tagged w/ Big Oil
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The super PAC Restore Our Future has fundraised $30 million to Romney to the White House. The super PAC spent $800,000 on pro-Romney ads, but it has flooded his Republican opponents with attack ads totaling 17 million. Restore Our Future’s war chest comes from under 200 donors, 85 percent of whom had already donated the maximum amount to the Romney campaign.
http://veracitystew.com/2012/02/06/big-oil-invests-1-2-million-in-romney-super-pac/The super PAC Restore Our Future has fundraised $30 million to Romney to the White... more
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From Bill McKibben for 350.org
Hey everyone,
Yesterday was one of the truly fun days in this whole wild year of organizing. We had hundreds of referees outside the Capitol, and we blew our whistles like crazy, and we threw penalty flags, and we had a hell of a good time.
My favorite scene, actually, was watching hundreds of people in ref shirts descending the escalators to the subway for the ride to the day’s final stop, the American Petroleum Institute. It was an endless line of black and white, a long human stripe of fair play!
Not only that, it was productive. Two great things happened: one, Senator Bernie Sanders announced at the demonstration that he’s introducing a bill to remove all the subsidies from the fossil fuel industry. And two, Barack Obama, eight hours later in his State of the Union address, joined us to demand that handouts to the world’s richest companies stop. The speech wasn't perfect -- he called for far too much new drilling -- but this was an important bright spot.
Ending those handouts is absolutely crucial to our big fight against climate change. A new report from the International Energy Agency shows that ending subsidies for the fossil fuel industry will cut half the carbon emissions we need to stop catastrophic climate change. And it's partly because they take so much monety from the government that Big Oil can afford to spend millions lobbying for projects like Keystone XL.
It felt darned good to be on the offensive for once, not just trying to beat back disasters like Keystone, but taking the battle to Big Oil.
I'd like to ask you to join in the fun by leading an action that blows the whistle on your local Member of Congress who is taking money from the oil industry. We need to be a little nuanced: for those of you with representatives who have been taking lots of oil money and then voting for handouts for oil companies, then the task is clear -- they need to hear from some refs. For those of you with representatives who are doing what's right already, get in touch with us - I'm sure there is some other elected official nearby who needs to hear from some refs.
Even five or ten of you can form a “referee squad.” All you need are shirts and whistles (and maybe some strips of cloth to throw as penalty flags!) -- and you need some knowledge: how much money did your Congressperson or Senator take from the fossil fuel industry. The 350.org organizers are ready to help you with the supplies, and information on your representatives is available here.
With those things in hand, you’re prepared to go to a district office, to a town hall meeting, or to almost any other occasion and raise uncomfortable questions: Are you going to vote for or against subsidies for big oil? And if you’re going to vote on these company’s interests, why do you take money from them?
We’ll be doing a lot of this. We need to make these outfits a feared sight for corrupt Congresspeople everywhere. In fact, it’s already happening—early this morning, a dozen college students in ref shirts lined up to make sure they’d get in the room for new hearings on the Keystone pipeline. They dominated the coverage, using their flags to call foul on the proceedings.
You don’t need to wait for your politicians to get home for recess. You can mount a small demonstration outside their office—and if you do it in the run up to the Super Bowl, you’re almost certain to get some media notice. Remember: if one team was buying off the refs in the big game, it would be a national scandal. In DC, it’s business as usual—until now.
I know that in some ways this is harder than traveling to DC to be with a big crowd. But you’re capable of this kind of activism, and it’s what we need so badly right now.
And here’s the thing: it was indeed a little strange to dress up like a referee and blow whistles all afternoon in Washington DC - and I haven't blown a whistle since I was a kid - but with a big movement behind us, that awkwardness evaporated immediately and we started to have a really good time.
So go to it!From Bill McKibben for 350.org
Hey everyone,
Yesterday was one of the truly fun... more
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At a rally in front of the U.S. Capitol, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) joined 350.org founder Bill McKibben and hundreds of climate activists to “blow the whistle” on big oil’s corruption of our political process, including the continued efforts to construct the dangerous Keystone XL tar sands pipeline. Sanders announced he plans to introduce legislation to end all federal subsidies for fossil fuel production in this country, saying, “we’ve got to save this planet, reverse global warming, transform our energy system, and move to energy efficiency and sustainable energy.”At a rally in front of the U.S. Capitol, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) joined 350.org... more
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Before a capacity crowd at Evansville‘s Roberts Arena, Daniel-San (I), backed by Mrs. Miyagi, survived a three-way dance to retain the PCW Title in the main event of PCW’s Jesusland vs. Progressiveville PPV show tonight.
