It seemed like the afterthought in the payroll tax cut extension fight, a small consolation prize to the Republicans on what should have been the easiest of bi-partisan votes. But the two-month clock is now ticking on whether Obama will approve the Keystone XL pipeline from Canada's environmentally disastrous tar sands. If we want him to make the right decision and deny the permit, maybe it's time to Occupy Exxon, with creative protests at local Exxon/Mobil stations. Of course we need to keep pressuring Obama. The bill's deadline precludes anything close to the kind of comprehensive environmental review that he called for after rallies and civil disobedience at the White House led him to delay approval for a year. But why not also go after the oil companies whose influence led the Republicans to hold the rest of the unemployment and payroll tax bill hostage to the fast-track requirement. Exxon/Mobil has long been the dirtiest of the dirty among these companies. This makes them a logical target.
In a week heralding news of melting Arctic methane beds, and a year of record global temperatures and billion-dollar weather-related disasters, demanding Keystone's approval is a stunning exercise in denial. But that's the deal that passed. So our challenge is not only to get Obama to reject the pipeline. We also want to make this raw power grab backfire on those who insisted on it by turning at least part of the national conversation back onto oil company greed.
The more we do this, the more political room we create for Obama both to block the pipeline and to act more forcefully on climate change in general. So just as Occupy Wall Street has got us talking about predatory banks, Occupying Exxon would get Americans thinking about destructive fossil fuel interests -- whether they're fighting for the pipeline, convincing the Republicans to block proposed cut-backs to their massive tax subsidies, or paying nothing in federal income taxes, as Exxon did as recently as 2009. Targeting Exxon links an issue most Americans may have barely heard of with a company known as an embodiment of greed. It also links Exxon's lobbying for the pipeline with their long-time backing of climate change denial. Using strategies, scientists, and PR firms borrowed from the tobacco industry, Exxon contributed $16 million between 1998 and 2005 to groups denying human-caused climate change and spent over $55 million to lobbying, at a time when even BP and Shell were beginning to acknowledge the reality. Exxon claimed they've now cut this funding, but continue to back institutes and support politicians who promote denial.
The pipeline matters, because building it invites the acceleration of tar sands extraction. And the process leaves the resulting fuel contributing as much as three times the greenhouse emissions per energy unit as conventional oil. Given the massive size of these deposits, their full exploitation, say NASA's leading climate scientist, James Hansen, would create "game over for the planet." For this reason, 20 of Hansen's most respected climate scientist peers sent a letter to Obama opposing the pipeline, as did Desmond Tutu, eight other Nobel Peace Prize winners, and every major American environmental group, including the most conservative ones.
Given Obama's two month decision window, we need to keep pressure on the White House, from calling and writing, to public rallies, perhaps even at Obama campaign offices. The chances of Obama again rising to the occasion are far greater if there's continued public outcry about the pipeline. But one powerful way to create this is to tie the proposal and the politicians who've backed it to the greed-driven agenda of the oil companies. I'd suggest we invite the Occupy Movement, environmental groups, and anyone appalled at our pay-to-play politics to show up at local Exxon/Mobil stations in whatever nonviolent and creative ways they can, whether through picketing, vigils, guerrilla theater, or civil disobedience. Other oil companies are also involved in the tar sands, like BP, Chevron, Shell and Conoco. Brand-name gas stations sometimes sell fuel from ostensible competitors. But Exxon remains the most powerful symbol, because of all they've done and are continuing to do in promoting blanket denial.
As always, the Republicans claim this is a jobs issue. Yet a credible Cornell study points out that the pipeline could actually cost American jobs, and even if the pipeline backers are right, we're talking only 5,000-6,000 temporary positions for two years. That doesn't count the climate change risks or the potential for the pipeline to break and pollute the massive Ogallala aquifer that sustains America's agricultural heartland. The latter possibility impelled Nebraska's Republican governor to speak out against the pipeline, in the wake of major citizen outcry and a 42,000-gallon leak this past July that spilled into the Yellowstone River from Exxon's Silvertip Pipeline. So any economic benefit would go largely to the project's promoters.
