Day 3: Keystone XL: NO!

Thanks. I was looking to see if the quake affected this.

Don't see anyone commenting that the earthquake affected the protest, they (park police) had already rounded up their daily ration of arrestees around 11:30 today, and this thing was a shaker, but no damage that I know of, other than around the epicenter. Oh and Lake Anna Nuclear Power Plant (1 hour from me) shut down & and running on emergency diesel generators right now? Not a good mix, nuclear issues and a hurricane coming this way? Not trying to sound overly dramatic. Just what is happening here in my area right now.

I know, but when you look at in totality it is like we are in a boxing ring with Mother Earth and she is beating the sh** out of us.

No joke, and like Japan's nuclear reactor, we know much more right now about what was happening than in the hours after it began. I am never comfortable with nuclear power plants shutting down? Too many variables and too much information withheld to keep folks from a panic. Easier to keep them calm and let us get exposed than to tell us? right? Or that is my take on it.

http://hisz.rsoe.hu/alertmap/index2.php

A friend sent me this map, has good information on it.

I didn't see it here, but I think the MLK jr. sculpture is inspirational and very fitting.

Unions join conservationists protesting Canada-US oil line
LABOR DIVIDED: The teamsters, however, say full steam ahead.
Daily News staff and wire reports
Published: August 20th, 2011 12:04 AM
Last Modified: August 20th, 2011 12:04 AM
A Canadian company's plan to pipe oil from Alberta to the U.S. Gulf Coast is pitting traditional Democratic allies against each other.

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Two major unions said Friday they oppose the 1,700-mile Keystone XL pipeline. That stance aligns them with environmentalists but puts them at odds with the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, one of the largest and most influential unions.

The Transport Workers Union and the Amalgamated Transit Union say they're concerned that the $7 billion pipeline could pollute groundwater and cause health problems near the Texas refineries where the oil will go.

Calgary-based TransCanada wants to build a pipeline to carry crude oil extracted from tar sands in Alberta, Canada, to refineries in Houston and Port Arthur, Texas. The pipeline would go through Montana, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas and Oklahoma.

The project is big, but pales beside another TransCanada proposal: building a natural gas pipeline from the North Slope in Alaska to Alberta, for up to $41 billion, or Valdez, for $20 billion. When TransCanada initially said it would build the gas line to Alberta, it prompted speculation that Alaska gas would be used to extract oil from the tar sands and not heat homes in the Midwest. That's what led former Gov. Wally Hickel to oppose TransCanada in 2008 before it got its license under a law pushed by then-Gov. Sarah Palin.

"I believe that Alaska's gas, instead of serving America as Gov. Palin sincerely hopes it will, will stay in Alberta and be used to heat the tar sands to produce synthetic oil, a process that many Canadians fear will become a world class environmental disaster," Hickel wrote in the Daily News before he died.

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So far, no customers of any kind for Alaska's gas have come forward and the TransCanada gas pipeline remains just a proposal.

Larry J. Hanley, president of the ATU, said the risk of oil spills, ruptures and other possible environmental damage from TransCanada's oil pipeline outweighs the lure of new jobs.

"We think there are lots of ways to produce lots of jobs, and you don't have to foul the environment," he said. "We think there are issues that trump the simple question of jobs."

Hanley also said he believes the 20,000 jobs projected by TransCanada -- including 13,000 construction jobs -- are inflated. Hanley declined to comment on the Teamsters' endorsement of the project, saying it was a "difference of opinion."

James Kimball, chief economist for the Teamsters, said the project would create up to 1,500 Teamsters jobs at a time of high unemployment.

"This project means jobs -- and jobs for our members," he said at a conference call this week organized by the American Petroleum Institute, an oil industry lobbying group.

If President Barack Obama really wants to create jobs, he should approve the pipeline instead of touring the Midwest on a bus, Cindy Schild, the institute's refining issues manager said.

"He's been talking about jobs. This is the opportunity: the largest shovel-ready project in the United States," she said. "You've got to put actions where your priorities are, and our priorities need to be jobs."

The pipeline needs a document known as a presidential permit because it crosses an international boundary, although in practice the State Department has authority over the project.

The State Department is expected to complete an environmental analysis this month, and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton has said she will make a decision by the end of the year.

