A O Smith Corp V.AOS

RE:RE:Are these guys nuts

[oceaneleven]

Koch Brothers Get Ready To Drill In The Oilsands

/www.huffingtonpost.ca/2014/05/23/koch-brothers-tar-sands_n_5380736.html" layout="button_count" send="true" show_faces="false" style="list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; display: inline-block; position: inherit;" width="400">

GET CANADA BUSINESS NEWSLETTERS:

/www.huffingtonpost.ca/news/koch-brothers/" sl-processed="1" style="list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; color: rgb(43, 0, 115); outline: 0px; text-decoration: none;" rel="noindex nofollow" target="_blank">Koch Brothers, Oilsands Development, Alberta Oil Industry, Dunkirk Oil Project, Koch Brothers Canada, Koch Brothers Dunkirk, Koch Brothers Keystone, Koch Brothers Oilsands, Koch Brothers Tar Sands, Oilsands, Tar Sands, Canada Business News

The uber right-wing billionaire Koch brothers, owners of the U.S.'s largest private company, are some of the country's most influential Tea Party supporters, climate change deniers and anti-union activists.

Now Canadian oil is on the cusp of adding to their empire.

Already the largest foreign leaseholder in Alberta’s controversial oilsands, a Koch Industries subsidiary has filed an application to start development on the Dunkirk commercial scale oil project.

Koch Oil Sands Operating ULC, on behalf of Koch Canada Exploration submitted an application late last month for development to the Alberta Energy Regulator, and has also filed terms of reference for an environmental impact assessment to Alberta Environmental and Sustainable Resource Development.

The project, which is expected to produce some 60,000 barrels of oil per day, is located on the traditional territory of the Fort McKay First Nations, some 76 kilometres west of the oilsands hub of Fort McMurray.

In documents filed with the regulator, the company forecasts construction will begin in 2016, with production estimated to start in 2018.

Story continues below

/i.huffpost.com/gadgets/slideshows/333630/slide_333630_3331102_free.jpg?1389910294615" style="list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 1px solid rgb(60, 60, 60); max-width: 100%; height: 398px; width: 512.2857142857143px;">

Suncor





• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• Next

A spokesperson for the First Nations said they are reviewing the application. The Metis Nation of Alberta noted in a response that it is concerned about the impact of the project on a nearby caribou population.

Bev New, president of the Metis Nation of Alberta Region V, said her people had not been informed of the project, adding that they would like to see more information on the effects on herd migration of caribou in the region.

“We have spotted caribou in our last year activities near the area of the proposed Dunkirk project,” she wrote.

Charles and David Koch and their companies already hold leases on a tract of oilsands land nearly equivalent to the size of P.E.I. But the Dunkirk project would be their first development in the area.

The Kochs have been vocal in their support of the Keystone XL pipeline that would move oilsands crude through the U.S.

A report by one left-leaning think tank found the Kochs could reap some $100 billion in profits if Keystone is approved. The report also estimates that the brothers have given about $50 million to think tanks and members of Congress who support the contentious pipeline.

The Kochs, whose combined net worth is estimated at more than $100 billion, are highly influential in Washington. Their efforts include founding the political lobby group Americans for Prosperity, which fought Obamacare and opposes climate initiatives.

They are also supporters of Canada’s conservative Fraser Institute, which has taken hundreds of thousands of dollars from the wealthy duo.

• Contribute to this Story:

F