For most Americans, I suspect Keystone feels like an obscure minor issue worth the tangible gain of extending unemployment benefits and the payroll tax cut. I doubt they're highly invested on either side. But we know that the groups that lobbied for the Pipeline will go all out this round, so staying silent or confining ourselves to virtual lobbying is a bad option. But if we make Exxon and the oil companies the sleazy face of the fight, we can change the political context. Occupy Exxon protests would invite people to undertake flexible and creative approaches to the issue in their own backyards. They'd highlight the oil companies as the heart of the issue, so if Obama allows the pipeline, he'll be seen as supporting them, and if he blocks it, he can justly frame it as challenging corporate greed. Exxon's long undermined the habitability of the planet, from their day-to-day operations to their long-term political role. Targeting them just might make their latest destructive power grab finally backfire.
Paul Loeb is the author of Soul of a Citizen, with 130,000 copies in print including a newly updated second edition now being used in hundreds of schools to promote civic engagement. He's also the author of The Impossible Will Take a Little While: A Citizen's Guide to Hope in a Time of Fear, named the #3 political book of 2004 by the History Channel and the American Book Association. See www.paulloeb.org To receive Paul's articles directly www.paulloeb.org/subscribe.html You can sign up here for his Huffington Post pieces.
Follow Paul Loeb on Twitter: www.twitter.com/paulloeb
Obama Keystone XL pipeline punt spurs 2012 talk - Darren Goode ...
Drivers Paying for Obama's Keystone XL Delay With High Gas ...
Obama Administration Delays Decision on Keystone XL Pipeline ...
Please let us know what you think the value of an avoided ton of CO2 emissions is and how that should be charged to people who produce the CO2 via energy consumptioÂn (transport fuel, electricitÂy, heat, energy as a component of manufacturÂed goods, web searches, etc. (that being us)). Would I be more or less right if I assumed something in the range of $75/ton (about 75 cents per gallon of gasoline)? Exxon would love this since it will destroy coal as a fuel for power generation and throw immense business in that sector to natural gas, of which Exxon is now the largest producer in the US. Should the US commit by some date certain to getting it's per person greenhouse gas emissions level down to that of China? At what level of emissions do the scientists who form the consensus on climate change think the US and China need to settle in terms of annual emissions of GHGs and what would that mean to the US economy?
The Republicans believe they have President Obama in a box: either he approves a controversial Canadian oil pipeline or they accuse him of depriving the nation of jobs. Mr. Obama can and should push back hard.
This is precisely the moment for him to argue the case for alternative fuel sources and clean energy jobs — and to lambaste the Republicans for doubling down on conventional fuels while ceding a $5 trillion global clean technology market...to more aggressive competitors like China and Germany.
The payroll tax cut bill...gave him 60 days to decide on the Keystone XL pipeline. That is not enough time to complete the required environmental review of a project ...
The Republicans’ claim that the pipeline will create tens of thousands of new jobs — 20,000 according to House Speaker John Boehner and 100,000 according to Jon Huntsman — are wildly inflated. A more accurate forecast...says the project would create 6,000 to 6,500 temporary construction jobs at best, for two years....
American voters are smart enough to see through the ridiculous pipeline gambit. And they will surely listen if Mr. Obama makes a compelling argument for both protecting the environment and investing in clean energy industries that will create lasting jobs.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/02/opinion/where-the-real-jobs-are.html?_r=1&ref=opinion?hp
Question (and Exxon asks it all the time): is the US willing to agree with China that it will reduce its per capita carbon footprint to that of China, meaning that, per person, we will use only 1/4th the fossil fuels that we now use? I hope Obama makes that a centerpiece of his campaign! Until we can answer a question like that in the affirmative, the rest is all BS.
Like most of the 1%, Exxon has the advantage of living in the real world vs. the fantasy world. Occupy away. Exxon's share price is way up this year!
Do your homework BEFORE you post.
NO KEYSTONE XL IN MY COUNTRY!
How ExxonMobil Uses Big Tobacco’s Tactics to Manufacture Uncertainty on Climate Science
Union of Concerned Scientists
January 2007
In an effort to deceive the public about the reality of global warming, ExxonMobil has underwritten
the most sophisticated and most successful disinformation campaign since the tobacco industry
misled the public about the scientific evidence linking smoking to lung cancer and heart disease.
