A map released by the San Francisco-based International Forum on Globalization (IFG) shows that the U.S. billionaire Koch brothers own more of the Alberta tar sands, some 890,000 hectares (2 million acres), than oil and gas giants Exxon, Chevron and Conoco combined.
The map, put together from Alberta government databases and other online sources, illustrates how important approval of the Keystone XL pipeline is for the Koch brothers, Charles and David, says IFG.
Without it – U.S. president Barack Obama recently vetoed Senate and Congressional approval of the pipeline – there’s no way for the brothers Koch to get Alberta crude to refineries in midwestern United States and the Gulf Coast.
It’s no surprise then that the Kochs outspent all other oil companies and individuals in each of the last three U.S. elections in an attempt to fill Congress and the Senate with pro-Keystone candidates.
“Keystone XL’s failure could potentially leave Koch with a family fortune of stranded assets in Alberta, a fifty year bet on Canadian crude gone bad for the world’s biggest billionaires that would be a boon for our rapidly warming Earth,” said IFG spokesperson Victor Menotti in a statement.
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