While the finest phony in US politics cuts a deal with China, the billionaire of benevolence keeps turning coal into cash:
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-11-10/buffett-s-15-billion-from-bnsf-show-railroad-came-cheap.html “He stole it,” said Jeff Matthews <http://topics.bloomberg.com/jeff-matthews/>, a Berkshire shareholder and author of books about the company. “He’s got to feel really good that he bought it when he did, because it’s a wonderful asset, and it’s done nothing but get more valuable in the time that he’s owned it.” http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/nov/10/-sp-the-real-story-of-us-coal-inside-the-worlds-biggest-coal-mine Coal exports have risen on Obama’s watch, with mining companies shipping some 100m tonnes a year for each of the last three years. Mining <http://www.theguardian.com/business/mining> companies are actively pursuing plans to expand coal ports and ship more coal overseas, as a back-up market should the incoming Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rules on carbon pollution make it harder to burn coal for electricity. Meanwhile, the federal government, under Obama, gave away $26m last year in tax breaks to the coal industry, according to the Overseas Development Industry report. Even if the president wants to do more to curb coal, the Democrats’ heavy defeat in the mid-term elections means there will be no pull in that direction from Congress. Mitch McConnell, the Republicans’ leader in the Senate ran on a slogan of “Guns, Freedom and Coal”. http://www.bnsf.com/customers/pdf/mineguide.pdf [Leontief acolytes take note] _______________________________________________ pen-l mailing list [email protected] https://lists.csuchico.edu/mailman/listinfo/pen-l
