[speechlesstx]

Paying for investments with a return is one thing, government creating disincentives to work so we can subsidize them is another. One makes sense, the other is stupid.

And by the way, your link isn't too convincing.

OK. But will TransCanada’s $45 million or so pay the full costs of the project?
Almost certainly not...

That’s $4 million more than TransCanada will apparently pay NPPD for the upgrades...

So it appears NPPD ratepayers will be paying $4 million or so...

And I don't live in Nebraska so that's their problem.

[paraclete]

lovely attitude, goes with the begger my neighbour attitude of the fed

[talaniman]

The Nebraska Public Power District (NPPD) recently approved rate increases for its customers. According to the Columbus Telegram, the increase will include costs for capital projects. One of those projects is electrical improvements needed for the Keystone XL pipeline: “Of the $348.2 million capital budget, approximately $45 million will be paid for by TransCanada as part of its Keystone XL Pipeline project.”

Texas is next!!

[speechlesstx]

lovely attitude, goes with the begger my neighbour attitude of the fed

As opposed to sticking a finger in Canada's eye over this or blocking the project for Nebraskans? Should the beleaguered residents of Nebraska have to squeeze out a few million they will be repaid many times over economically, and that's a big IF according to Tal's link, so point to someone else over their attitude toward their neighbor.

[talaniman]

You should at least explain where Nebraskans will get repaid many times over when you jack up their bills, instead of making a wild claim.

[paraclete]

commercial projects shouldn't get handouts from anyone

[tomder55]

Hello, again:

Here's the deal. Those jobs are NOT coming back. Why NOT enjoy it?

Look. If it were up to ME, I'd hire ALL of 'em to fix our infrastructure... You'd rather let the infrastructure AND the people who can fix it, ROT!

excon

maybe you think you can recreate the WPA ? Perhaps Roosevelt could get away with paying non-union wage scale ....but I doubt a similar program could get away with it again.
Or maybe you think the Hoover Dam could become reality today without a decade + of environmental reviews . Look at all the nonsense associated with the Keystone pipeline . They began construction of a new Tappan Zee Bridge here recently . The proposed project began in 1999 . That's over a decade to begin putting those workers to work . Compare that to the Hoover Dam ;a much more complex and ambitious project than putting a bridge across the Hudson River . Congress authorized it in 1928 .Construction began in 1931 and was completed in 1936 .
In today's over regulated environment and unions dominating the construction industry . It's more likely that you will end up with multiple white elephant projects like the Boston big dig .
Here in NY we pay a fortune in fuel tax and tolls ;and all that is supposed to support infrastructure. Today there were multiple reports of pot holes the size of the Grand Canyon. Where is all that revenue going ?

[tomder55]

I am for Keystone too, when they have a comprehensive emergency plan for when stuff happens

You mean like when one of Warren Buffett's trains full of oil derails

[paraclete]

yep, they just sop it up, if it doesn't burn off and get on with the job, you mean to say this sort of thing isn't a frequent occurence?

[tomder55]

of course . It just doesn't get sensationalized like a pipeline spill.
Train carrying fuel oil derails, spills in Mississippi | Reuters

[NeedKarma]

Really? Lac Mégantic?

[tomder55]

Guess a train derailment that kills 42 people and wipes out half of the down town area aint no biggie .

As the article says .....

Friday's accident follows a spate of explosive derailments of trains carrying crude oil over the past year that has raised questions about safety, especially of some older tank cars prone to puncture.

[speechlesstx]

You should at least explain where Nebraskans will get repaid many times over when you jack up their bills, instead of making a wild claim.

I said economically, you don't think all those new jobs and the money spent in Nebraska won't be worth many times over $4 million? I'd be willing to bet the farm that's more likely than Porkulus ever gave in return.

[speechlesstx]

Guess a train derailment that kills 42 people and wipes out half of the down town area aint no biggie .

Even WaPo makes that case now...

Keystone report from State Dept. puts common sense back in the pipeline By Editorial Board, Published: February 5

ENVIRONMENTALISTS HAVE drawn a line in the sand on the Keystone XL pipeline. It’s the wrong line in the wrong sand, far away from any realistic assessment of the merits — as yet another government analysis has confirmed. It’s past time for President Obama to set aside politics and resolve this bizarre distraction of an issue.


The State Department’s latest study — the product of more than five years of investigation — largely confirms the conclusions of previous assessments and those of many independent energy experts: Allowing the firm Trans­Canada to build Keystone XL, which would run across the Canadian border to Steele City, Neb., is unlikely to have significant effects on climate-change-causing greenhouse gas emissions. That’s because its construction, or its rejection, would not significantly affect the extraction of tar sands bitumen, an oil-like substance, in Alberta. Even if the president rejects Keystone XL and no other pipelines out of Alberta are built, the crude could still travel by rail and barge — with marginally higher greenhouse emissions and a higher likelihood of accident. One hundred eighty thousand barrels of Canadian crude already moves on train cars every day.

Pipeline or train passing through your town? It's coming either way.

[talaniman]

Even with Keystone you still have the old rupturing pipes in the ground, and the messes they made as those derailments continue to happen. If you think a new pipeline for oil to be sold overseas for private profit and walk away from the messes yet to be cleaned up, by taxpayers instead of the companies that made the mess is a good idea then you have no good idea.


Speech already said he cares more about the Canadians turning a buck than the Nebraskans getting a fair shake. Sounds good on paper (50 permanent jobs), and all you have to do is raise the utility rates of ordinary citizens. Raise the taxes of the ones who profit from this deal makes more sense.

[NeedKarma]

Guess a train derailment that kills 42 people and wipes out half of the down town area aint no biggie .

Man you are one cold dude. It was a disaster, families and homes were torn apart. I guess if it doesn't happen near you it doesn't matter.

[speechlesstx]

Speech already said he cares more about the Canadians turning a buck than the Nebraskans getting a fair shake.

I said no such thing.

[speechlesstx]

Man you are one cold dude. It was a disaster, families and homes were torn apart. I guess if it doesn't happen near you it doesn't matter.

No he isn't, you're just still chalenged by sarcasm and apparently obsessed with hating on conservatives.

[NeedKarma]

apparently obsessed with hating on conservatives

How so? I was commenting on tom's answer, not on conservatives as a whole.
This whole Current Events board is based on 3 or 4 people hating everything liberal so you are in no position to admonish me.

[tomder55]

It's what happens when you run rail full of hazardous materials through communities .The Keystone would not be cut through the middle of a downtown.So any spills that Tal is moaning about would have far less potential for human disaster .