The pipeline debate is a waste of energy

[thackney]

The pipeline debate is a waste of energy
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-pipeline-debate-is-a-waste-of-energy/2017/01/27/49ca2212-e34b-11e6-a547-5fb9411d332c_story.html
January 27, 2017

IN A burst of executive orders, President Trump sought Tuesday to revive two controversial oil pipelines — the Dakota Access Pipeline and the Keystone XL Pipeline. In the process, he reanimated a stale, mostly irrational debate about infrastructure projects that never merited such controversy.

Anti-pipeline activists bear a great deal of blame for this senseless state of affairs. Despite study after study showing that Keystone XL would have negligible effects on the climate, they built a movement around denying the permit the pipeline needed to cross the Canada-U.S. border, backed by implausible arguments about permanently trapping Canadian oil in the ground by choking off access to it. The movement was misleading — stopping the pipeline would not have really moved the needle one way or the other for the environment — and so it was an enormous misallocation of time and energy. Yet they got their prize, anyway, prevailing on the Obama administration to halt the project.

Following the Keystone XL episode, the Dakota Access Pipeline drew concerns about Native American rights as well as environmentalist objections. A tribe with a reservation near a section of the route protested that the project would pass under a federally administered reservoir near their land, and they accused the builders and the government of failing to consult them. In an exhaustive and careful ruling, a federal court rejected their procedural complaints. The fact that the proposed route parallels an existing natural gas pipeline, moreover, pours cold water on the environmental concerns. As long as the nation requires oil, it will need pipelines to go somewhere. Nevertheless, the Army Corps of Engineers decided in the waning days of the Obama administration to explore alternative routes....

[endicom]

Not a waste of energy for the protesters as the purpose of the protesters is to stop everything. I hope this is costing their backers a bundle.

[Frank Cannon]

The movement was misleading — stopping the pipeline would not have really moved the needle one way or the other for the environment — and so it was an enormous misallocation of time and energy.

These are the same people who think running around in a pussyhat is meaningful. They are not demonstrating because it is useful. They do it because it's the only thing they know.

[IsailedawayfromFR]

Not a waste of energy for the protesters as the purpose of the protesters is to stop everything. I hope this is costing their backers a bundle.

more than they thought.

http://m.washingtontimes.com/news/2017/jan/30/north-dakota-wants-hired-pipeline-protesters-to-pa/

[endicom]

more than they thought.

http://m.washingtontimes.com/news/2017/jan/30/north-dakota-wants-hired-pipeline-protesters-to-pa/

Taxing paid protesters and following the money trail back to the paymasters. Mr. Rauschenberger is on to something here.

[Joe Wooten]

Does anyone wonder why the protestors are never sent to camp out and protest the oil patch activities and pipeline construction in the Permian Basin, or for that matter, anywhere in Texas, Oklahoma, or Eastern New Mexico?

Could it be that pissed off roughnecks, roustabouts and other forms low-life oil patch trash would beat the holy crap out of them?

Nah, couldn't be. These protestors are on the right side of history. None would dare oppose them.....

[thackney]

Does anyone wonder why the protestors are never sent to camp out and protest the oil patch activities and pipeline construction in the Permian Basin, or for that matter, anywhere in Texas, Oklahoma, or Eastern New Mexico?

Could it be that pissed off roughnecks, roustabouts and other forms low-life oil patch trash would beat the holy crap out of them?

Nah, couldn't be. These protestors are on the right side of history. None would dare oppose them.....

Oh, we had a few in Texas when the connections to the Keystone were being built.  They are just less common, smaller crowds and far less sympathy.

Keystone pipeline protesters arrested in Texas
http://www.cnn.com/2012/11/19/us/texas-keystone-pipeline-protest/
November 19, 2012

...Cherokee County sheriff's deputies used "pain compliance" measures, including pepper spray, to remove the four protesters locked to the machinery, Nuss said. The four were dragged away "very aggressively and painfully" and arrested, he said....

[Joe Wooten]

Oh, we had a few in Texas when the connections to the Keystone were being built.  They are just less common, smaller crowds and far less sympathy.

Keystone pipeline protesters arrested in Texas
http://www.cnn.com/2012/11/19/us/texas-keystone-pipeline-protest/
November 19, 2012

...Cherokee County sheriff's deputies used "pain compliance" measures, including pepper spray, to remove the four protesters locked to the machinery, Nuss said. The four were dragged away "very aggressively and painfully" and arrested, he said....