Daniel-San beat back a hard challenge from former champion O’Beck Bahama (D) to hold on to the title. Bahama nearly had Daniel-San in the Bahama Backbreaker but the champion slipped out in the nick of time. After sending Bahama into the ropes, Daniel-San nailed a missile drop kick that sent the former champion to the mat. Daniel-San wasted no time in applying the Cattle Mutilation submission hold to get the win at 17:49.
Bahama eliminated Magnum P.O.’d (R), backed by Newt Gingrich (R-GA), early in the match at the 6:35 mark, stopping Magnum’s run of wins in PCW and sl0wing Gingrich’s momentum as he heads towards PCW’s Drama in Des Moines supershow on January 3rd.
The only title change of the night took place when Republican‘s Merchants of Death (Angel Scott and Angel Casey) regained the PCW Women’s Tag Team title from Kelly and Korey Korver (D) in a tag team three way dance that also included the Mercenaries (Dawn McGill and Svetlana Kovalevski).
Scott and Casey hit the Death Spiral Drop on Kelly Korver at 10:06 to secure the win and the women’s tag team belts just seconds after eliminating the Mercenaries’s McGill using the same finisher.
In the opening match of the night, ‘American Girl’ Sarah Mae Smith (R) reemerged as a legitimate contender to the Women’s title as she defeated Kathryn Randall Collins (D) in a return match for the Women’s #1 contender spot.
The match turned when Democrat activists Women for Women (Code Pink and Emily List) tried to interfere. Code Pink blinded KRC by mistake with a glitter bomb and then Smith tossed both out of the ring before pinning Collins with a roll up at 9:51 in the match.
After the match, Democrats Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and Harry Reid (D-NV) ‘congratulated’ Smith on her win but per PCW CEO Barack Obama’s (D-IL) orders, she would have to defeat KRC a second time before becoming the Women’s #1 contender. The rubber match will be held at Drama at Des Moines on January 3rd.
In other results from the PPV show:
Corporate Might: Big Oil and Kirk Walstreit- the Wall Street Market Analyst with the Kirk Herbstreit man crush (R) flexed their corporate muscle and defeated Democrats The California Teacher’s Union (‘Foul Pole’ Andy Golatta and Malibu Dusty) and the team of Charlie Blackwell (American Heartland) and Average Joe (Tea Party)
‘The Alaskan Pitbull’ Sarah Palin (R) vs. Current TV’s Keith Olbermann (D) went to a no contest when the Angry Left Wing Bloggers and the Right Wing Brigadiers hit the ring and turned the match into a free-for-all.
Big Union: ‘The Self Proclaimed Savior of the Middle Class’ Big Labor and James the Jeep Worker (D) retained the PCW Tag Team Title even though they lost via count-out to The Schmidt Brothers: Jack and Joe (R) w/Ron Paul (R-TX) and Jim Schmidt.
PCW Men’s Champion ‘The One Man Hollywood A-List’ Stone Chism (D) was stunned by PCW Women’s Champion Valora Salinas (I) in an intergender grudge match instigated by Chism’s sexist behavior towards Salinas.
In the final Republican Rumble of 2011, ‘American Citizen’ Kevin Scott w/Mitt Romney (R-MA) held off K-Roy w/Newt Gingrich (R-GA), Jim Schmidt w/Ron Paul (R-TX) and a resurgent Texas Jack w/Rick Perry (R-TX) who had his best outing in some time and nearly stole the match from Scott. Nikki Haley (R-SC), who declared her support for Mitt Romney earlier in the show, ran in and distracted Texas Jack long enough for the ‘American Citizen’ to dispatch him over the ropes.
Thursday night, PCW will hold a post- Jesusland vs. Progressiveville retrospective show before heading into the Christmas/New Year’s break.Before a capacity crowd at Evansville‘s Roberts Arena, Daniel-San (I), backed by... more
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Greg Palast, investigative journalist and author of Vulture's Picnic: In Pursuit of Petroleum Pigs, Power Pirates, and High-Finance Carnivores. Who are the Vultures?
Who are the Petroleum Pigs?
