Judge Halts Use of Eminent Domain for Keystone XL in Nebraska

[Felya]

This is your evidence? "Van Jones says so." So Van Jones said it would create 35 jobs and then we can dismiss the state department saying it would create over 40,000. Who is Van Jones anyway? Is he an economist?

how many workers does it take to maintain an underground pipe?

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Define "governments". Global, US federal, US state, US local, and which branch?
And in this case private companies are abusing eminent domain.

Private companies cannot abuse it, as it requires federal government to designate the land for eminent domain.

[Aeno]

http://stateimpact.npr.org/texas/tag/eminent-domain/

To get eminent domain to route a pipeline across private land in Texas, all a company has to do is check a box on a two-page form to the Railroad Commission of Texas (which regulates drilling and pipelines in the state).

By checking that box, the pipeline company says it is a “common carrier,” i.e. a pipeline that will be available at market rates for other companies to use, and therefore in the public interest.

[Rukentuts]

Using eminent domain for a foreign corporation's profit is kinda fucked.

[taliey]

Someone must have recently purchased a new Over-Reactor 5000.

You kidding me? You should see how he reacts against persistent sarcasm.

[Rizendragon]

http://www.omaha.com/news/nebraska/k...972ced98c.html
http://www.newsweek.com/nebraska-jud...tone-xl-306774
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/0...n_6673552.html

Now if they could just halt it altogether simply because it will do NOTHING for the US whatsoever. Republicans tout that it will create thousands of jobs, semantically it will only create something around 30-40 PERMANENT jobs. The tar sands oil will probably never even stay in the country after it is processed anyway. Not to mention they are giving PRIVATE land to a company that isn't even in the country. Then you have to worry about oil spills in the Aquifer and the Indian territory that is around it. Keystone is basically not good for the country as a whole.

Or you could look at the oil that is sold as tax revenue for the country as a whole. If we become a major oil exporter it will help our prices at home stay low.

[Rukentuts]

Or you could look at the oil that is sold as tax revenue for the country as a whole. If we become a major oil exporter it will help our prices at home stay low.

Oil is priced on a global market.

[Gheld]

Taking private property from American citizens to benefit Canadians seems like a poor justification for eminent domain.

Hell I'm on the Canadian side and I think it's a shit move. Especially since I'm against foreign real estate ownership.

[Rizendragon]

Taking private property from American citizens to benefit Canadians seems like a poor justification for eminent domain.

Hell I'm on the Canadian side and I think it's a shit move. Especially since I'm against foreign real estate ownership.

Has anyone actually taken a look at the map of the area this pipeline is going through? It isn't like this is going through Downtown Manhattan where millions of people live. The route was specifically chose to both reduce building costs and reduce private displacement. NE has one of the lowest populations in the country and most of the area is farmland. We won't be losing much in the way of farming production with this pipeline going in. This is basically the two sides arguing semantics.

The company that is building the pipeline is buying the land they are digging through according to the 3 articles that were posted. 90% of the people asked took large land buyouts. At this point it's the 10% that are saying "no way in hell big oil is buying me!"

[Garnier Fructis]

The company that is building the pipeline is buying the land they are digging through according to the 3 articles that were posted. 90% of the people asked took large land buyouts. At this point it's the 10% that are saying "no way in hell big oil is buying me!"

Which is fine.

[Gheld]

At this point it's the 10% that are saying "no way in hell big oil is buying me!"

And it's their right to say that. And to compound how much of a dick move it is, the fact is that fair market value on rural property is much lower. So they can really screw people out of land for a bargain that might become exponentially more valuable in the future.

[Rizendragon]

Which is fine.

I agree it's fine that these people are asserting their rights, but I think this has more to do with the hydro fracking of the oil shale backlash and what that has done out west than what this pipeline will do in the long haul. As long as it's built to the correct specs and is maintained properly then it shouldn't have a huge long term effect on the area.

Yet I mentioned nothing about it being OK if only one person was affected.

Meaning what exactly? The US Supreme Court won't rule on this on an individual basis. Once they pass a ruling it'll apply to the entire pipeline route.

[Aeno]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/...e-red-baiting/
US on the Chinese side.

http://business.financialpost.com/20...das-oil-patch/
Bought all that Canadian land and oil, nowhere to pump it.

http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-me...experts-disag/
Obama agrees; "It is providing the ability of Canada to pump their oil, send it through our land, down to the Gulf, where it will be sold everywhere else. That doesn't have an impact on U.S. gas prices."

