As Congressional Republicans and Big Oil allies in Washington try to resuscitate the massive Keystone XL tar sands pipeline, people on the front lines have opened a new campaign to stop the massive $7 billion project. In Texas, landowners are locking arms to fight would-be pipeline builder TransCanada over eminent domain cases that may determine where the 1,700-mile project will be built.
On Friday, protesters gathered in Paris, TX, and in Austin to voice their support for Lamar County farm manager Julia Trigg Crawford, who runs a 600-acre farms that grows corn, soybeans and wheat along the Red River near Paris, TX. More than 50 protesters traveled from nearby counties to wave flags and signs on the Lamar County courthouse steps, shouting slogans like “Don’t mess with Texas” and “This is what democracy looks like.”
Check out this video of the protest and interview with Julia Trigg Crawford:
The raucous protest included an unusual mix of Tea Party supporters, independents, Democrats, Republicans and even Occupy Dallas protesters. They were all there to support Crawford’s eminent domain court fight with TransCanada, which wants to run the Keystone XL pipeline through her property.
David Daniel, a landowner near Winnsboro, TX, has been fighting TransCanada for four years over their plans to run the pipeline though his wooded, spring-fed land near Winnsboro, TX. Daniel says he learned about the plan only after the company had already come on to his land and staked out its pipeline route, a route he says will threaten natural springs that communities depend on for drinking water.
“The more people find out about the safety risks and that the oil will be exported, the more they are opposed. People in Texas are used to oil pipelines, but this one is different. It’s more toxic and more dangerous and threatens our groundwater. A lot of people feel they’ve been lied to.”
Daniel, who helps run a Keystone XL pipeline opposition group called Stop Tarsands Oil Pipelines, says local landowners are not going to give up, even though they are vastly outspend by TransCanada and its oil industry supporters.
From the looks of those who attended the rally on Friday, TransCanada has a big fight ahead with some angry folks in the Lone Star state. You don't mess with Texas without getting one.
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http://journalstar.com/news/opinion/editorial/columnists/mike-klink-keystone-xl-pipeline-not-safe
Why don't these people take their flags and their "don't mess with texas" message down to Galveston, see how warm a welcome they get there.
In a first, gas and other fuels are top U.S. export from USATODAY
"There's at least one domestic downside to America's growing role as a fuel exporter. Experts say the trend helps explain why U.S. motorists are paying more for gasoline. The more fuel that's sent overseas, the less of a supply cushion there is at home. http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/energy/story/2011-12-31/united-states-export/52298812/1
JOBS CREATED OVERSTATED:
Cornell GLI Study Finds Keystone XL Pipeline Will Create Few Jobs
http://www.ilr.cornell.edu/globallaborinstitute/research/Keystonexl.html
TEXANS SAY NO TO TAR-SANDS:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NmcTzht2XH8
In terms of how net energy produced, traditional crude costs about 1 barrel's oil worth of energy to extract and refine 20-40 barrels. This stuff costs 1 barrel to extract and refine 2-4 barrels. To say it's extremely dirty and inefficient is the understatement of the century and it won't really add that much to the world's daily production.
Earth is the great web of all life, and her strands are her ecosystems; Ecosystems are the great web of all life, and their strands are native species of animals and plants or biodiversity. Ecologists report, pushing biodiversity extinct, is about as safe for mankind as thermonuclear war.
A solar panel construction in our desert ecosystem was just halted as it was making a rare fox sick. The animal was stressed-out to witness his planet, his habitat, his food, cover and shelter being entombed for eternity under the dead fields of solar panels. Obviously, man is clueless as to his killing his planet, his habitat as witnessing it being raped and butchered bothers him not a twit. What animal is so stupid as to kill his only nest? Certainly not homo sapiens!
The president was caught between a rock and hard place with so many Dems wanting the pipeline for jobs, so he bravely put off the decision until after the election.
SEEING YOU SPEAK FOR THE PRESIDENT'S MOTIVES
HAHAHAHAHAHAAAA
The row over the EU's plan to label tar sands oil as highly polluting escalates as Canada says it 'will not hesitate to defend its interests'
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2012/feb/20/canada-eu-tar-sands
They might try what we tried in New Mexico in the 1970s. We were researching the feasability of setting up fermentation vats with microbes to break their thick (tar sands) asphaltenes into pumpable crude. The only problem was that every bacteria we tried ended up eating all of the tar and leaving us with plain water and CO2. We couldn't slow those voracious microbes down.
Glad to hear people there waking up.