TransCanada declined to comment on the opposition to the project by the two transit unions, but says it has agreements with at least six unions to build the pipeline.

Organized labor's support for the project was credited with boosting congressional support for legislation that would force the Obama administration to make a final decision on the pipeline by Nov. 1. That bill passed the House last month with bipartisan support, but it is not likely to advance in the Senate.

The disagreement among labor unions comes as more than 2,000 people are scheduled to take part in daily sit-ins at the White House to pressure the Obama administration to deny a permit for Keystone XL.

The project would double the capacity of an existing pipeline from Canada, and supporters say it could significantly reduce U.S. dependence on Middle Eastern oil. Environmental groups say the pipeline would bring "dirty oil" that requires huge amounts of energy to extract and could cause an ecological disaster in case of a spill.

"It's either a 'yes' or a 'no' for the climate-killing Keystone XL oil pipeline -- and Obama gets to make the call," said environmental author Bill McKibben, one of the leaders of the protest.

The protests, which begin today, will culminate in a Sept. 3 rally outside the White House. The events are intended to "show the president he has the support necessary to stand up to Big Oil and stop the pipeline," McKibben said.

Read more: http://www.adn.com/2011/08/19/2023224/unions-join-conservationists-protesting.ht...

Janforgore:
This article is fron the Anchorage Daily News-Just thought I'd send it your way....

Good news. Thank you.

Thank you.

Fantastic - it's getting International coverage, that's a GOOD thing.
Thanks for this post (and your very good eyes).

Glad to see him free. We need to keep it going.

Oh my, that was my idea too... my "solar super highway." Instead of a pipeline they most certainly could have installed photovoltaics all the way down that would not have threatened the aquifer, could actually be used to help farmers irrigate their crops and as he stated would provide billions in jobs. I bet there could even be plans worked out regarding land rights and actually allowing the people who live there to use these panels (solar farms) to get off grid which would actually save them money. But again, this crude is apparently slated to be shipped to new markets in Asia as it is not about providing energy to us but global markets to make oil barons richer.

See. great minds think alike Jan! I like your idea!

And the thing is, it's possible now. I read today that Germany will be converting their largest railroad to a combination of solar, hydro and electric power, because consumers are demanding it. There is a lesson there for us.

My son and i have been talking about that for years ..... he loves trains .

Yes!

One of his early comments after release; "the first thing they took from us, was our Obama 08 buttons"

Brown -shirts. one and all.

NO TO SICK THUGS SUPPRESSING FREE EXPRESSION AND THOUGHT.

I posted this down below, but thanks for posting it. I read he was just released from jail.

That's great news, Jan!

Cool .

Everybody should be pissed. This will make the Gulf spill look like child's play. And what the hell is up with a NON American company pulling eminent domain in America. The Prez. and Hillary are down with this? I'm not. Time to start flooding every one again with post card and letters, this is so bullshit.

We are all affected by this... coming soon to a state near you...
This kind of speaking out is giving voice to the voiceless of Canada, especially the small Indiginous Bands whose babies have rare cancers and whose natural aquifers are polluted. This is sheer and utter devastation.

Just to think that the tailing ponds (lakes) are visible from space is mindboggling -
it used to be shocking to me that this applied to the B.C. clear-cut of forests - now I'm just out of words to describe this madness.

SunCor and Syncrude continue to expand this monstrosity daily. And TransCanada Pipelines will pipe it thru to the Gulf of Mexico.
And thank you for speaking out. We all need to be enraged.

You really think the guy capitulating is as bad as those who are actively fighting for the things you hate? Is the guy who was too timid to jump in front of the bullet as bad as the guy who was trying to fucking murder you? Is it any wonder that we are awash in right wing policy at all levels of government when this is the kind of insight and will that is found on the left?

At this point in history it has probably never been more true, if you are not part of the solution, you are part of the problem. The choice of voting for a centrist right leaning democrat and a far right lunatic, is a choice I will not make again. If that's how it has to be then fuck the system, I'll think outside the box. My entire opinion does not hinge on this issue, but if he can't back the environment when its his choice to make alone and he can't hide behind a congress of "no", well then, I think that shows his true colors definitively. And if that happens, I will no longer cut him any slack, nor extreme liberals who would back him blindly, just because he's "better than the alternative". I see this on a larger scale as a big push right, and I will be pushed right no more, fuck that!!!!