Who are the Power Pirates? Who are the High-Finance Carnivores?Greg Palast, investigative journalist and author of Vulture's Picnic: In Pursuit... more
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PCW Politics is War on P-SPAN- Hour 2
Peoria Civic Center
Peoria, IL
Thursday December 1st, 2011
Host: Johnny Suave
MATCH #3
Jerome Simpson (Cincinnati Bengals)
vs.
Scott Fujita (Cleveland Browns)
First one knocked off his feet loses the match.
New York Time’s columnist David Brooks cuts a promo on the Huntsman Girls and criticizes their new video (see hour 1).
Backstage
Herman Cain (R-GA) goes into a room to discuss the future of his run for PCW CEO with his wife.
MATCH #4
O’Beck Bahama (D) vs. Charlie Blackwell (I) w/’No Frills’ Chris Escondido
COMMERCIAL BREAK: in less than three weeks, PCW Jesusland vs. Progressiveville PPV. Brought to you by the upcoming novel Jesusland vs. Progressiveville.
MATCH #4
‘Extreme Pizza Delivery Girl’ Tessa Martin (I) w/Rah vs. Soccer Mom (D)
Herman Cain walks out after the match and announces he suspending his campaign for PCW CEO.
MATCH #5
Case Keenum, University of Houston Quarterback (Non-BCS) vs. Southern Mississippi Quarterback Austin Davis (Non-BCS)
BACKSTAGE
Kourtney Kardashian announces she’s pregnant.
MAIN EVENT:
The Mercenaries: Dawn McGill and Svetlana Kovalevski (I) vs.
The Triple Threat: ‘Texas Cowgirl’ Haley Dallas and Kalee Jones- The Eskimo Queen (R)PCW Politics is War on P-SPAN- Hour 2
Peoria Civic Center
Peoria, IL
Thursday... more
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PCW Politics is War on P-SPAN- Hour 2
PCW Hall
Archbold, OH
Thursday November 10th, 2011
Host: Johnny Suave
Suave recaps the first hour:
- Big Union celebrates the defeat of SB 5 by destroying two non-union PCW Hall workers
- The Longshoremen, Big Labor, and James the Jeep Worker (D) w/the California Teacher’s Union, The OWS, and the Maximum Leader of all Unions Richard Trumka defeats Charlie Blackwell, Mike the Mechanic, and ‘No Frills’ Chris Escondido (American Heartland Coalition) w/Kenzie Blackwell, Sheila the Secretary, and Blackwell’s Les Miserables
-Corporate Might: Big Oil and Kirk Walstreit (R) along with their new CEO Gordan Guyko watch the attack on the American Heartland and do nothing
-Women for Women: Code Pink and Emily List (D) and PCW Women’s Tag Team Champions Kelly and Korey Korver (D) defeat Merchants of Death: Angel Scott and Angel Casey (R) in a handicap match ordered by PCW CEO Barack Obama (D-IL)
Suave mentions that tonight’s main event will be an over the top bunkhouse match taped last night just up the road at Oakland University between Texas Jack (R) w/Rick Perry (R-TX), Magnum P.O.’d (R) w/Newt Gingrich (R-GA), ‘American Citizen’ Kevin Scott (R) w/Mitt Romney (R-MA), Average Joe (Tea Party) w/Michele Bachmann (R-MN), Jamie Walker (R) w/Jon Huntsman (R-UT), and ‘Pizza Delivery Guy’ Josh Jackson (R) w/Herman Cain (R-GA).
He then introduces the upcoming novel Jesusland vs. Progressiveville.
Suave mentions that the connection with PCW’s upcoming Paper View show- PCW Jesusland vs. Progressiveville and that PCW personalities ‘Extreme Pizza Delivery Girl’ Tessa Martin and Rah are featured in the book. More on J v. P in the coming weeks.
COMMERCIAL BREAK
MATCH #3
‘Extreme Pizza Delivery Girl’ Tessa Martin (R) vs. Samantha Stevenson (I)
Post match, the lights turn off and a small spotlight illuminates the door. A man dressed in a suit and bow-tie walks in.
