NOT THAT YOU ASKED
It's obvious that President Obama doesn't want my advice. Just two weeks ago I wrote that he should make a deal and get the Keystone Pipeline passed. Well, it came up for a vote last week and passed the House, but not the Senate. Before all of you Cotton pickers out there start crowing about how the vote would have been different if your man was there, forget it. Mark Pryor voted for the pipeline.
I was disappointed in the vote because I've recently had a change of heart and now support the pipeline. That's not flip-flopping. I found out that my main reason for opposing the pipeline was wrong, and only a fool or an idiot refuses to change his mind when the evidence tells him he should.
I opposed the pipeline because I was worried about an oil spill. As it turns out, even if the pipeline isn't built, that oil will be carried down the middle of the country by tanker trucks or trains. It further turns out that statistically, there's less chance of an oil spill if the oil is delivered through a pipeline than if it comes by truck or rail. That being the case, I'm now for it.
At the same time, it turns out that two of the biggest reasons its supporters are for it might not be a sure thing. The things those supporters tout are cheap gas and more jobs. Every study conducted so far shows that the Canadian oil won't affect the price of gas much at all. That's because a lot of that oil is not meant for us. Once that oil becomes gasoline, a lot of it is going overseas, mainly to China.
As for all of those jobs? There will be new jobs at first to build the pipeline, but once it is completed, those jobs will end. Whether or not there will be any new jobs created will be up to the oil companies.
You see, at the same time all of that Canadian oil is coming in, the United States will become the world's largest oil producer next year. Now, common sense would tell you that the oil companies would need to expand their refineries or build new ones to keep up with that glut of oil. That would create lots of permanent, well paying jobs.
But, as Lee Corso always says, "Not so fast". Oil companies might not want to
Posting a comment requires free registration:
- If you already have an account, follow this link to login
- Otherwise, follow this link to register