Mark Zuckerberg, the founder of Facebook, is worth just north of $66 billion. He did not get that wealthy by doing things for frivolous reasons. So, when he visited north dakota recently to find out about fracking, eyebrows across the country were raised, and people started to wonder what he's up to.
He’s decided to make some investments in fracking
Zuckerberg, as a Silicon Valley liberal, is pretty sure that climate change is a real threat and that the only answer for it is renewable energy, the sooner the better. However, some sophisticated environmentalists note that natural gas burns far cleaner than coal, and with flare gas capture solutions being developed by companies like Pioneer Energy, it might serve as a bridge energy source until the grand, new future of renewables comes to be.
He also might be thinking about fuel cell-powered cars that would use natural gas and would be cleaner than gasoline or diesel. So, it might make sense that Zuckerberg went to North Dakota with the intention of making a fracking play.
On one hand, the spectacle of a Silicon Valley mogul investing in an industry that most of his neighbors regard as evil would be politically explosive. On the other hand, does the $66 billion man have to care what people think?
He’s running for president?
The other reason people bring up for Zuckerberg visiting North Dakota is that he is running for president. It would make sense, therefore, for him to learn about an important industry he is not familiar. Meeting frackers and wildcat oil workers -- the sort of people Zuckerberg has likely never encountered before -- would also be useful politically.
Zuckerberg shows a lot more political street smarts than Hillary Clinton did in his description of the people he met in North Dakota. He notes how they are hard-working people who are proud to provide the nation with a much-needed service. He even tells the story of a spontaneous parade with fireworks when the Dakota Access Pipeline was approved.
Zuckerberg shows far more empathy with ordinary people who support Donald Trump than Hillary Clinton, who sneered at them as “deplorables” and promised to throw coal miners out of work.
On the other hand, Zuckerberg denies vehemently that he is running for president. Two answers suggest themselves. The first one is that of course he is going to say that.
No one announces this far away from the primary season. The second one is to realize that President of the United States is a step down to Zuckerberg, who can do a lot more good with his wealth as is rather than dealing with the Washington D.C. deep state.
