The Washington Free Beacon’s Ellison Barber joined Fox News Thursday to discuss a recent Free Beacon report that found some Democrats who oppose Transcanada’s Keystone XL Pipeline have thousands of dollars invested in Transcanada’s competitors.
"This is absolutely a conflict of interest," Barber said. "These guys would profit and their opposition would benefit them if it were not to be approved."
According to recent financial disclosure forms, both Sen. Tim Kaine (D., Va.) and Rep. Alan Lowenthal (D., Calif.) have between $15,000 and $50,000 invested in the energy firm Kinder Morgan. Lowenthal also has $15,000 to $50,000 invested in another Transcanada competitor, Enbridge Energy Management. If Transcanada’s bid for the pipeline was not approved, Kinder Morgan would likely make a bid to build its own pipeline.
Barber noted that in a 2013 op-ed for the Washington Post, Kaine said his opposition to the pipeline was purely for environmental reasons, claiming the tar sands were worse for the environment than normal crude oil. However, Kinder Morgan’s pipeline would use extract oil from the tar sands as well, Barber said.
"I think we rightfully can call into question why [Kaine] was opposed to this from the beginning, particularly since he cited tar sands as the opposition," Barber said. "But he's clearly invested in a company that does stuff where it can’t stop the use of tar sands, so it doesn't make sense."