Supporting Keystone is supporting the Kochs

Criticism of the proposed Keystone XL pipeline focuses, understandably, on the threat it poses to the environment, both in its construction and in its enabling more production from the tar sands. Too often overlooked is the political mischief that approval will contribute to.

According to an article in the CCPA Monitor, "Petroleum Coke from Oil Refineries Polluting the Atmosphere," the pipeline will provide the infamous Koch brothers with a potential $100-billion in profits. Charles and David Koch are aptly described by Rolling Stone magazine as "oil-and-gas billionaires ready to buy any congressman, fund any lie, fight any law, bust any union, despoil any landscape, or shirk any (tax) burden to push their free-market religion and pump up their profits." They are also major players in the tar sands from production in Alberta to refining in Minnesota and Texas.

They are most notorious for funding attacks on climate science and attempting to muzzle the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Their political activities include funding Republican candidates and a maze of right-wing think tanks and advocacy groups (including the Tea Party movement). Nor is their politicking confined to the States. They have, for example, been generous contributors to our very own Fraser Institute.

The idea of reprobates like the Koch brothers making billions more to help them pursue their dangerous agenda would be enough in itself to make me oppose Keystone. However, the environmental implications are quite sufficient.