Announcer: “I present to you the almost universally-worshipped king of the gods and all-father of creation. He commands the chariot that rode across the sky during the day. He is the great, fiery globe in the sky who is usually a welcome, nurturing presence and to honor the season. He is the inspiration for those who would throw virgins into the gaping maw of a volcano – perhaps an Icelandic volcano – even though such shenanigans haven’t been acceptable since the ’50s. And just for your reference, he is, for 28 years in a row, proven to be one of UC San Diego’s most enduring traditions in the Sun God festival- an all-day music festival celebrated by more than 20,000 students, alumni and friends. But that’s not important. Either way, you should thank your lucky stars and kiss his royal ass for gracing you with his presence here tonight. I give to you…the Sunshine God…RAAAAAAAAH!”
Suave again notes that we’ll be hearing more about the book Jesusland vs. Progressiveville in the upcoming weeks.
COMMERCIAL BREAK
PCW CEO Barack Obama is in the ring to once again go around the PCW Competition to make a match when he’s interrupted.
‘The Demolition Machine in a Short Skirt’ Dawn McGill (I) drags Penn State assistant coach Mike McQueary to the ring. Obama objects to being interrupted. McGill tells him that she’s a veteran and tomorrow is Veteran’s Day so ‘piss off.’
MATCH #4
Dawn McGill (I) vs. Penn State Assistant Mike McQueary
BACKSTAGE
PCW Investigative Reporter Woodward Bernstein talks with a bandaged up Charlie Blackwell (I).
COMMERCIAL BREAK
BACKSTAGE
The forces of Big Union are furious. ‘The Self-Proclaimed Savior of the Middle Class’ Big Labor, James the Jeep Worker, The Longshoremen, Union Maid, The California Teacher’s Union (D), and the Maximum Leader of All Unions Richard Trumka comb the backstage area for Charlie Blackwell.
MAIN EVENT- Over the top Bunkhouse Match/Taped Last Night at Oakland University
Texas Jack (R) w/Rick Perry (R-TX), Magnum P.O.’d (R) w/Newt Gingrich (R-GA), ‘American Citizen’ Kevin Scott (R) w/Mitt Romney (R-MA), Average Joe (Tea Party) w/Michele Bachmann (R-MN), Jamie Walker (R) w/Jon Huntsman (R-UT), and ‘Pizza Delivery Guy’ Josh Jackson (R) w/Herman Cain (R-GA).
BACKSTAGE
Big Union has Charlie Blackwell cornered. Then, American Heartlanders Mike the Mechanic, ‘No Frills’ Chris Escondido, Tea Partiers Average Joe, NRA, and ‘Tin Cup’ Ray McAvay, and the PCW Champion Daniel-San (I) attack Big Union from behind.
Then the forces of Corporate Might: Big Oil and Kirk Walstreit- the Wall Street Market Analyst with the Man Crush on ESPN’s Kirk Herbstreit, led by CEO Gordan Guyko attack Blackwell as well as the show ends…PCW Politics is War on P-SPAN- Hour 2
PCW Hall
Archbold, OH
Thursday November 10th,... more
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It’s been over 18 months since BP and Halliburton presided over the worst environmental catastrophe in the HISTORY of the USofA, and the world watched in dread fascination as the civilization’s heedless need for fuel delivered yet another blow to the global ecology as a whole.It’s been over 18 months since BP and Halliburton presided over the worst... more
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Speaking at the Consol Energy Center in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney reversed his earlier stance on climate change pollution and rejected man-made global warming. Because “we don’t know what’s causing climate change,” Romney said, the United States should not reduce carbon dioxide emissions:
“My view is that we don’t know what’s causing climate change on this planet. And the idea of spending trillions and trillions of dollars to try to reduce CO2 emissions is not the right course for us.”
“I think the EPA, acting in concert with the president, really doesn’t like oil, gas, coal, and nuclear,” Romney said in response to another question. “I really do believe that the EPA wants to get its hands on all of energy and be able to crush it to cause prices to go through the roof.” To applause, he concluded that “the EPA should not be regulating carbon dioxide.”
In June, Romney told a New Hampshire audience that he believed in man-made global warming, and that reducing greenhouse pollution is “important“:
“I don’t speak for the scientific community, of course, but I believe the world’s getting warmer. I can’t prove that, but I believe based on what I read that the world is getting warmer. And number two, I believe that humans contribute to that. I don’t know how much our contribution is to that, because I know that there have been periods of greater heat and warmth in the past but I believe we contribute to that. And so I think it’s important for us to reduce our emissions of pollutants and greenhouse gases that may well be significant contributors to the climate change and the global warming that you’re seeing.”
As governor of Massachusetts, Romney presided over plans to regulate carbon dioxide as a “pollutant,” and was advised by Dr. John Holdren, now President Obama’s scientific adviser.