Back in 1980 when Hiroshima day anti-nuke protests were still the "popular" thing to do, a little group of idiots decided to lay down in front of traffic coming into the Comanche Peak plant, then under construction. They were smart enough to wait until the construction craft were all in, then laid down in when the administrative/engineering folks started coming in.

The Somervell County sheriff had help from the surrounding counties and the DPS, got on his bullhorn and told them to get up and move out of the way or face the consequences. The protestors replied with the same old chants, "Hell No we won't go", "No Nukes! No Nukes!". The sheriff nodded at his deputies and two each went to each protestor laying down in the plant access road, grabbed them by the feet and arms, picked them up and dragged, not carried, them over to the drainage ditch (locally calls bar ditches) and dropped them into the weeds. Those of you who live in Texas know what grass burrs and goat heads are, and Texas road drainage ditches are full of both. The protestors dropped in there almost levitated straight up and then the rest meekly got up and went over to the bus chartered to take them off to the county jail. The whole scene lasted about 20 minutes.

A couple more protestors took off and started wandering in the pastures surrounding the protected area. They stayed out there several days thinking they were showing how easily terrorists could get into the plant, not knowing plant security personnel were tracking them the whole time, with a Ft. Worth Startlegram reporter watching the whole affair.

[Smokin Joe]

@Joe Wooten I have little doubt that the faces, if not the names and backgrounds of all the protestors at Standing Rock are pretty well known to LEOs by now. There should be plenty of drone and other footage, not to mention DMV data. What's more, the State is expecting all those paid protesters to pony up ND Income Taxes, too. The protests have been conducted on private property, Corps of Engineers land within the confines of the State, and State owned Rights of Way--not Reservation land, and as such any income made is subject to State and Federal Income tax.
A relatively minor detail, but anyone continuously employed in the State and resident here is expected to register their vehicle here, too.
That could get interesting, and have legal ramifications for those who do not comply should the State Government decide to pursue the issue.

[Oceander]

@Joe Wooten I have little doubt that the faces, if not the names and backgrounds of all the protestors at Standing Rock are pretty well known to LEOs by now. There should be plenty of drone and other footage, not to mention DMV data. What's more, the State is expecting all those paid protesters to pony up ND Income Taxes, too. The protests have been conducted on private property, Corps of Engineers land within the confines of the State, and State owned Rights of Way--not Reservation land, and as such any income made is subject to State and Federal Income tax.
A relatively minor detail, but anyone continuously employed in the State and resident here is expected to register their vehicle here, too.
That could get interesting, and have legal ramifications for those who do not comply should the State Government decide to pursue the issue.

What is the minimum time required to become a "resident" of the state?

[Smokin Joe]

What is the minimum time required to become a "resident" of the state?

IIRC, 30 days, for tax purposes.  Getting resident tuition rates may take longer.

[Joe Wooten]

@Joe Wooten I have little doubt that the faces, if not the names and backgrounds of all the protestors at Standing Rock are pretty well known to LEOs by now. There should be plenty of drone and other footage, not to mention DMV data. What's more, the State is expecting all those paid protesters to pony up ND Income Taxes, too. The protests have been conducted on private property, Corps of Engineers land within the confines of the State, and State owned Rights of Way--not Reservation land, and as such any income made is subject to State and Federal Income tax.
A relatively minor detail, but anyone continuously employed in the State and resident here is expected to register their vehicle here, too.
That could get interesting, and have legal ramifications for those who do not comply should the State Government decide to pursue the issue.

I hope ND goes after them HARD. Give them PAIN and maybe they'll think twice about doing that crap again.

[Oceander]

IIRC, 30 days, for tax purposes.  Getting resident tuition rates may take longer.

Tuition rates usually require at least a year of presence, and often being self-supporting, and for good reason. 

[Smokin Joe]

Tuition rates usually require at least a year of presence, and often being self-supporting, and for good reason.

Yep. Daddy would set junior up (briefly) in an apartment to cut the rate, otherwise. (Unless you are an illegal alien in some states, where in-state tuition is extended, and those who grew up next door pay out of state rates).

[IsailedawayfromFR]

Oh, we had a few in Texas when the connections to the Keystone were being built.  They are just less common, smaller crowds and far less sympathy.

Keystone pipeline protesters arrested in Texas
http://www.cnn.com/2012/11/19/us/texas-keystone-pipeline-protest/
November 19, 2012

...Cherokee County sheriff's deputies used "pain compliance" measures, including pepper spray, to remove the four protesters locked to the machinery, Nuss said. The four were dragged away "very aggressively and painfully" and arrested, he said....

