer.

The leftwing Steyer undoubtedly is sincere in his green beliefs but sincerity on an issue is easier if you also stand to make a fortune from it. The conservative Daily Caller (Nov. 8, 2013) noted, “Most of Steyer’s $1.4 billion fortune came through investments in fossil fuels. In fact, Steyer’s biggest cash cow is Farallon Capital Management. Farallon has stakes in a number of oil, gas and pipeline companies, including a large investment in Kinder Morgan, an oil and gas pipeline outfit that plans to expand its own TransMountain pipeline to transport oil from Alberta to refineries and shipping terminals in the U.S. and Canada.”

(Steyer actually founded Farallon with $15 million in start-up money.)

Keystone threatens Steyer’s profits in several ways. A glut of Canadian oil would drive down energy costs in America, and the new supplier would be a competitor. But more than anything else, the method of supply would also compete with Steyer’s self-interest.

The Business Insider (June 17, 2013) observed that, if TransMountain’s “expansion is approved, TransMountain will be the only available outlet for Alberta crude.

If Keystone XL is killed, it will leave TransMountain as the only game in town for transporting oil directly from the oil sands to export terminals, up to 900,000 barrels a day. And most of that oil will be shipped west to China.”

No wonder Steyer has not breathed a word of criticism about TransMountain, which is functionally the same as Keystone. No wonder he lobbied against the Northern Gateway pipeline which would take oil from Edmonton to the west coast. It, too, would compete with TransMountain.

Later, 5:29 pm: Chinese bought more US assets in 2013 than they did in nine of the past full ten years. The Wall Street Journal is reporting:

The $9.8 billion in announced deals by Chinese firms scooping up U.S. companies is the highest ever at this point of the year, according to Dealogic. In fact, the year is off to such a strong start that there already has been more Chinese acquisitions announced in the U.S. in 2013 than were announced nine of the past 10 full years, the data provider shows.

Original Post

So, the Chinese are buying our shale assets in Oklahoma and Texas.

The Chinese are buying our pork.

The Europeans are clear-cutting our North Carolina forests for wood chips for fuel.

The IRS commissioner visits the White House a gazillion times more often than Hillary and all the others combined.

And the activist environmentalists are worried about fracking.

Okay.