South Dakota Refinery Project Wins!

With oil prices spiralling upward, it was only a matter of time before we made some tough choices about energy. Yes, Congress passed an energy bill last year but it was chock full of pork for the agriculture industry and essentially is useless.

The dirty little secret no one wants you to know is that even if we cajoled Saudi Arabia into selling us all their oil, we don't have the refining capacity available to make it into diesel, home heating oil and gasoline. Because of the backward and rigid thinking of environmental groups and their enablers in Congress, we've not built a single new refinery since 1976. Think about that, we've allowed old refineries utilizing 1960's and 70's technology to supply us with our fuel.

Well folks, things are about to change for the better. The good and forward-thing folks of South Dakota have approved the construction of a new refinery:

By a solid 58 percent to 42 percent margin, county voters approved Hyperion's request to rezone 3,292 acres of farm land for a new classification, Energy Center Planned Development.

"What happened tonight, we were not supposed to be able to do," Phillips told a cheering audience. "Development projects like this are supposed to be outright rejected by residents and neighbors. But this project is a testament to our balancing the needs for growth and for protecting the environment.

"At stake was billions of dollars in capital investment and thousands of high-paying jobs. From the beginning, Hyperion executives said they would abandon its Union County site, just north of Elk Point, if a majority of voters failed to give their blessing to the rezoning.

Nice. But of course the environmentalist's won't give up and are sounding like Hillary trying to get the Michigan and Florida delegates:

While conceding defeat, opponents vowed to keep fighting the controversial project on every imaginable front, pressing on with a lawsuit it filed against the county over the zoning procedures and opposing Hyperion as it applies for a bevy of state and federal permits.

"We have strategies in place to slow or delay all the permit processes," Ed Cable, chairman of the anti-Hyperion group Save Union County, said after the vote.

Of course you do, Ed. Why let the majority dictate to the minority. Friggin NIMBY's irk the hell out of me being that I am in the environmental business. My guess is that Ed will not be too popular in the local watering hole.

I would hope Obama is for this as he is for bringing jobs to depressed areas and this would qualify as such:

Supporters cited the once-in-a-lifetime economic opportunities the $10 billion project would bring.

An average of 4,500 construction jobs would be required over four years. With the refinery up and running, Hyperion pledges to create 1,826 full-time jobs at hourly wages of between $20 and $30.

That would mean over 1,800 jobs paying between $40 and $62K per year. In other words, jobs for the middle class or $91-million for the entire town in income every, single year.

Congrats to the good people of SD for approving this and the fact that they're planning on refining oil from Canadian oil shale makes it even better.