Thursday, February 27, 2014

The Art Acevedo Defense: At Least My Minions Didn't Rape Her

From:  LewRockwell

by Will Griggs  

Chief Art Acedevo of the Austin Police Department is like a figure from Roman history – in one of the worst ways imaginable. To be specific, his view of the privileges of the coercive elite, and the deferential gratitude they’re supposedly owed by the plebian class, summon memories of Cicero’s description of the aspiring ruler Marcus Antonius. In fact, Acevedo’s dismissive comments about the unjustified arrest and abuse of a female jogger displayed a tyrannical insouciance that Antonius might have considered a bit excessive.

After Cicero delivered the first of fourteen philippics against Antonius in the Senate, the general invited public applause for the forbearance he displayed by allowing the orator to live. Cicero devoted a lengthy section of his second philippic to demolishing the would-be dictator’s pretense of magnanimity:

“That, senators, is what a favor from gangsters amounts to – they refrain from murdering someone, and then they boast of their kindness…. What sort of kindness is it, to have abstained from committing a horrible evil? To me, it doesn’t appear so much a favor as a burden, to know that it was within your power to do such a thing with impunity. But I grant that it was a favor, such no greater kindness can be expected from a robber.”

Like every other notable municipal police chief, Acevedo presides over a department that is notorious for committing acts of capricious violence against innocent people – and almost without exception he defends such crimes as suitable exercises of discretion by the punitive caste.

Women tend to be preferred targets in the ongoing APD crime wave. One suitable example was the case of Vanessa Price, who was unlawfully “detained” outside her home by Officer Jermaine Hopkins, and then brutally assaulted by him after she used her cell phone to call her husband for help. Hopkins then charged the victim – who had been observing a police encounter with an unruly house guest from a distance of roughly thirty feet — with “interference” and “resisting arrest.” The charges were dropped, and Hopkins – rather than being prosecuted for aggravated armed assault – was given a trivial suspension. Mrs. Price had to endure two months of expensive physical therapy to recover from the unprovoked attack.

Inspector General Clears State Department of Conflict-of-Interest in Keystone XL Report

From:  EcoNews

by Laura Beans 


beansbwYesterday, the inspector general concluded that the U.S. State Department did not violate conflict-of-interest rules with the selection of Environmental Resources Management (ERM) to conduct environmental assessments of the proposed Keystone XL pipeline project, according to the L.A. Times.

State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki told the L.A. Times that the inspector general “found that our processes not only avoided conflicts of interest, but were more rigorous than required.” 
keystonepipe
The inspector general’s findings are a blow to environmental groups and concerned citizen that have been working to stop the Keystone XL project.

The report came as blow to environmental groups and concerned citizens opposed to the controversial pipeline project. In October, as reported by EcoWatch, groups had urged Inspector General Steve Linick to conduct an investigation into the business ties between TransCanada—the company building the pipeline—and ERM.

The State Department released their Final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) in January, determining that the pipeline would not increase the rate of extraction of tar sands and thus isn’t likely to significantly increase carbon emissions and climate change. Last June President Obama vowed he would only approve the Keystone XL pipeline if it “does not significantly exacerbate the problem of carbon pollution.”



The hypocrisy of Big Oil is collapsing, from Baton Rouge to Dallas


by Stuart Smith 

There’s been some stunning developments this week in the fight against Big Oil — one of them right here in Louisiana. It was just last year that an epic expose in Harper’s magazine pulled the lid off some of the undue, outsized influence that the oil industry holds here in our Sportsmen’s Paradise, and a key element was the clout that the Louisiana Oil and Gas Association and its longtime leader, Don Briggs, has held on Baton Rouge. The result has been laws and regulations stacked heavily against the people who breathe the toxic air and drink the water that’s been dirtied by Big Oil’s pollution.

Last year, there was finally a breakthrough — when the levee board here on the east bank of the Mississippi River sued some 97 major oil and gas company seeking millions of dollars to reverse decades of damage to Louisiana’s wetlands, our first line of defense against killer storms like 2005′s Hurricane Katrina.  It was something almost unheard of here in Louisiana — a government body actually challenging the hegemony of Big Oil — and the industry is melting under the exposure.

