Again, the scale is minuscule if you go by percentages—a mere .007 percent of U.S. jobs cost by Biden’s decision; not nearly enough to meaningfully affect the economy’s performance statistics for his first year in office. Over a nondescript image of a pipeline segment cresting a vaguely Midwestern-looking hill, the post claimed: The Keystone pipeline. Even if, contra the fact-checkers, the freight train business is booming, does Warren Buffett care? We live under a kind of loose, elusive oligarchy—a nebulous network of interdependent power-brokers in government and business—that can rarely be tied down to hard money. It’s a deceptively small number for a lucrative enterprise that no sensible investor would ever want to lose. LSPI specializes in DRA technology by maximizing the flow potential of pipelines, increasing operational flexibility and throughput capacity, and substantially increasing bottom-line profit. Percentages are tricky. The Obama White House was happy to play along, and a Democratic Senate followed suit with the Paying a Fair Share Act of 2012. Still, what is Berkshire Hathaway’s real involvement here? Pipelines are the future. Scotland and the Slave Trade. A legislative filibuster rendered the bill dead on arrival. We are told—with force enough to invite a little doubt—that nobody benefits from their suffering. FB.init({appId: '347697165243043', status: true, cookie: true, whose off days can make even Hillary seem charismatic, could hardly have expected to multiply that number by a factor of 2,320. Joe Biden, whose off days can make even Hillary seem charismatic, could hardly have expected to multiply that number by a factor of 2,320. Apply to Environmental Manager, Manufacturing Supervisor, Operations Manager and more! Warren Buffett‘s company Berkshire Hathaway is buying Dominion Energy’s gas pipeline network. © Copyright by The Money Manifesto 2017. Still, what is Berkshire Hathaway’s real involvement here? Canada’s production volume, and our reliance on Canadian imports, are only increasing. But the atmosphere of dirty power at the top of our political-economic system is getting harder to deny with each passing day. First, Keystone’s cancellation is going to force more crude oil to travel southward by rail. Yes, Warren Buffett has said—especially while Barack Obama, who was never going to allow the project to go forward, occupied the Oval Office—that Keystone XL might be a nice idea. Little consideration has apparently been given to the fact that Warren Buffett is a very smart man, and may give some thought to the things he says on national TV. And it would hardly be the first time Berkshire Hathaway used political influence to kill a pipeline project, as Arthur Bloom’s work on the Atlantic Coast Pipeline here at TACshows. With the Keystone XL project—an expansion of an existing pipeline system—decisively nixed by the president, oil will just travel through the pipelines we already have. It wasn’t just for fun. In 2011, President Barack Obama proposed the Buffett Rule (named for super-fan and super-donor Warren), a 30 percent minimum tax rate for Americans with annual income over one million dollars. And it would hardly be the first time Berkshire Hathaway used political influence to kill a pipeline project, as Arthur Bloom’s work on the Atlantic Coast Pipeline here at TAC shows. Precision remained a trouble spot, even after a $9.8 billion writedown and 13,400 job losses in 2020. That doesn’t mean I wouldn’t take his place, given the chance. Warren Buffet would lose billions in transport fees if the pipeline is completed. In the last days of January, after freshly sworn-in President Joe Biden promptly took his executive axe to the Keystone XL pipeline, an explainer began to circulate on Facebook. A happy coincidence for fellow Berkshire Hathaway asset UTLX. As Canadian pipeline plans falter, more oil is moving by rail—prompting familiar fears.”. }; [53] Cancelled by Biden on first day. From this small number, combined with Buffett’s public dismissiveness of Keystone XL as a competitor to his railroad, the conclusion is drawn that Berkshire Hathaway—a multinational holding company that ranks within the top-10 largest corporations worldwide by virtually any standard—has no real skin in the game here. Insufficient transport capacity led to an exporting bottleneck, which in turn led to more crude being delivered from the U.S. to Canada on freight trains, which are both more expensive and significantly more dangerous—prone to accidents harming both humans and the environment—than their pipeline alternative. So, the claim that oil transportation by rail is virtually irrelevant holds very little water. We cover News, Sports, Technology, Business News, Entertainment, Fashion & Beauty, Politics, Lifestyle, Travel & Other News. As Canadian pipeline plans falter, more oil is moving by rail—prompting familiar fears.”, From Malthus to Trump? Thankfully, the arbiters of truth and democracy come quickly to dispel our illusions. Berkshire Hathaway Energy's profit rose 25%, including gas pipeline assets it recently bought from Dominion Energy. Berkshire Hathaway reported first-quarter results Saturday morning, underscoring a rebound in profits across the firm's businesses amid the COVID-19 recovery. More interesting than the railroads themselves, however, are the cars in which the oil will be carried. A happy coincidence for fellow Berkshire Hathaway asset UTLX. They don’t call him Quid Pro Joe for nothing, right? Berkshire Hathaway CEO Warren Buffett … Since 2013—two years before President Obama moved to block the Keystone project, when the pipeline controversy was just boiling up—Berkshire Hathaway has been 100-percent owner of the Marmon Group, itself a holding company whose primary business is railroad tank cars. The American Conservative February 19, 2021. Again, the scale is minuscule if you go by percentages—a mere .007 percent of U.S. jobs cost by Biden’s decision; not nearly enough to meaningfully affect the economy’s performance statistics for his first year in office. But at the human level, it’s devastating. Berkshire also reported that it conducted another $6.6 billion of stock buybacks, extending its ramped-up share repurchase program from 2020. Yes, Warren Buffett has said—especially while Barack Obama, who was never going to allow the project to go forward, occupied the Oval Office—that Keystone XL might be a nice idea. That doesn’t mean I wouldn’t take his place, given the chance. Taking into account the $10-15 per barrel cost of transporting by rail, Berkshire Hathaway’s oil-transport endeavor is somewhere around a half-billion dollar industry. Scattered, throwaway comments of noncommittal support in CNBC etc. by adminTAA February 19, 2021. written by adminTAA February 19, 2021. The aforementioned pipeline bottleneck had surged tank-car leasing rates by more than 150 percent. In June of 2018, 14 retrofitted tank cars derailed while carrying crude oil from Canada on a BNSF line, spilling 230,000 gallons into a state waterway. Even if we allow a bit of flexibility on the hard claims, though, the fact-checkers take issue with the general principle. The post Berkshire Hathaway’s Pipeline Payday appeared first on The American Conservative. It paints a nice picture. Warren Buffett's company Berkshire Hathaway is buying Dominion Energy's gas pipeline network. David L. Sokol was CEO until 2008. Warren Buffett’s $85-billion net worth is a mere one fortieth (give or take) of 1 percent of all the wealth in the world. Fact checks from Politifact, Reuters, and the Associated Press all rate the post false, pointing to a few key pieces of evidence. The Keystone XL pipeline project came into being because existing pipelines could not handle surging oil exports. 40 Berkshire Hathaway Pipeline jobs available on Indeed.com. To say otherwise requires the memory-holing of years of contentious, public debate over the relative risks of one versus the other. Pipelines are the future. In another point for the Facebook memers and against the professional fact-checkers, excess oil that would have run through Keystone XL really is going to cross our northern border via Buffett-owned railroad lines. But that brings us to the final objection. 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