No that's precisely the problem. You do not see this on a large scale. And you are preparing to allow a big push right out of spite on specific issues. You will secure years more of conservative courts and bureaucracy which are the real legacy of presidents who never have the kind of power you seem to think they do.

Maybe you think you're taking a long view, but that's irrelevant because it's not what you're actually doing.

Do you want this pipeline? I don't recall you commenting on that.

If a democrat consistently leans republican every time it counts, then how the hell are they still a democrat? You keep playing the same game over and over if you want to, but the results will always be the same. Einstein defined insanity as repeating the same action, but expecting different results. Politics has not proven to be a medium of change, so we need to change politics. This appears that it cannot be done through the medium itself as it is flawed and corrupt at its very foundation.

So, while i have been very apolitical for many years, I did/do? continue to support the dems, for social and environmental issues mostly. But I'm done playing by their rules, the game is rigged and those who play it blindly suffer some sort of delusion that I now feel free of. Break the Cypher my friend!!!

Doesn't this just exemplify how irrationally dependent we have become on oil? And how long will these tar sands even last? What happens when they're all used up? How much fresh water is being used to extract the usable oil from these sands? How is that land ever going to heal itself from the obvious damage that is being inflicted on it?

I could keep asking questions. But it's pretty obvious to me that we're on the brink of something truly hideous....

Ok, not meaning to jack the thread, but I think i can bring this back around to the subject at hand, civil disobedience. What i am suggesting is, at least for me, a form of that. I would sign a petition in an instance pledging to sit out the 2012 elections if I thought it would get dems to change posture from their right butt cheek to their left. We need to stand together and send a clear message as progressives that we will not tolerate this push right. Voting blindly just gives them confidence to continue business as usual.

So like any good republican, all I gots ta' say is, NO NONO NONO NO NO NO!! lol

No, but I don't care about it as much as you and I think it's a losing argument with this electorate.

But that's not the point. The point is you guys are suggesting putting Republicans back in the Executive branch appointing court nominees and directors at the EPA over this. It's beyond insane. Look at what Obama's done with the EPA vs Bush. Complain all you want about the executive decisions he's made but he's much more on your side than the other guys and if you can't understand that and fight for it you're part of the problem in my book.

http://www.consortiumnews.com/2010/101510.html

Please read this link. You seem like you might have enough sense to get it and it's important.

This protesting you're talking about has been done over and over by every new crop of liberals for a few generations. It has consistently brought us rightward. You guys love to use the Einstein insanity line but you never see it in yourself.

This isn't about liberal or conservative. People are protesting this because they are AMERICANS and because as citizens of the world they wish to stand up to the OIL lobbies that control this government and those in both parties. People of all stripes and politics have joined together to protest this pipeline because it is literally a matter of life and death. And if those we elect would do right by the people they wouldn't need to worry about losing votes. Obama is the one who has the vote on this pipeline. His decision will speak to his character and HE will have to be accountable for the results of it.

I did nothing here but suggest NO to this pipeline and with good reason. Please take your DLC line to another thread if all you are going to do is campaign.

I wasn't even talking to you until you asked me a direct question. I'll take my opinions wherever I feel like.

Commentators here are doing more than "suggesting NO to the pipeline". They're suggesting handing the country to the most insane crop of Republicans that have ever walked the Earth because the raping of the planet that's been going on for decades since we ceded it to corporations hasn't stopped under a Democratic president.

The way I see it your fight is basically hopeless because the courts are conservative after years of your "protesting" and you don't have the patience, the sense or the stomach to make them liberal.

I'm suggesting having a spine and actually standing for what i believe in. That seems to offend you, you seem to want democrats and progressives to start acting like republicans. The problem is that most dems are in general, smarter, more educated, more in depth, questioning people. This is why it is harder to unify us, than it is the republican base, you scream God or guns, and they're on board. We actually ask questions sometimes. So, I'm really sorry I'm not just going to fall in line like you.