And they do not drill many wells or pipelines that run through the liberal paradise of Austin, either.

[IsailedawayfromFR]

@Joe Wooten I have little doubt that the faces, if not the names and backgrounds of all the protestors at Standing Rock are pretty well known to LEOs by now. There should be plenty of drone and other footage, not to mention DMV data. What's more, the State is expecting all those paid protesters to pony up ND Income Taxes, too. The protests have been conducted on private property, Corps of Engineers land within the confines of the State, and State owned Rights of Way--not Reservation land, and as such any income made is subject to State and Federal Income tax.
A relatively minor detail, but anyone continuously employed in the State and resident here is expected to register their vehicle here, too.
That could get interesting, and have legal ramifications for those who do not comply should the State Government decide to pursue the issue.

So I suppose the facial recognition could be tied into a SS # and then the IRS could determine whether the expected incomes from these individuals were reported on 1040s? 

Can the IRS legally also inform the state of ND concerning this as well?

[thackney]

What is the minimum time required to become a "resident" of the state?

When is a nonresident of North Dakota required to file a North Dakota individual income tax return?
https://www.nd.gov/tax/faqs/topics/4/

A nonresident of North Dakota is required to file a North Dakota individual income tax return if the individual (1) is required to file a federal individual income tax for the tax year and (2) has any gross income from North Dakota sources.

"Gross income from North Dakota sources" includes compensation for services performed in North Dakota, such as wages, salaries, tips, commissions, and fees; income from tangible property in North Dakota, such as rents, oil and gas royalties, and gain from the sale or exchange of the property; income from a trade or business carried on in North Dakota, whether as a sole proprietorship, partnership, or S corporation; income from an estate or trust, but only to the extent the income is derived from tangible property or a trade or business in North Dakota; income from gambling activity carried on in North Dakota; and unemployment compensation attributable to previous employment in North Dakota.

Gross income from North Dakota sources does not include the following items that are received while a nonresident of North Dakota; military pay, pensions, annuities, exempted under federal military and interstate commerce laws, and compensation exempted under federal military and interstate commerce laws, and compensation exempted under North Dakota's mobile workforce exemption law.  Interest, dividends, and gains from the sale or exchange of intangible property are generally not included in gross income from North Dakota sources if received while a nonresident of North Dakota; however, they are included in gross income from North Dakota sources if they are derived from a trade or business that is carried on in North Dakota.

[InHeavenThereIsNoBeer]

And they do not drill many wells or pipelines that run through the liberal paradise of Austin, either.

Since I'm not allowed to have an opinion on abortion as I am a man, I guess that means residents of Austin are not allowed to have an opinion on drilling as they don't drill/pipe in Austin.

[XenaLee]

@Joe Wooten I have little doubt that the faces, if not the names and backgrounds of all the protestors at Standing Rock are pretty well known to LEOs by now. There should be plenty of drone and other footage, not to mention DMV data. What's more, the State is expecting all those paid protesters to pony up ND Income Taxes, too. The protests have been conducted on private property, Corps of Engineers land within the confines of the State, and State owned Rights of Way--not Reservation land, and as such any income made is subject to State and Federal Income tax.
A relatively minor detail, but anyone continuously employed in the State and resident here is expected to register their vehicle here, too.
That could get interesting, and have legal ramifications for those who do not comply should the State Government decide to pursue the issue.

Which brings to mind one change that I would make that would have the rabid left screeching even more.  Sure, you can protest....but no, you can't cover up your face.  No face masks or scarves concealing your identity.  If you're going to participate in a march, protest, etc.... your face must be visible.  It's a matter of national security, after all.

[Smokin Joe]

So I suppose the facial recognition could be tied into a SS # and then the IRS could determine whether the expected incomes from these individuals were reported on 1040s? 

Can the IRS legally also inform the state of ND concerning this as well?

Because the income tax in North Dakota is tied directly to the Federal liability, (not to mention carrying Workman's Compensation insurance as a contractor or being covered as an employee), I would think there would be multiple avenues of approach for information sharing. A number of arrests have been made as well, (over 90% out of the area people), and I would think that information would be made available to the State Tax Commissioner as well, if requested.

[Smokin Joe]

Which brings to mind one change that I would make that would have the rabid left screeching even more.  Sure, you can protest....but no, you can't cover up your face.  No face masks or scarves concealing your identity.  If you're going to participate in a march, protest, etc.... your face must be visible.  It's a matter of national security, after all.

Then they'd all show up in burkhas and claim they were Muslims and had 'religious freedom' that mandated they remain concealed. (even the guys).