Thus, this seizure of land is for the benefit of foreigners. Non-USA companies at that.

[Generalfrisk]

First of all your missing a few decimal places as far as permanent jobs go. Obama made a stink about this a month ago, about how it only would the US a little bit, the keystone would mostly help Canada.

As soon as I heard that, I thought "what an arrogant ass." Sure it will help the Canadians more than the US, its their friggin oil after all right? We can't help our allies unless we make more out of the deal than they do? Its Canada! When was the last time they screwed the US over, just give them a break man. Build the pipe, let them take their oil to market, strengthen US-Canadian ties. Obama has other priorities, and places no value in the blood lost and money spent by Canadians in all the wars were we ask for their assistance and diplomatic cover.

You're an idiot... it's not about getting more out of the deal. It's about not being with the harm on the environment. You sound like an angry obama-hater

[Garnier Fructis]

I agree it's fine that these people are asserting their rights, but I think this has more to do with the hydro fracking of the oil shale backlash and what that has done out west than what this pipeline will do in the long haul. As long as it's built to the correct specs and is maintained properly then it shouldn't have a huge long term effect on the area.

Which is also perfectly fine. If you're opposed to something, the last thing you want to do is to sell your land to help the thing you're opposing.

[Orbitus]

Fuck it. Build the pipeline. If not the Chinese will probably buy out the oil, and fuck that

Considering the oil wasn't probably going to stay here anyway, I don't know why that matters. Most of it was probably going to go to Europe or Asia anyway.

[Reeve]

I never saw why this is such a political football. It's a freaking pipeline. The U.S. has tons of them already. Why aren't people trying to get those removed?

[Garnier Fructis]

I never saw why this is such a political football. It's a freaking pipeline. The U.S. has tons of them already. Why aren't people trying to get those removed?

You need to start somewhere, and I think it would be easier to stop one from being built than it is to remove one.

[Orbitus]

Holy jesus the amount of AIDS that this thread has devolved into is just ludicrous. Not even page 2 and people are already spewing hateful speech.

Not really hateful speech when its true. Repulicans were flipping shit when Bundy was being supposedly thrown off of "public" land that he wasn't paying for. Now Republicans, supposedly the people of the constitution, are turning their backs as a private company from another country is kicking people off of their land, including Native Americans, to build a pipeline that will ship oil to Texas from Canada. That oil will most likely not even be used for the US and will be sold to other areas of the globe.

[TrapVillain]

http://www.omaha.com/news/nebraska/k...972ced98c.html
http://www.newsweek.com/nebraska-jud...tone-xl-306774
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/0...n_6673552.html

Now if they could just halt it altogether simply because it will do NOTHING for the US whatsoever. Republicans tout that it will create thousands of jobs, semantically it will only create something around 30-40 PERMANENT jobs. The tar sands oil will probably never even stay in the country after it is processed anyway. Not to mention they are giving PRIVATE land to a company that isn't even in the country. Then you have to worry about oil spills in the Aquifer and the Indian territory that is around it. Keystone is basically not good for the country as a whole.

I fucking love when people like you try to talk about the oil industry. You are so wrong.

[Rizendragon]

Meaning that the number of people who are affected has no bearing on my opposition to it.

And how would they be adversely affected?

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/...e-red-baiting/
US on the Chinese side.

http://business.financialpost.com/20...das-oil-patch/
Bought all that Canadian land and oil, nowhere to pump it.

http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-me...experts-disag/
Obama agrees; "It is providing the ability of Canada to pump their oil, send it through our land, down to the Gulf, where it will be sold everywhere else. That doesn't have an impact on U.S. gas prices."

Thus, this seizure of land is for the benefit of foreigners. Non-USA companies at that.

Again they aren't "seizing" anything.

The company said that 90 percent of Nebraska landowners along the route have accepted "generous" offers to allow the pipeline on their land.

That is from the HuffPost article which is one of the most liberal, but fairly accurate internet news mediums out there...

Which is also perfectly fine. If you're opposed to something, the last thing you want to do is to sell your land to help the thing you're opposing.

I agree with that sentiment, but I think you're missing the point. The hydro fracking has forced methane gas into the water supply in the western states it was done in because of the process that is used to extract the oil. This is an entirely enclosed pipeline being built to stringent environmental codes that has a low chance of spilling once it is erected. The people stating that this will destroy the water supply are playing on that fear.