We can’t possibly name all their holdings
Billions of dollars can be made by exploiters we love to hate, like the Koch brothers. Their interest in the Keystone XL pipeline is not based on patriotism. It is based on greed. In this space, we can’t possibly name all their holdings, only a few. First is ownership of 220,000 net acres of many undeveloped oil sands properties within Alberta’s vast reserves. Next is several decades of building the dirtiest refineries in South Texas, according to an article by Melissa del Bosque and Jen Reel. Surprise, surprise – the Keystone Pipeline, which they mightily support, would connect these ventures.
Charles and David Koch are a dynamic duo, replacing Dick Cheney as the “dark force.” Dick Cheney was only Vice President, throwing contracts at his former company, Halliburton, laying the framework to legalize the Halliburton fracking process, fighting a fake war, and he still has a forum to misinform.
In contrast, the Kochs are secretly spending hundreds of millions to replace our whole government – state and federal level — with their puppets. They already have the Supreme Court, many state governments, a few universities, and the House of Representatives.
But how bad are the tar sands? Let’s start with a satellite map of Athabasca, the largest oil sand field in Canada. At Athabasca, sand coated in water and a sticky film of bitumen, a heavy oil, is at or near the surface. Oil companies scoop the sand from the surface, stripping off vegetation and top soil. Refineries separate the bitumen from the sand with heated water, coming from the Athabasca River. The resulting contaminated water can’t be returned to the river, so it is put in tailing ponds, which replace dark green boreal forest.