Briggs and his Oil and Gas Association claimed that the suit was driving energy companies out of the state, and it even filed a counter-suit against the state attorney general in a complicated effort to block the hiring of attorneys by the levee board, and kill the wetlands cleanup campaign. But the lawsuit also meant that Briggs would be compelled to testify under oath in a deposition and back up his claims.
Briggs was indeed questioned last week in the matter, and it did not go well. Some of the results were reported this week in an article on NOLA.com:
There’s been some stunning developments this week in the fight against Big Oil — one of them right here in Louisiana. It was just last year that an epic expose in Harper’s magazine pulled the lid off some of the undue, outsized influence that the oil industry holds here in our Sportsmen’s Paradise, and a key element was the clout that the Louisiana Oil and Gas Association and its longtime leader, Don Briggs, has held on Baton Rouge. The result has been laws and regulations stacked heavily against the people who breathe the toxic air and drink the water that’s been dirtied by Big Oil’s pollution.
Last year, there was finally a breakthrough — when the levee board here on the east bank of the Mississippi River sued some 97 major oil and gas company seeking millions of dollars to reverse decades of damage to Louisiana’s wetlands, our first line of defense against killer storms like 2005′s Hurricane Katrina.  It was something almost unheard of here in Louisiana — a government body actually challenging the hegemony of Big Oil — and the industry is melting under the exposure.
Briggs and his Oil and Gas Association claimed that the suit was driving energy companies out of the state, and it even filed a counter-suit against the state attorney general in a complicated effort to block the hiring of attorneys by the levee board, and kill the wetlands cleanup campaign. But the lawsuit also meant that Briggs would be compelled to testify under oath in a deposition and back up his claims.
Briggs was indeed questioned last week in the matter, and it did not go well. Some of the results were reported this week in an article on NOLA.com:
A transcript of that deposition, entered into evidence Monday, indicates that Briggs was repeatedly asked what proof he had that the levee authority lawsuit would cause oil and gas companies to abandon the state.
“Do you have any evidence that any oil company considers Louisiana’s legal climate in deciding whether they will drill for oil and gas in Louisiana,” asked attorney Rock Palermo, who represents the levee authority.
“No,” Briggs responded, according to the deposition’s transcript.
“Is it your opinion that oil and gas companies are leaving Louisiana because of the threat of lawsuits?” Palermo asked.
“Yes,” Briggs said.
“Which oil companies have left Louisiana because of lawsuits,” Palermo asked.
“I don’t know,” Briggs answered.
“Do you have any facts or data to support your opinion?” Palermo asked.
“No,” Briggs said. 
Palermo later asked for the name of any oil company that has refused to do business in the state because of the suits.
“I don’t know any,” Briggs said.
Briggs was also asked, “You can’t name a single company that has not drilled because of the lawsuits?”
“No,” Briggs said.
But the story gets more incredible from there. Briggs was supposed to be in court in Baton Rouge on Monday for a major hearing in the case but failed to show up – suddenly claiming health problems as a result of giving that deposition last Thursday! That caused the judge to issue a warrant for Briggs’ arrest if he failed to show up in court today. That in turn triggered a flurry of back and forth involving a couple of doctors until finally the judge, frustrated in his efforts to get to the bottom of heart trouble that was now claimed by Briggs, delayed the hearing until March 10.
Lawyers for the law firm that was hired by the levee board are still suspicious, and understandably so:
Leo Honeycutt, communications director for Caldwell, said it was not the attorney general’s lawyers who pressed the issue of Briggs’ failure to appear.
“Judge Clark was angered because (1) Briggs filed the suit; (2) Briggs knew this court date was coming and the rest of us showed up; and (3) Briggs was subpoenaed but defied the subpoena because in his deposition last Thursday he discovered he had no evidence, no case, and hadn’t even read his own lawsuit,” Honeycutt said in a statement emailed from the courtroom Tuesday.
He later added:
Honeycutt said Briggs’ failure to show up also is curious because he gave a keynote speech to 300 people at Lafayette’s Petroleum Club only three weeks ago “in which he stated the oil industry was enjoying the best year in 40 years with the greatest potential he had ever seen.” 
“This is bizarre, unbelievable and ridiculous behavior by a man who constantly rails against frivolous lawsuits,” Honeycutt said. “Now, he is one.”
Honeycutt accused Briggs of engaging in stall tactics aimed at delaying the levee authority’s lawsuit “long enough to give (Gov. Bobby) Jindal time to replace enough (authority) board members who’ll stop the suit.”
The hypocrisy of Briggs is alarming, and big news here in Louisiana, but it’s not the Big Oil double-talk that’s making the biggest waves nationally this week. That honor goes to ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson, who proved that when it comes to the many inconveniences — large and small – of fracking for oil and natural gas, what’s OK for your backyard is definitely not OK for their upscale backyards:
