TT's Lost in Tokyo — by TokyoTom

I present a guest post by libertarian blogger “Libertarian Soup“. The original post is here; I have made no editorial changes, other than some tweaks to the title. He can be found on Twitter here, and on Facebook here.

Readers may recall that I have from time to time posted a few thoughts on some the apparent objectives of the Koch brothers.

Posted on 13 March, 2013 by LibertarianSoup

Often, critics of libertarianism will point to the influence of the Koch brothers and Koch industries on various libertarian orientated projects and organizations, suggesting that this influence plays a role in the philosophy promoted by the project and organization. While, I have often been a critic of the Koch brothers and Koch industries, I have generally thought that the Reason Foundation and Reason.com, an organization and project in which David Koch is a board member and one of the largest donors, was above this influence and covered libertarianism from a principled perspective, even if I often disagreed with this perspective.

The recent coverage of the Keystone Pipeline at Reason.com, contrasted to the coverage of the Kelo v. City of New London decision at Reason.com, has made me rethink this.

Reason.com on Kelo:

• Going for Grandma’s House
• Taking Property
• Ripe for Condemnation
• Not for Sale
• The Pro-Corporate Legacy of Justice John Paul Stevens
• Kelo-style Eminent Domain Abuse Lives on in Denver

Reason.com on Keystone:

• 3 Reasons to Build the Keystone XL Pipeline
• Don’t Be Afraid of the Keystone XL Pipeline
• Sierra Club Will Break Law at DC Protest to Stop Keystone XL Pipeline
• President Obama Bows to Special Interests: Refuses to Approve Keystone XL Pipeline from Canada
• Obama Is Losing the Keystone Pipeline Battle

Property rights and the abuse of eminent domain is central to both the Kelo v. City of New London decision and the construction of the Keystone Pipeline, however, it seems clear that Reason.com has one perspective in the Kelo v. City of New London decision and an entirely different perspective for the construction of the Keystone Pipeline.

Why the different perspectives?

Koch Brothers Positioned To Be Big Winners If Keystone XL Pipeline Is Approved

“… What’s been left out of the ferocious debate over the pipeline, however, is the prospect that if president Obama allows a permit for the Keystone XL to be granted, he would be handing a big victory and great financial opportunity to Charles and David Koch …

The two brothers together own virtually all of Koch Industries Inc. — a giant oil conglomerate headquartered in Wichita, Kan., with annual revenues estimated to be $100 billion.

A SolveClimate News analysis, based on publicly available records, shows that Koch Industries is already responsible for close to 25 percent of the oil sands crude that is imported into the United States, and is well-positioned to benefit from increasing Canadian oil imports.

A Koch Industries operation in Calgary, Alberta, called Flint Hills Resources Canada LP, supplies about 250,000 barrels of tar sands oil a day to a heavy oil refinery in Minnesota, also owned by the Koch brothers.

… The company’s website says it is “among Canada’s largest crude oil purchasers, shippers and exporters.” Koch Industries also owns Koch Exploration Canada, L.P., an oil sands-focused exploration company also based in Calgary that acquires, develops and trades petroleum properties.”

 

Could this be why?