By Brad Johnson on Oct 28, 2011 at 9:30 amSpeaking at the Consol Energy Center in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Republican... more
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Rick Perry released his first paid campaign advertisement for the 2012 election in Iowa today. Talking exclusively about energy jobs, Perry grins as he explains his plan to open up every crevice in the U.S. to oil, gas and coal extraction — all while stripping the environmental protection agency of its ability to keep the environment clean.
Yes, that’s an inspirational plan all right.
Perry’s campaign doesn’t even bother throwing in an obligatory wind turbine or solar panel to show half-hearted support for an “all of the above” strategy. Nope. This is Perry’s “Drills Gone Wild” fantasy.
Amazingly, this ad is being released in Iowa, a state that gets 20 percent of its electricity from wind.
By Stephen Lacey on Oct 26, 2011 at 10:42 amRick Perry released his first paid campaign advertisement for the 2012 election in... more
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Just out of former Secretary of State, William Cohen's mouth, on Erin Burnett between 7: & 7:30 p.m., Oct. 21, 2011, "we're very disappointed" that after sacrificing the lives of so many Americans and emptying the U.S. taxpayer's national treasury, that U.S. oil companies are not getting much Iraqi oil, as Russia and China are! And, he says, this is not an isolated incident that after sacrificing America, it's money, and it's people for Big Oil in the Middle East, that other countries come in a grab up the oil contracts that U.S. Oil interests paid Congress to wage war for. Never, in my limited lifetime, have I personally heard and witnessed a former top U.S. official, inadvertently reveal that the reason for sacrificing American lives in the Middle East has been to secure contracts for U.S. oil companies. He literally acknowledges that we emptied our coffers for Big OIl in the Middle East, and it isn't paying off. Is not every single individual who participated in that fraud complicit in conspiracy to commit murder? If they lied to the soldiers who they sent to battle, and were murdered, about the reasons for sending them into battle, and did so for financial gain, is that not murder in the first degree by fraud, design and deceit?
http://globalresearch.ca/articles/CHO303B.html
http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/Iraq/SlowMotionHolocaust_Iraq.htmlJust out of former Secretary of State, William Cohen's mouth, on Erin Burnett... more
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By Emma Pullman
14 October 11
Occupy Wall Street is about challenging the power of the richest 1%. But what happens when that 1% owns the land of the occupation? It has been revealed that a Canadian company was behind efforts to shut down the birthplace of the movement, Zuccotti Park.
Mayor Bloomberg and the NYPD notified Occupy Wall Street participants about plans to “clean the park”— the site of the occupation—starting this morning at 7am. “Cleaning” has been repeatedly as a pretense to shut down peaceful occupations. It was used to evict protesters from the Wisconsin state house. It was used by Bloomberg himself to shut down a peaceable demonstration against budget cuts. The "cleaning" was essentially a ploy to evict protesters, but in a remarkable turn of events, the company backed down from threats to evict the park.
The attempted eviction comes hours before a global day of solidarity actions. The movement is taking the world by storm with a message that resonates powerfully with the millions of regular people: growing economic inequality is corrupting our democracies and making most people’s lives worse.
So, who is behind the eviction threats? Brookfield Asset Management, a Canadian company, owns Zuccotti Park and the adjacent office building, One Liberty Plaza. The company has an agreement with the city that the park will be open to public use.
Brookfield, formerly Brascan Limited, is one of the largest companies in Canada, a global asset manager with a wide range of interests. The company has over $120 billion in assets. Brookfield is headquartered in Toronto and New York City; the parent company is publicly traded on the NYSE and Toronto Stock Exchange. It was founded in 1899 as the São Paulo Railway, Light and Power Company.
So why would a Canadian company want to shut down a movement that is asking powerful questions about how the richest 1% has managed to soak up almost all the new wealth created in the last thirty years?
Well, Brookfield is at the top of the 1%. They are connected to the biggest players on Wall Street - the people who feel most threatened by Occupy Wall Street. Brookfield’s buildings are literally filled with the offices of the 1%. According to a Canadian Business article, at its peak, the represented a third of the Toronto Stock Exchange’s value and owned parts of more than 200 companies, including Labatt Ltd., MacMillan Bloedel, Royal LePage and Royal Trust, all connected through a web of holding companies.
