Keystone XL: An Objective View

It seems an eternity since we first learned of Keystone XL, the pipeline to bring tar-sands oil from the Canadian province of Alberta. At times, it sounds like people think this is a proposed pipeline. There are parts that are in the proposal stage, but there is nearly a 1000 miles of pipeline finished, including a completed branch that goes to southern Illinois.

All was going well until the pipeline made its way to Arkansas—that's when environmentalist made their stand. The details of why are boring, but it was something about the type of soil and that a spill from tar-sands oil would be environmentally worse than other oils. An alternative route was eventually found through the state. Obama brought in the EPA to look into the pipeline. This is where it now stands – the EPA and president refuse to give the go ahead.

Reply to a Salon Progressive

It's been a long time since I read something that demanded answering in detail. I just read, Piketty shrugged: How the French economist dashed libertarians’ Ayn Randian fantasies. The first thing that stood out was that despite referring frequently to Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged, it's obvious he never read the book. It's also clear he doesn't understand libertarians.

Parramore wrote:

To understand the libertarian view of inequality, let’s turn to Milton Friedman, one of America’s most famous and influential makers of free market mythology. Friedman decreed that economic policy should focus on freedom, and not equality.

Right off I have to address the fact he called the free market a mythology. Friedman and libertarians believe the focus is on liberty as well as freedom. Also freedom doesn't mean you get to harm your neighbor. The progressive's focus on equality is a waste of time because it's unachievable. No matter how hard government tries it can never make us equal. The best government can do is give us equal opportunity to be the best we can and treat us equally under the law.