Independent Guestatorial: Honest Behavior

“Goodness is about character – integrity, honesty, kindness, generosity, moral courage, and the like. More than anything else, it is about how we treat other people.” Dennis Prager

Honest behavior makes life easy, the best way to build meaningful relationships. It is easy to be kind with people we like, but true character is about being kind to all people, with extra care for those in dire need. Telling the truth, doing your share, and respecting others all the time, not just when you are feeling good, is very hard. Companies that say they do the right thing, rarely do.

Lately, honesty is hard to find, replaced by weird logic. Here are some examples, showing the consequences of dishonest behavior.

Pay the Court Clerk

The 1921 statute used by Diamond to rape our land, says, “All pipeline companies operating in this state are given the right of eminent domain.” Using pipeline logic, a 1920’s two-inch gasoline line used to bring 200 barrels per day to Arkansas, is similar to a 2017 transmission oil line traversing Arkansas to export 200,000 barrels per day of shale crude oil. If you ask an attorney, the reply would be, “If it is in the books, it is the law of the land and there is nothing you can do.” I wonder what else is in the books? Weird logic?

The long term benefit of the people of Arkansas, the only valid reason to take private property, is missing from the pipeline approval process. Diamond is a no-gain, all-pain project for Arkansans, a nightmare for senior landowners threatened by Diamond land acquisition agents. How would you feel if your 86-year-old grandma were taken to court by Diamond to have her home condemned?

What is a pipeline company? Would someone like me have the right to take 100-ft. easements, for Pearl Pipelines, LLC, with only a website? As long as I stay away from wetlands and rivers, I could get it done in a few months.

The last sentence in the APSC Order No. 4, giving Diamond perpetual rights, says “DP is ordered to pay the costs of the court reporter at this Hearing as required by Ark. Code Ann. § 23-3-510, and discussed above in this Order.” Weird logic, no protection for Arkansas as long as the court reporter gets paid.

Energy Independence?

We buy bananas from Central America and we never run out. Why would we frack our land to export low-quality, high-cost shale oil at a loss? Millions of gallons of wastewater taken out of the water cycle, Chromium-6 in tap water, earthquakes, greenhouse emissions and increasing the speed of extinction are the true cost of fracking and pipelines.

The high risks of Master Limited Partnerships (MLPs)

The Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) has exposed cowardly attacks of Energy Transfer Partners (ETP) and their mercenaries, and the flaws of MLPs.

To export fracking crude oil, a vast network of pipelines is needed. The cost of building a pipeline is around $2.5 million per mile with all expenses paid on the front end. The tax code gives MLPs special incentives for greedy investors.

Pipeline revenues are a function of the number of barrels per day and the toll per barrel. DAPL has contracts with nine shippers at $8 per barrel, negotiated when crude was selling for more than $100 per barrel. These contracts expire on January 1, 2017. ETP shareholders are doomed.

There is no such thing as a free lunch

Pipeline projects are sold as easy money. Buying MLPs is easy; selling them is not. The hoax allowing distributions to be tax free, comes back and bites investors in the end. If you own ETP, call your accountant. You are not going to like what she will say.

Let’s be honest – for a minute

Mother Nature knows best: fossil fuels belong deep in the ground. There is a glut of fossil fuels, no place to store them, and nowhere to go. You can’t eat money and you can’t drink oil. Black snakes and frackers threaten our survival. Trump is the problem, not the solution.

“The Sun is shining and the wind is blowing.” Mni Wiconi.

Dr. Luis Contreras