Koch Brothers Exposed: Brave New Films Explains How Billionaires Could Profit From Keystone XL Pipeline

Brendan DeMelle DeSmog
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In the latest installment of its video series “Koch Brothers Exposed,” the Brave New Films team interviews concerned property owners and farmers whose land and water quality is threatened by the proposed Keystone XL pipeline, which would carry filthy tar sands crude from Alberta to Gulf Coast refineries. 

The short video outlines the various ways that the billionaire Koch brothers may stand to benefit from the Keystone XL pipeline – that is, if it is ever built. 

A diverse and fast-growing coalition of property owners, farmers, water quality advocates, ethics watchdogs and environmentalists is rising up against the proposed pipeline, citing the threat of devestating impacts on critical public resources, including water supplies such as the Ogallala aquifer, which sits directly in the path of the currently anticipated pipeline route. Then there are the property rights, economics, and climate change-related reasons why this pipeline is so controversial.

As the video makes clear, the decision whether to grant a thumbs up or down to TransCanada’s request for a presidential permit to build the 1,959-mile tar sands pipeline rests sqaurely with Secretary Clinton and the State Department. The video asks viewers to “Tell Secretary Clinton To Say No To The Kochs” and the Keystone XL pipeline.

I wrote last week about a lawsuit filed by ethics and environmental watchdogs against Clinton and the State Department over allegations that a former Clinton campaign staffer may enjoy undue influence over the pipeline decision in his role as the chief lobbyist for TransCanada. 

Now Brave New Films is shining a spotlight on how the Koch brothers might benefit from the tar sands pipeline too.

Watch Brave New Films’ latest video:

Also read Brave New Films’ director Robert Greenwald’s blog at Huffington Post on this matter.

Brendan DeMelle DeSmog
Brendan is Executive Director of DeSmog. He is also a freelance writer and researcher specializing in media, politics, climate change and energy. His work has appeared in Vanity Fair, The Huffington Post, Grist, The Washington Times and other outlets.

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