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News Clash

Pipelines Keep Making Headlines, And None Of It Is Good News

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Unless you’re paying attention to what’s going on in the energy sector (it’s ugly) you may not have noticed these two stories, or how they could ordinary people.

We all know that the first days of Biden’s Presidency was marked by a shift in policy that killed our long-awaited energy independence with the stroke of a pen… and that the very first day killed the XL pipeline and everything that went with it.

For anyone relying on pipelines, that was just the start of the headaches.

We’ve got another international incident brewing on our northern border, cybersecurity issues killing domestic supply lines, and now that we have lost energy independence, the increased energy prices are driving up the cost of everything.

And now there are two new wrinkles.

First, a ransomware attack hit our East Coast energy supply.

*** Update ***

A state of emergency has been declared.

The regional emergency declaration from the U.S. Department of Transportation lifts restrictions for motor carriers and drivers who are providing assistance to areas that are suffering a shortages of “gasoline, diesel, jet fuel, and other refined petroleum products” in the wake of the Colonial pipeline shutdown.

The regional emergency declaration affects the following territories: Alabama, Arkansas, District of Columbia, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia. — TheHill

*** End Update ***

The operator of the country’s largest fuel pipeline, Colonial Pipeline, fell victim to a cybersecurity attack on Friday that involved ransomware, forcing it to temporarily shut down all pipeline operations and raising concern that the outage could lead to spot shortages of gas, diesel and jet fuel.

…Colonial operates the largest refined products pipeline in the U.S., transporting 100 million gallons or 2.5 million barrels per day, according to its website. Refined products include gas, diesel, home heating oil and jet fuel. The pipeline also supplies the U.S. military.

Colonial’s system spans over 5,500 miles between Texas and New Jersey, connecting refineries on the Gulf Coast to more than 50 million people in the southern and eastern U.S., according to the company.

…John Kilduff, a partner at Again Capital in New York, said the U.S. will see spot shortages of gasoline, diesel and jet fuel develop rapidly if the outage persists. — NBC

The second new wrinkle is something called ‘Line 5’.

Like the XL Pipeline, this is a pipeline issue that hits our Canadian neighbors. Also like the XL Pipeline issue, it hurts Americans, too.

Short story is, Canadians have a critically important pipeline taking fuel from Western Canada to Eastern refineries that used a route south of the Great Lakes. It reenters Canada by way of Michigan, where the pipes go underwater.

A couple of years ago, a trailing boat anchor struck the pipes, damaging them, but did not break them. Enbridge (the fuel company) made arrangements to redesign the project to protect the pipes from any future outside damage.

Whitmer unilaterally decided they need to shut down the project, soon — something Enbridge claims isn’t even within her authority to decide.

“You just can’t take 540,000 barrels per day out of the market and not have bad things happen, ultimately, to consumers and pet-chems (petrochemical plants) and refineries. It’s just a very bad outcome,” said Monaco on a conference call Friday to discuss first-quarter results. — NSNews

What is that ‘very bad outcome’?

That ‘bad outcome’ depends if you care more about the economy or environment.

On the economy side, Michigan is shooting itself in the foot with the secondary effect of straining USA’s relationship with their largest trading partner. (Yes, trade with Canada is even bigger than our trade with China.)

Much of the jet fuel produced at Pearson International Airport in Toronto is made with crude supplied by the pipeline. Enbridge, which owns Line 5, says that Ontario’s fuel supply would be cut in half if the pipeline is shut down. But its closure would not only affect Quebec and Ontario.

Enbridge says shutting down the pipeline would also harm Michigan, which gets 55 per cent of its propane needs from the more than 540,000 barrels of light crude oil, light synthetic crude and natural gas liquids that travel through Line 5 before being refined into propane in the state. —CBC

But if they can’t use that pipeline, do you think Canada will stop using oil? Of course not. They’ll use a different supply route… a supply route that will undercut Whitmer’s supposed claims of wanting to protect the Great Lakes.

They will rely far more on rail lines and barges through the Great Lakes. What could possibly go wrong with either of these, right? Look up Lake Megantic or Exxon Valdiz to get an idea of just how badly surface transport of rail might go.

There is one last wrinkle in this plan. A ‘follow the money’ wrinkle.

We should ask ourselves who stands to benefit from this move to supposedly protect the environment? Who stands to gain if hundreds of thousands of barrels of oil suddenly need to travel by rail or by barge? What does that do to the supply and demand price pressures of shipping anything else by rail?

Microsoft founder Bill Gates has amassed a sizeable ownership stake in Canadian National Railway Co.

…The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Trust owns another 13,661,683 shares or 2.08 percent of the company.

Combined, that is a 16.36 percent ownership stake in CN. The next largest shareholder is Massachusetts Financial Services Co., with a 4.79 percent share of the company.

Gates has been investing in CN since 2006, and his total investment in the railway is valued at $16.3 billion. — Producer

It’s not just Bill and Melinda Gates, either. Other billionaires like to play with trains, too.

Warren Buffet, the world’s seventh richest man according to Forbes, owns the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway Co., the largest freight railroad in North America, according to Wikipedia. —- Producer

It’s enough to make you wonder how much of these billionaires’ ‘environmentalism’ is trying to save the planet, and how much is just manipulating markets.

The Effeminization Of The American Male
by Doug Giles

Doug Giles, best-selling author of Raising Righteous And Rowdy Girls and Editor-In-Chief of the mega-blog, ClashDaily.com, has just penned a book he guarantees will kick hipster males into the rarefied air of masculinity. That is, if the man-child will put down his frappuccino; shut the hell up and listen and obey everything he instructs them to do in his timely and tornadic tome. Buy Now:The Effeminization Of The American Male

Wes Walker

Wes Walker is the author of "Blueprint For a Government that Doesn't Suck". He has been lighting up Clashdaily.com since its inception in July of 2012. Follow on twitter: @Republicanuck