Conservatives have railed against the Obama administration’s decision to put off approval of the Keystone XL pipeline, and have been looking for every way possible to reverse, contaminate, or discredit the decision. It seems, however, that in Nebraska, Obama opponents have found a way to both discredit the pipeline rejection as well as one of Obama’s most influential supporters: Warren Buffet. As reported in the Omaha World Herald today, there are allegations floating around that Warren Buffet may have played a role in the President’s decision to stop the pipeline’s construction for financial gain.

Warren Buffet, the so-called “Oracle of the Plains” was thrust into the national political spotlight in August when he released an open letter to Washington in the New York Times accusing congress of perpetuating unfair tax policies in favor of the super-rich (which often donate generously to their election campaigns). Since that time Buffet has become a symbol of free-market capitalism supporting Obama’s strategy for economic recovery and job growth, even going so far as to call his jobs plan the “Buffet plan”. Of course, that’s also made Buffet the target of criticism from the conservative right, who largely oppose Obama’s administration.

Buffet and long-time friend Dick Holland have been accused of working together to reject the pipeline. Holland, who is an active liberal and early-investor in Berkshire Hathaway, Buffet’s enormously successful company, is also the chief sponsor of Bold Nebraska, a political non-profit that had a large role in denying construction of the Keystone pipeline. However, many accuse Buffet of conspiring as well because of one of his other holdings, Burlington Northern Santa Fe railroad. BNSF is one of the two largest railroad transporters of oil in the country, shipping about 25% of the crude from Canada to the Gulf. It was this connection that lead many to cry foul when Obama decided to reject the pipeline, saying the Buffet stood to increase his company’s worth substantially as oil production increased and needed rail shipping to the Gulf.

Regardless of why the decision was made, the halt in Nebraska has shifted focus to North Dakota, where TransCanada is scrambling to find a new route to the Gulf for the 501,000 barrels of oil shipped per day. By 2013 that quantity is expected to surge to 700,000, and 1 million by 2015. Buffet’s BNSF rail is likely to ship a substantial portion of that amount should the pipeline continue to be delayed.