Warren Buffett Goes Long Coal With BNSF… No, Wait…
Is Billionaire Warren Buffett’s $34 billion investment in BNSF railroad actually an investment in coal as the energy of the future?
Burlington Northern Santa Fe railroad carries 1/5th of the nation’s coal, principally from the Rocky Mountain West, which contains the Powder River Basin’s low sulfur coal, to the Midwest.
Moving coal accounted for ¼ of BNSF’s revenue through Q3 of 2009.
The Vine’s Bradford Plumer argues that Buffett, knowing the importance of coal for the railroad’s revenue, is thus betting that “coal’s going to remain a major part of the U.S. energy mix for quite some time…”
Reuters’ John Kemp says much the same.
The Economist plays both sides, arguing that Buffett is “doubling down on the carbon-intensive economy.” Wait, no, maybe he’s planning on “weaning BNSF off coal and moving into other freight areas…”
You can see can see how quickly this discussion devolves into incoherence without any guidance from the Oracle of Omaha himself.
And the problem with oracles, as Julius Caesar discovered, is that they’re awfully vague.
Let’s look at the evidence. Read More »
