But didn't you know - regulations ARE the solution!

Posted by $ blarman 11 years, 10 months ago to Business
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Question: why not just build a pipeline?

Answer: because that would make sense and wouldn't be a solution at all because it wouldn't mean more government regulation and control!

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  • Posted by Maphesdus 11 years, 10 months ago
    Who says they have to choose just one or the other? Why not do both? Oil pipelines and safety regulations are not mutually exclusive from each other (in fact, building a pipeline would inherently involve many new regulations in and of itself). This article even says that there have been several fiery oil train accidents already, so it's understandable that the Transportation Department would want to address that issue and guard against some of the inherent dangers that come with the transportation of crude oil by freight train. Building a pipeline would certainly alleviate those dangers quite a bit, so it's a good suggestion. But a pipeline takes a long time to build, and in the meantime, managing the trains in a safer manner seems like a necessary and legitimate precaution.
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  • Posted by freedomforall 11 years, 10 months ago
    Sounds like an excerpt from Atlas Shrugged (part II of the book.)
    First they restrict production of tank cars, then restrict pipeline construction, then insist on more tank cars, then regulate old tank cars out of production, then wonder why prices of fuel went up.
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  • Posted by $ jlc 11 years, 10 months ago
    I participate in a rather 'rowdy' martial art. We have a saying in that hobby: pad where the bruises are! If your equipment is unsafe, then you improve it at _that_ place. (Note to self: repair left knee this weekend.)

    I find that the ecology for regulation and adverse control often exploit a niche left available by industry. This falls into my 'lack of wisdom' heading. If the tank cars are actually old and subject to failure, then that makes an opportunity for the government to introduce regulation instead of the railroad being self-regulating.

    If companies 'pad where the bruises are' on their own, then there is less need for a referee. If a company does not do this, then outcry acts as a magnifier for outside parties to introduce regulation.

    Jan
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  • -1
    Posted by Boborobdos 11 years, 10 months ago in reply to this comment.
    What about the land rights of the property owners the pipeline is going to cross?
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  • Posted by Boborobdos 11 years, 10 months ago in reply to this comment.
    Check this out, jic: "Valero, the top beneficiary of the Keystone XL pipeline, has recently explicitly detailed an export strategy to its investors. The nation’s top refiner has locked in at least 20 percent of the pipeline’s capacity, and, because its refinery in Port Arthur is within a Foreign Trade Zone, the company will accomplish its export strategy tax free."

    I'll bet you won't like the rest of what it has to say: http://priceofoil.org/content/uploads/20...

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  • Posted by $ jlc 11 years, 10 months ago in reply to this comment.
    Uh. Do you have evidence for that? The oil is already moving across America; the pipeline would be more efficient at moving it.

    Jan
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  • -1
    Posted by Boborobdos 11 years, 10 months ago in reply to this comment.
    The pipeline will be feeding foreign markets and America won't see anything except the bills for the repairs.
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  • Posted by $ Sgtill 11 years, 10 months ago in reply to this comment.
    Sabotage everywhere: Obama and the liberals do not want fossil fuels as a source of energy, they are even looking into banning flatulence (lol ... but really not a joke). Under these radical liberals the pipeline will never be built, and movement of oil by rail will be regulated out of existence. Who is derailing the oil tank cars? We had Bakken oil tank car derailment a few miles north of us (NE Colo.) the other day, very rare for our area (accept for in the movies).
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  • Posted by iroseland 11 years, 10 months ago in reply to this comment.
    the reason they are using trains to cover the distance is because of the regulatory hold ups in building the pipeline.
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  • Posted by Robbie53024 11 years, 10 months ago
    They are trying to get a pipeline from the Bakken field to eastern Wyoming to connect to another pipeline.
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