Green News: Koch Bros Could Gain $100 Billion from Keystone XL

Keystone XL Pipeline Massively Profitable – Who Takes the Risks?

Update: this post was written in October 2013. It’s still relevant.

A study has shown that the Koch brothers could make around $100 billion if the Keystone XL pipeline extension is approved.

(Yes, that’s $100 billion).

The Koch brothers are in business, and businesses need to make a profit to survive.

Whether we like how they make their money (oil, chemicals, consumer products and more) or not, the Koch brothers, their privately-owned company Koch Industries and its subsidiaries are very successful, and the brothers are obviously very shrewd businessmen.

But what annoys me is that they have repeatedly claimed to have no interest in the KeystoneXL pipeline.

A report from the IFG (International Forum on Globalization) shows that they own over 2 million acres of land in Alberta, Canada – which is where much of the tar sands oil (bitumen or dilbit as it is also known) is located that will be piped via Keystone XL.

(The main problems with dilbit are that it can produce 3 times the greenhouse gas emissions of conventional oil, and no one has yet found a way to truly clean it after a spill.  Koch Industries don’t have a good safety record – in 2000 they were fined for their role in no less than 300 oil spills).

They have also funded organizations supporting the pipeline, to the tune of millions of dollars.

$100 billion in potential profit, and that amount of land, cannot be called “no interest” by any stretch of the imagination.

Koch Industries says the report is “inaccurate” and that the company doesn’t own 2 millions acres of land.

Sustainable Businesses?

Also in October 2013, over 150 American businesses signed a letter calling on President Obama to approve the Keystone XL pipeline.

“Sustainable businesses want Keystone!” screamed some media headlines.

Are they really sustainable businesses though?

It’s true that AT&T, PwC and Waste Management (who are among the companies which signed the letter) do have well-publicized sustainability programs.

But in my opinion, companies who support the ongoing use of fossil fuels, and especially unconventional fossil fuels such as tar sands oil, are not worthy of being called sustainable businesses.

Oil.  It’s a very, very dirty business.

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You might also enjoy: What REALLY happens when fracking comes near you    and   what unconventional fossil fuels mean. What does a tar sands oil spill look like?