The Keystone XL saga is entering another exciting week. As thousands of people prepare to completely surround the White House November 6 to push President Obama to deny the permit for the 1,700-mile pipeline, Lisa Jackson and the Environmental Protection Agency are expected to release their final review of the State Department's Environmental Impact Statement for the project.
Will Jackson be able to stand strong to industry and insider pressure? Will the State Department inspector general launch an investigation into accusations of department impropriety? And what will another batch of State Department emails released under the Freedom of Information Act turn up? Perhaps another titillating note from a State Department official inviting a Keystone XL lobbyist to join her on a vacation in Canada's "winter wonderland"? (Think I'm joking? Check the last batch of revelations.)
You're not alone in feeling that the Keystone XL drama is increasingly sounding like an afternoon soap opera. There was even a case of mistaken fatherhood: at first, the Koch Brothers denied that they had any interest in the pipeline, shouting, "It's not ours" when Rep. Henry Waxman launched inquiries. Turns out that they actually have serious financial interests in the project: no need to test the paternity of the pipe, it's Koch-kinder.
This week's potential drama with EPA Secretary Lisa Jackson should prove especially interesting. Jackson has been a reliable champion for the environment and American people since she took office. But with the Obama Administration running scared from the Tea Party backlash, Jackson has increasingly been left out to dry. Just this August, the White House ignored EPA recommendations to strengthen smog controls at the cost of 17,000 premature deaths each year.
As you may recall from our previous episodes, the EPA has twice criticized the Keystone XL pipeline's environmental impact statements prepared under the eye of the State Department. I say "under the eye," because the department didn't actually do the assessment themselves: they shipped that responsibility out to Cardno-Entrix, a Bond-villain-sounding consultant company recommended to do the assessment by the company building the pipeline, TransCanada.
Beltway tea-leaf readers are convinced that the EPA is going to succumb to industry pressure and give the latest State Department report a pass. That would be a shame. The Keystone XL pipeline is clearly an environmental tragedy. Earlier this year, twenty of America's top climate scientists sent a letter to the president warning that if the pipeline went through and the Canadian tar sands were fully exploited, it could spell "game over" for the climate. Just today, a new article came out documenting how the oil industry is now shooting wolves to protect the few remaining caribou they haven't already displaced while ripping up Canada's boreal forest to get at the tar sands' bitumen. Welcome to conservation, oil industry style.
There's still a chance Jackson and the EPA will stay strong. Either way, thousands of people are planning on using this weekend to show President Obama that he has the support to stand up to Big Oil and deny the permit for the Keystone XL pipeline. On Sunday, November 6, over 4,000 people are expected to surround the White House in a complete circle, either a symbol of hope or a symbolic house arrest. Unlike the Pentagon protests of the 1960s, we won't be trying to levitate the building, but resurrect the Barack Obama who ran in 2008 and pledged to "end the tyranny of oil" and run "the most transparent government in history."
Here's an invitation from Robert Redford inviting you to join in the action:
There may be some heartbreak this week, there will certainly be some drama, but rest assured, the show will go on. Let's hope that the good guys win.
Follow Jamie Henn on Twitter: www.twitter.com/agent350
Ted Danson and Andrew Sharpless: Big Oil Doesn't Need Handouts
I wonder if some understand the urgency of beginning to reduce CO2 emissions. Like coal, burning tarsand oil will delay our investment and creation of the clean energy infrastructure and economy. There is a solution, and that is to make carbon-based fuels pay for the environmental damage with a carbon fee, sending a price signal to industry and entrepreneurs that will accelerate the innovations that are already well under way. Have you visited http://arpa-e.energy.gov/ lately? Try it, you'll like it
Please read the proposed 2-page Carbon Fee & Dividend Act which can be downloaded at http://www.CitizensClimateLobby.org and please watch the video at http://www.MillionLetterMarch.org
H.R. 3242 is just such a bill. Read http://1.usa.gov/StarkPressRelease and http://1.usa.gov/StarkStatement ... it has a dual purpose. Not only will it send a price signal to industry, it will provide half-a-trillion dollars toward reducing the deficit. We citizens will pay for it, so we might as well have a double positive impact.
Those of us who agree with Jamie can take action by letting President Obama know what you think. Call him at 202-456-1111, post a comment at http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact or send him a note to The White House, 1600 Pennsylvania Ave NW, Washington DC 20500. Do something every day until Barack vetoes Keystone XL. Simply tell him you support his VETO.
The BIG problem with 350,org and other environmentalists is simple. They do not have the votes. They let the Koch Brothers win the election of 2010 and now they are facing the results.
My suggestion to 350.org and other environmental groups. Elect a progressive congress and re-elect President Obama. If the GOP wins in 2012, you might as well shut down.
require huge ocean vessels to transport the oil accross the oceans. Unless you are smoking something other than tabacco, everyone knows that the USA will need oil for a long time into the future. Thus sending billions of $ to places that are at least unfriendly to this country if not hostile.
The people and organizations that oppose this project must have their heads in the sand; as in the deserts of the mid-east.
Without government subsidies, the Keystone project is not economically vialbe. Sjlatty simply does not understand the problems invovled in transporting dilbit over thousands of miles. Nor does he understand the amount of energy that will be required to get oil from tar sands.
I'd suggest you check out Californians for Clean Energy and Jobs. You will find all sorts of interesting articles on energy there. I might also add that it is possible to get fuel from algae =- In fact the defense department is testing jet fuel made from biofuel as I am writing this post. There are better alternatives - but we need to spend our money developing these alternatives rather than throwing it away of projects of questionable viability - like the Keystone Pipeline.
The Tyranny of Enviromentalism-Failing to Think Beyond Stage One.
There are many things we can do to improve our environment and how we use our resources. However many environmental actions and policies have actually caused more harm than good becuase many environmentalists and opportunistic politicians did not think beyond stage one before they implemented their environmental control policies...
There are numerous examples for this but the most obvious and one that many urban commuters are able to understand is how environmental restrictions has limited the amount of housing in urban enters which causes an increase in housing prices that forces tens of millions to the suburbs only having to commute from anywhere to 45 minutes and upwards of several hours. If it were not for these kinds of policies I wonder how much oil, lower emissions, and fewer traffic deaths we would have each year?
So tell me what is more tyrannical those who force others to use more resources or those who are trying to efficiently meet the demand for oil through a pipeline?
Warm regards,
Michael Winters
Like the public option, he will stretch it out as long as possible because he knows it is unpopular, in the hopes that something will change, or some event will divert attention, so he can--like in all things--do the bidding of the powerful interests he serves.
Everyone should know this by now.