As this report documents, the two disinformation campaigns are strikingly similar. ExxonMobil has
drawn upon the tactics and even some of the organizations and actors involved in the callous
disinformation campaign the tobacco industry waged for 40 years....
Manufactured uncertainty...
Adopted a strategy of information laundering...
Promoted scientific spokespeople who misrepresent peer-reviewed scientific findings...
Attempted to shift the focus away from meaningful action on global warming...
Used its extraordinary access to the Bush administration to block federal policies...
http://www.ucsusa.org/assets/documents/global_warming/exxon_report.pdf
4. The Keystone XL Pipeline Is Toast
Give it up for protesters in 2011. Sure the deal to funnel crude oil and bitumen from the Athabasca Oil Sands to thirsty maws in the U.S. is still alive, but it's the battered shell of its former slick self.
The deal was touted back in February 2005 by TransCanada Corporation as a win-win for both the Canadian and American economies and would spread Canada's natural abundance to the States for fuel and profit.
Since then, the project has been assailed by lawsuits from not-at-all pleased American oil refineries and those pesky environmentalists, who claim the pipeline would have disastrous consequences on every ecosystem it punctures....
...This pipeline has already burst. Public opinion, galvanized by the likes of Daryl Hannah and Julia Louis Dreyfus and the usual scenes of police over-responding to protesters has made this pipeline a political deathwish. No one will touch it. And if Obama is pushed to make a decision on it before 2013, expect the whole project to be deemed 'not in the national interest'....
http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2011/12/29/2012-news-predictions-stories-newstradamus_n_1168106.html?ref=canada
The science of global warming has been confirmed and the warming has been measured globally. Much of the current science is focused on mitigation. Scientists approximate the amount of all greenhouse gases that will be added to the atmosphere under different scenarios for the future and examine the impact with climate models. The two extreme scenarios are “business as usual†(continuing to burn fossil fuels worldwide at the current rate) and stopping all anthropogenic sources of greenhouse gases immediately. The middle scenarios involve reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by development of renewable energy sources, slowing birthrates, conservation of energy by the public, etc.
I walk through my community and see outdoor lights left on day and night for weeks, people with enough outdoor lighting (not solar) to qualify as an airport, water pouring down the gutter every morning from broken sprinklers, couples without children living in 3000+ square foot houses that they expand and remodel every year, etc. It may be their right to waste energy and water but for the sake of the world’s climate (including worldwide impact on water and food) everyone, please conserve energy and our natural resources. They are not unlimited.
"...when the Gitga'at people of Hartley Bay discuss the proposed Northern Gateway project...they always mention the Queen....No matter how safe the ship, the most mundane human error can sink it. And when disaster strikes, they alone will be left to clean up the mess.
"...The fight over the pipeline contains more than a few echoes of the battle over the trans-Alaska pipeline in the late 1960s and early 1970s....
...Last year 61 Canadian First Nations announced they would not allow the proposed pipeline to cross their traditional territory.
...."Buy in?" said Gitga'at council member Cameron Hill. "Buy in to what—to selling our way of life? We live off food from the land and sea here. We've been taught to respect what we take. That's sustained us from time immemorial. No amount of money can make us change our position."
...The Canadian government's joint review panel is expected to mull over the issue for the next 18 months...In Hartley Bay the Queen may be dead, but she is not forgotten...."
Great Bear Rainforest/Pipeline Through Paradise
Why oil sands, a sunken ferry, and the price of oil in China have the Great Bear Rainforest in an uproar.
http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2011/08/canada-rainforest/barcott-text
...Mark Hoofnagle defines denialism as the employment of rhetorical arguments to give the appearance of legitimate debate where there is none... In recent years the term has been associated with a series of views challenging the scientific consensus on issues including the health effects of smoking ... along with climate change....
..."Doubt is our product since it is the best means of competing with the "body of fact" ...
... the American Enterprise Institute offered... scientists $10,000, plus travel expenses, to publish articles...
...The institute, which had received more than $US 1.6 million from Exxon and whose vice-chairman of trustees is Lee Raymond, former head of Exxon...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Climate_change_denial
http://wattsupwiththat.com/2011/12/29/unified-theory-of-climate/#more-53850
His 'theories' are easily debunked by NASA, the NOAA, The National Academy of Sciences and the IPCC.
