The Key Keystone Issue

Opponents of the Keystone XL pipeline don't really bother me, and not just because I'm one of them. Protecting the environment? Blaming the Kochs? Yawn.

It's Keystone supporters who keep catching my attention, because so many of them claim to be "limited government," "free market," "pro-property-rights" types ... and there's just no way to be any of those three things while supporting Keystone. Here's why:

By its own count, the company currently has 34 eminent domain actions against landowners in Texas and an additional 22 in South Dakota. ... A TransCanada spokesman, Shawn Howard .... said the company has tried to obtain voluntary agreements, but when that fails the company has the right to force lease agreements upon landowners in all six states the pipeline would pass through.

If you support Keystone XL, you support using the power of government to steal land from people who don't want to sell it or lease it.

And if you support using the power of government to steal land from people who don't want to sell it or lease it, you are not "limited government," "free market" or "pro-property-rights."

Period.