I understand the historical precedence in your link, but what should we take from that, that the bullshits been going on for longer than four years?? We all know that, that's exactly why I'm sick of trying to effect change through a dying political system. It doesn't work, but that doesn't mean we just give up and go with the flow. I mean with the obvious influence of election fraud, Our votes could be used against us anyway, with no paper trail who knows who actually wins anything now. We must begin to think outside the box to effect change, I'm not sure what to do, but I know we've already tried your way several times, and It doesn't work either.

"The way I see it your fight is basically hopeless"

Thanks to spineless Democrats as well who do nothing but pontificate to those who are actually willing to put it all on the line and who bow to the oiligarchy and Republicans. I guess you would have said the same thing to Martin Luther King Jr, or Alice Paul, or Cesar Chavez right? The Democratic party used to stand for equality and for the people. Now it only stands for whatever gets them the most campaign cash.

And, "your" fight? Whether you want to see it or not this is ALL our fight, because the fate of this pipeline determines the fate of our climate, the livelihoods of thousands of people, our ability to have clean water and agriculture and so much more. And that really isn't a way to endear farmers and those Americans to your "cause"" by telling them their actions are hopeless as if they don't matter. We out here who work AND CARE are the backbone of this country. Again, your DLC talking points are obvious, and again, this decision rests with Obama. If he makes the wrong one, he has no one to blame for the outcome but himself.

They've taken enough of this beautiful country.

ENOUGH.

Well, if it did come from the Obama administration, it came to them from those who really control this government... KOCH industries and their dirty greedy soulless minions.

All the more reason to keep coming back!

Me too. Hopefully they know the support they have.

The first line reads "This page opposes the building of a 1,700-mile pipeline called the Keystone XL, which would carry diluted bitumen — an acidic crude oil — from Canada’s Alberta tar sands to the Texas Gulf Coast. We have two main concerns: the risk of oil spills along the pipeline, which would traverse highly sensitive terrain, and the fact that the extraction of petroleum from the tar sands creates far more greenhouse emissions than conventional production does. " NYT .....way to go!!!

Great to see this is getting more attention and the facts are being laid out. I will be sending some e-mails today to media outlets as well as sending a message to the White House again. Thanks for that link.

I was thinking last night about the Canadian Boreal Forest, which will be bulldozed and damaged beyond recognition, I guess they can pull Monsanto into it and plant their GMO eucalyptus trees which will further endanger our eco system. I can see it all now. But, hey, I'm not ready to give up on the hope that Obama will do the right thing. I just was sharing one of my thoughts. I got a little down last night, but I am refreshed today. :)))

Can you believe they still want to plant them down South even seeing the exceptional drought there? I truly do believe greed is a symptom of sociopathic insanity.

The Corporation, a film which includes an analysis of "psychopathic" corporate behaviors by Robert Hare is a great way to see it all lined up. I am sure you have seen it, I watch every so often just to "remember" what we are up against. :) (keeps me from thinking I am going crazy) lol

Thanks for the post, this stuff is clearly NOT the direction to go. Maddness!!!!

Thanks for this, and with these BT toxin trees, there is no telling how mutations would affect fungi. As it is, they would not produce nuts, fruits, or have lignin.

Like we NEED something like that on the loose ..... Ugh !

It's already in the wind, spreading - it started to be infective on Vancouver Island in 1999-2000, and nobody could figure out (for awhile) what could be killing people or putting them into comas, rapidly. So far it's killed 8 out 216, which is statistically significant (might sound like a low #, but medically, is not) - It's spread by the wind. We're seeing more occurrences of it here every year.
It's in WA state and Oregon along the coast - NOW.

Began in an area about mid-island (about 120 miles north or Port Angeles, WA - in a heavily forested area, with large groves of naturally growing Eucalyptus. Now evergreens (especially the soil around them) are toxic to humans to be around. This is really for real. It wouldn't be so bad except that humans have over-developed the area with big ocean-side homes and resort communities, with many trails into the forest.
It now has shown up in Vancouver, causing pulmonary malfunctions leading to death, and a type of meningitis which gets out of control incredibly fast, so that the patient doesn't have a hope.

When they start planting more Eucalyptus trees, for soil stability - especially because that tree will grow rapidly in the semi-tropic zones in the South and the Gulf coast areas, it will be a medical disaster - because, once again, we've upset the balance of Nature. And as you know, It's not nice to fool with Mother Nature.