[lbo-talk] Obama to reject Keystone

[Nathan]

On Fri, Jan 20, 2012 at 09:23:29PM +0200, lbo83235 wrote:
> On Jan 19, 2012, at 12:31 AM, Doug Henwood wrote:
> 
> > That's an answer to why Obama is playing this game. Not to why enviros care. If they develop that shit, kiss the climate goodbye.
> 
> I think Doug is right. From what I know, there are NIMBY / aquifer concerns in play at some local levels, but the real issue is that releasing the carbon contained in the tar sands basically means game over - unless maybe you're "in on the ground floor" with the Koch Bros' investments in geo-engineering.
> 
> What I don't get is, why even make the public rejection right now? Is there really serious pressure around this in the U.S. at the moment? 

Have to second what Doug says--there's a ridiculous amount of tar sand
out there, IIRC enough to make Canada look like Saudi Arabia a couple
times over. For it to be profitable IIRC oil only has to be about
$50/barrel. Ask a Peak Oiler about it sometime if you want to watch an
astounding display of mental acrobatics that end with falling off the
trapeze.

I hadn't realized that the Koch brothers were into geo-engineering... I
know they fund all those paleo-anthropology PBS programs but I didn't
figure them for sci-fi fans.

-- 
Nathan