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The phony union split on the Keystone pipeline.

By: Moe Lane (Diary)  |  January 20th, 2012 at 06:30 PM  | 

RESIZE: AAA

Quick background: the Obama administration has rejected plans for an additional pipeline to transport ethical oil from Canada to the United States, despite the fact that support for this project is bipartisan, and in fact favored by traditional Democratic allies in organized labor (who were reasonably expecting that they’d be able to get some jobs out of it).  Anyway: while reading this darkly entertaining article on how proper, blue-collar labor unions are smarting over the way that Barack Obama prefers to cater to liberal environmentalists over letting a working man, well, work, I came across this passage: “Unions and environmental groups that praised Obama issued a joint statement lauding his decision to go slow – and blaming the House GOP…” – well, no need for Democratic party agitprop, is there? Particularly when it’s as clumsy as the default Green-derived pap that we typically get these days.

Still, let’s look at the unions that support the Obama administration on Keystone, shall we? List via here:

So, basically, to spell it out: the unions broke down into three groups on this.  The first group consisted of the unions that actually would be employed during a pipeline project.  They’re for Keystone.  Then there’s the second group, which consists of unions that won’t make a dime directly off of a pipeline project.  They’re against Keystone.  And then there’s the USW, which apparently doesn’t give a tinker’s dam that their union brothers and sisters get work if they’re not getting a piece of the action.

I’ll leave you to decide which is the most reprehensible group of the three.

Moe Lane (crosspost)

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  • citizenkh

    all of the refineries presently capable of and configured to refining of such heavy crude are USW union organized. Years ago they were OCAW (Oil Chemical and Atomic Workers) which merged into PACE (I don’t remember what this is an acronym for) which finally merged into USW.

    There are 11 refineries located n TX and LA which are capable and configured to refine such heavy crude as Canadian Syncrude. Presently, they are importing large percentages of Venezuelan crude. These refineries have large delayed petroleum coker units which squeezes the last light carbon molecules out of the very bottom of the barrel. They also have markets for petroleum coke, which burns hotter than coal but not as hot as coke from coal. It is widely used in Europe, after being pulverized, as fuel for lime kilns to make cement. It is also used after crushed and burned at a very high temperature to purify, to make carbon anodes which are used to smelt aluminum oxide into aluminum.

  • http://www.doctor-bob.biz rsklaroff

    …that a new pathway via Montana won’t need BHO’s approval.

  • snowshooze

    I love it. No Federal jurisdiction. That ought to frost Obama’s little balls.

  • renl57

    …that Obama’s re-election strategy is to do an end-run around the traditional Democratic base of blue-collar unionized workers, and try to put back together the McGovern/Obama coalition of government workers, Hollywood liberals, professors and students, Silicon Valley geeks, and single women.

    Obama and his advisers have concluded that the “bitter clingers”–the religious and patriotic blue-collar workers of PA and OH and so on–won’t vote for him (except for the UAW in Michigan). And so he’s just going to try to get re-elected without them.

    So Obama doesn’t care if he offends some blue-collar construction and oilfield workers by canceling Keystone XL. He’s written them off anyway.

    But the above McGovern coalition I described are strong environmentalists and they do care. In fact, they’ve made canceling Keystone XL a quid pro quo for their financial support: If Obama didn’t cancel it, they wouldn’t contribute to his campaign:

    Obama fundraiser Wendy Abrams, for example, a well-heeled Chicago enviro-activist and Rahm Emanuel buddy whose family owns the country’s largest privately held medical equipment maker, recently warned that the Keystone decision would show whether Obama “really wants to begin the transformation to building a renewable energy future.”

    http://tinyurl.com/6sq3j7r
    and also
    http://tinyurl.com/75qvmpw

    Wendy Abrams is a typical child parasite of capitalists. Her parents built this medical equipment company. She takes the wealth that the company generated and uses it to fund a worthless art project to build sculptures that purport to illustrate global warming.

    AFAIK, Abrams has never worked for a profit-making company even one day in her entire life. Her financial contributions to Obama’s campaign also come from sponging off the wealth created by her parents.

  • renl57

    Wendy Abrams did work for Medtronic, the medical equipment company created by her parents, as a “corporate communications specialist.” IOW her job was public relations. I guess her parents knew better than to move her into the executive track.

  • JimmyGee

    That he has them! Frankly, I think his wife carries them for the family! All kidding aside, O’Bummer’s attempt to kill this pipeline is an impeachable offense! This project is a matter National Security, but O’Bummer cares little about our National Security.

  • tailfins1959

    NT.

  • http://InConservativeCompany.com snuffy57

    Lauding his decision to go slow? This project has been pending for 3 years now. And the GOP decision to attach the pipeline to the Payroll Tax Cut Extension is “politics as usual” all day long.

    Canadian PM Stephen Harper has already said he will sell tar sands oil to China if the United States does not approve the Keystone XL Pipeline.

    This was another opportunity for President Obama to demonstrate to the American people that he is concerned about job creation, that he understands the importance of oil as a source of energy, that he is determined not to allow China the unimpeded opportunity to gain a strategic advantage over America, and that he is intent on seeing the United States maintain its Super Power status.

    It is inconceivable that the President has chosen to pass on an opportunity that would have created thousands of desperately needed jobs in America, but it’s no surprise that ideology once again trumps a common sense solution to a crucial problem.