One of the central focuses of the company is power generation, and the giant owns 165 power plants. They certainly have an interest in maintaining the status quo, a world without climate action where oil interests dominate.
The board of Brookfield Asset Management paints a picture of how the very top of the 1% are networked together with strong connections to Big Oil. The total assets of all board members is close to $10 billion dollars.
Let's look at some of the oily connections from Brookfield Asset Management’s Board of Directors:
Continued at websiteBy Emma Pullman
14 October 11
Occupy Wall Street is about challenging the power of... more
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The nation’s biggest oil companies — many of them headquartered in oil-rich Texas — are raking in record profits this year and don’t need any more incentive to keep doing business. But Gov. Rick Perry (R-TX) and his hand-picked appointees are giving them one anyway, and literally taking money away from children and schools to pay for it.
Public education — along with Medicaid,women’s health care, and the Texas Forest Service — was gutted in the budget Perry signed this year. But the governor’s hand-picked appointees on the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality look likely to raid another $67 million from public schools to give Big Oil a tax break:
"Three commissioners appointed by Gov. Rick Perry may grant some of the nation’s largest refineries a tax refund of more than $135 million — money Texas’ cash-strapped schools and other local governments have been counting on to help pay teachers and provide other public services.
"The refund would mean more pain for some communities after a year in which state lawmakers had to grapple with a $27 billion shortfall and slashed spending on public schools by more than $4 billion. Nearly half the refund would be taken from public schools, and those in cities where the refineries are based would be hurt the most.[...]
"The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality is evaluating 16 requests for the refund, which concerns a piece of pollution-controlling equipment. If granted, the refund total for those requests could add up to more than $135 million, according to county tax data and application documents analyzed by The Associated Press. What’s more, agency documents show that if the commission grants the requests, at least 12 other refineries that have not sought a refund also could qualify."
The commission has signaled its support for the refund in the past, and Perry has indicated he will fully support the $135 million tax break at the expense of public education. One of the companies that stands to profit the most from the refund, Valero, just happens to be one of Perry’s biggest all-time contributors. Valero, the company that has most persistently lobbied for the refund, could get more than $92 million from the commission. Perry has received more money from the company than any other politician in the country except one.
Texas schools are already plagued by under-funding, low graduation rates, and high childhood poverty. Millions of Texas students began the school year without new textbooks and other essential school supplies because of the cuts Perry approved.
It’s disturbing that during an education and budget crisis in the state, government officials would prioritize the profits of the oil industry over the needs of children and communities. By accepting the refunds, oil companies are taking money away from nearby schools — which should disappoint Texans who place a premium on being good neighbors.The nation’s biggest oil companies — many of them headquartered in... more
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Uploaded by StopKeystoneXL on Aug 7, 2011
http://tarsandsaction.org Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) offers his support for the Tar Sands Action, a two week sit-in at the White House to stop the Keystone XL pipelineUploaded by StopKeystoneXL on Aug 7, 2011
http://tarsandsaction.org Sen. Bernie... more
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The White House was rocked Tuesday, not only by a 5.9-magnitude earthquake, but by the protests mounting outside its gates. More than 2,100 people say they’ll risk arrest there during the next two weeks. They oppose the Keystone XL pipeline project, designed to carry heavy crude oil from the tar sands of Alberta, Canada, to refineries on the U.S. Gulf Coast.The White House was rocked Tuesday, not only by a 5.9-magnitude earthquake, but by the... more
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The Millions Against Monsanto campaign is taking action across the country. Protests will continue, leading up World Food Day, which will be the largest day of action in US history on October 16th, 2011. Organize an action in your local area today! http://www.organicconsumers.org/monsanto/state-map.cfmThe Millions Against Monsanto campaign is taking action across the country. Protests... more
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In this remarkable video from Serbia (English transcript is below), Nikola Aleksic, Director of the Ecological Movement of Novi Sad, issues a stern warning to the president Boris Tadic to stop importing food based upon GMO and stop the chemtrail spraying, or he will call and personally lead the people of Serbia to the streets. He concludes his speech by saying: “You can be sure that, I, Nikola Aleksic, will keep my word – even at the cost of my own life.” http://aircrap.org/serbia-nikola-aleksic-president-tadi-stop-gmo-stop-chemtrails-will-call-people-serbia-streets/332079/In this remarkable video from Serbia (English transcript is below), Nikola Aleksic,... more
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Ain’t eBay grand? For $10 you can buy a sack of 50 assorted Obama ’08 buttons, and that’s what I’ve been doing. If you look closely, you might see them this weekend on the lapels of some of the global warming protesters holding a sit-in outside the White House.