“In contrast to what we have seen emerge thus far from the State Department, a fair, impartial review would take into account the tremendous harm that the pipeline and tar sands extraction linked to it would cause, as well as the risks of spills and other environmental damage. If a fair review that accurately reflects the true costs of the pipeline is conducted, President Obama will have little choice but to stop the pipeline...."
Friends of the Earth
Better look out, you likely have a pipeline running right outside your house filled with toxic waste.
The option is to get an outhouse, hope you have one that you use daily
Something makes me think the above site is very biased? All oil is heavier than water, you can also argue that by removing the oil from the oil sands it might make the land inhabitable, which it is not now.
BTW oil is washing along the shores of California every day, a natural phenomenon
Thank you, Paul Loeb, thank you!!
Jobs Gained, Jobs Lost
by the Construction of Keystone XL
a report by cornell university global labor institute
http://www.ilr.cornell.edu/globallaborinstitute/research/upload/GLI_KeystoneXL_Reportpdf-2.pdf
At the end of the day, Loeb and his fellow extremist travelers want everyone working for or receiving sustenance from the governmentÂ. That is a violation of our personal freedom.
PS I think most of us feel Obama was way too cozy with major corporations...
For relatively privileged people like myself, we don’t have to see the impact in everyday life. I can read about different flood regimes in Bangladesh, or people in the Maldives losing their islands to sea level rise, or highways in Alaska that are altered as permafrost changes. But that’s not my life. We have a vast capacity for this.
Wired.com: How is this bubble maintained?
Norgaard: In order to have a positive sense of self-identity and get through the day, we’re constantly being selective of what we think about and pay attention to. To create a sense of a good, safe world for ourselves, we screen out all kinds of information, from where food comes from to how our clothes our made. When we talk with our friends, we talk about something pleasant....
http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2009/12/climate-psychology/
http://www.solardaily.com/
The company learned a lot from Valdez and operated without any major incidents until just recently with the Yellowstone River spill. The cause of the spill has not been determined yet, so it’s unfair to draw any comparisons at this juncture between Yellowstone and Valdez. That aside, given ExxonMobil’s commitment to safety, the U.S. would probably be better off having ExxonMobil build and operate the Keystone XL pipeline than just about anyone. Your criticism of ExxonMobil is not warranted.
Moreover, Paul, if you dig a little deeper you’ll find that the major, western oil companies control only a fraction of the world’s oil reserves. The vast majority lies in the control of countries with state-controlled oil interests. Without the western nationals, whom you so deeply resent and excoriate, life on this planet would be much different…. And not for the better.
I will not be using any ExxonMobil gasoline in my car. Ok, I won't be using any other brands either.
Study up on the subject and let us know what you find.
A good introduction is: http://www.aip.org/history/climate/summary.htm
It's hard to believe that in this modern age you completely disregard the expertise of scientists in favor of childish talking points you got from who knows where.
The rest of your post is paranoid gibberish.
Tonopah Solar Energy, LLC, (TSE) a wholly owned subsidiary of SolarReserve, LLC, proposes to construct, own, and operate the Crescent Dunes Solar Energy Project. The project will be a solar generating facility located northwest of Tonopah, Nevada, in Nye County with a nominal net generating capacity of 100 megawatts (MW). When completed, Tonopah Solar Energy’s facility will supply approximately 480,000 megawatt hours annually of clean, renewable electricity – enough to power up to 75,000 homes during peak electricity periods utilizing its innovative energy storage capabilities.
The Cresent Dunes Solar Energy Project will utilize concentrating solar power (CSP) technology, with a central receiver tower and the advanced molten salt system technology from United Technologies Corp. (UTC). If all permits are received by December 2010 as planned, the plant would be available for operation in 2013. The project will help meet the increasing demand for clean, renewable electrical energy in the US and help reduce reliance on fossil fuels and associated greenhouse gas emissions.
http://www.tonopahsolar.com/
http://www.solarreserve.com/project-CrescentDunes.html
http://www.solarreserve.com/technology.html