Already, more than a thousand people have signed up to be arrested over two weeks beginning Aug. 20 — the biggest display of civil disobedience in the environmental movement in decades and one of the largest nonviolent direct actions since the World Trade Organization demonstrations in Seattle back before Sept. 11. (Among the first 500 to sign up, the biggest cohort was born in the Truman administration, followed closely by FDR babies and Eisenhower kids. These seniors contradict the stereotype of greedy geezers who care only about their own future.)
The issue is simple: We want the president to block construction of Keystone XL, a pipeline that would carry oil from the tar sands of northern Alberta down to the Gulf of Mexico. We have, not surprisingly, concerns about potential spills and environmental degradation from construction of the pipeline. But those tar sands are also the second-largest pool of carbon in the atmosphere, behind only the oil fields of Saudi Arabia. If we tap into them in a big way, NASA climatologist James Hansen explained in a paper issued this summer, the emissions would mean it’s “essentially game over” for the climate. That’s why the executive directors of many environmental groups and 20 of the country’s leading climate scientists wrote letters asking people to head to Washington for the demonstrations. In scientific terms, it’s as close to a no-brainer as you can get.
But in political terms it may turn out to be a defining moment of the Obama years.
That’s because, for once, the president will get to make an important call all by himself. He has to sign a certificate of national interest before the border-crossing pipeline can be built. Under the relevant statutes, Congress is not involved, so he doesn’t need to stand up to the global-warming deniers calling the shots in the House.
But the president does need to stand up to the fossil fuel industry, which has done its best to influence the decision. Since the State Department plays a role in recommending a decision, the main pipeline company helpfully hired the former national deputy director of Hillary Clinton’s 2008 presidential campaign as its lead lobbyist. WikiLeaks documents emerged recently showing U.S. envoys conspiring with the oil industry to win favorable media coverage for tar sands oil. If you were a cynic, you’d say the fix was in.
Still, the final call rests with Barack Obama, who said the night that he clinched the Democratic nomination in June 2008 that his ascension would mark “the moment when the rise of the oceans began to slow and our planet began to heal.” Now he gets a chance to prove that he meant it. In basketball terms, he’s alone at the top of the key — will he take the 20-foot jumper or pass the ball? It’s a rare, character-defining moment. Obama can’t escape it simply by saying that someone else will burn the oil if we don’t. Alberta is remote, and its only other possible pipeline route — to the Pacific and hence Asia — is tangled in litigation. That’s why the province’s energy minister told Canada’s Globe and Mail last month that without the Keystone pipeline Alberta would be “landlocked in bitumen,” the technical name for the heavy, gooey tar that is its chief export. Critics may argue otherwise, but Obama’s call is key; without it, that oil will stay in the ground for at least a while longer. Long enough, perhaps, that the planet will come fully to its senses about climate change.
It’s hard to predict what will happen. Earlier this summer Al Gore tossed up his hands in despair: “President Obama has never presented to the American people the magnitude of the climate crisis,” Gore said. “He has not defended the science against the ongoing withering and dishonest attacks.” Yet it’s hard to give up on the image of the skinny senator from Illinois and the young people who were his most fervent supporters — young people who, according to pollsters, wanted a climate bill by a 5-to-1 margin. That didn’t happen, of course; for now, the Keystone pipeline is the best proxy we have for real presidential commitment to the global warming fight.
More at the linkAin’t eBay grand? For $10 you can buy a sack of 50 assorted Obama ’08... more
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Some years ago in New England, a group of environmentalists asked a corporate executive how his company (a paper mill) could justify dumping its raw industrial effluent into a nearby river. The river—which had taken Mother Nature centuries to create--was used for drinking water, fishing, boating, and swimming. In just a few years, the paper mill had turned it into a highly toxic open sewer.
The executive shrugged and said that river dumping was the most cost-effective way of removing the mill’s wastes If the company had to absorb the additional expense of having to clean up after itself, it might not be able to maintain its competitive edge and would then have to go out of business or move to a cheaper labor market, resulting in a loss of jobs for the local economy. http://www.commondreams.org/view/2011/02/27-2Some years ago in New England, a group of environmentalists asked a corporate... more
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