As ExxonMobil’s CEO, it’s Rex Tillerson’s job to promote the hydraulic fracturing enabling the recent oil and gas boom, and fight regulatory oversight. The oil company is the biggest natural gas producer in the U.S., relying on the controversial drilling technology to extract it.
The exception is when Tillerson’s $5 million property value might be harmed. Tillerson has joined a lawsuit that cites fracking’s consequences in order to block the construction of a 160-foot water tower next to his and his wife’s Texas home.
The Wall Street Journal reports the tower would supply water to a nearby fracking site, and the plaintiffs argue the project would cause too much noise and traffic from hauling the water from the tower to the drilling site. The water tower, owned by Cross Timbers Water Supply Corporation, “will sell water to oil and gas explorers for fracing [sic] shale formations leading to traffic with heavy trucks on FM 407, creating a noise nuisance and traffic hazards,” the suit says.
Ironically (and there is almost too much irony to handle here), one of Tillerson’s main missions as head of the world’s richest oil company is to tell the world that fracking is safe, and perfectly normal. In Texas, the ExxonMobil CEO hasn’t even been exposed to the worst that fracking has to offer in terms of toxic air pollution or unsafe tap water. But merely an unsightly water tower is too much for Tillerson to bear.
Suddenly, the stack of lies that Big Oil has been peddling for years to the American people are collapsing like the giant wobbly Jenga tower that it’s always been. Their longstanding claims that reasonable environmental protections would destroy their business model have fallen apart, laughably, in a few minutes of questioning under oath. And now Tillerson’s lawsuit proves what so many of us have been saying for a long time – that living near a fracking operation is neither desirable nor safe. America is finally waking up to our oil emperors’ new clothes…there is nothing there.
Read more about oil and gas lobbyist Don Briggs and his anxiety-provoking deposition: http://www.nola.com/environment/index.ssf/2014/02/state_judge_throws_out_louisia.html#incart_river
- See more at: http://www.stuarthsmith.com/the-hypocrisy-of-big-oil-is-collapsing-from-baton-rouge-to-dallas/#sthash.FWQjQ0pt.T5OIm1PC.dpuf
There’s been some stunning developments this week in the fight against Big Oil — one of them right here in Louisiana. It was just last year that an epic expose in Harper’s magazine pulled the lid off some of the undue, outsized influence that the oil industry holds here in our Sportsmen’s Paradise, and a key element was the clout that the Louisiana Oil and Gas Association and its longtime leader, Don Briggs, has held on Baton Rouge. The result has been laws and regulations stacked heavily against the people who breathe the toxic air and drink the water that’s been dirtied by Big Oil’s pollution.
Last year, there was finally a breakthrough — when the levee board here on the east bank of the Mississippi River sued some 97 major oil and gas company seeking millions of dollars to reverse decades of damage to Louisiana’s wetlands, our first line of defense against killer storms like 2005′s Hurricane Katrina.  It was something almost unheard of here in Louisiana — a government body actually challenging the hegemony of Big Oil — and the industry is melting under the exposure.
Briggs and his Oil and Gas Association claimed that the suit was driving energy companies out of the state, and it even filed a counter-suit against the state attorney general in a complicated effort to block the hiring of attorneys by the levee board, and kill the wetlands cleanup campaign. But the lawsuit also meant that Briggs would be compelled to testify under oath in a deposition and back up his claims.
Briggs was indeed questioned last week in the matter, and it did not go well. Some of the results were reported this week in an article on NOLA.com:
A transcript of that deposition, entered into evidence Monday, indicates that Briggs was repeatedly asked what proof he had that the levee authority lawsuit would cause oil and gas companies to abandon the state.
“Do you have any evidence that any oil company considers Louisiana’s legal climate in deciding whether they will drill for oil and gas in Louisiana,” asked attorney Rock Palermo, who represents the levee authority.
“No,” Briggs responded, according to the deposition’s transcript.
“Is it your opinion that oil and gas companies are leaving Louisiana because of the threat of lawsuits?” Palermo asked.
“Yes,” Briggs said.
“Which oil companies have left Louisiana because of lawsuits,” Palermo asked.
“I don’t know,” Briggs answered.
“Do you have any facts or data to support your opinion?” Palermo asked.
“No,” Briggs said. 
Palermo later asked for the name of any oil company that has refused to do business in the state because of the suits.
“I don’t know any,” Briggs said.
Briggs was also asked, “You can’t name a single company that has not drilled because of the lawsuits?”
“No,” Briggs said.
But the story gets more incredible from there. Briggs was supposed to be in court in Baton Rouge on Monday for a major hearing in the case but failed to show up – suddenly claiming health problems as a result of giving that deposition last Thursday! That caused the judge to issue a warrant for Briggs’ arrest if he failed to show up in court today. That in turn triggered a flurry of back and forth involving a couple of doctors until finally the judge, frustrated in his efforts to get to the bottom of heart trouble that was now claimed by Briggs, delayed the hearing until March 10.
Lawyers for the law firm that was hired by the levee board are still suspicious, and understandably so:
Leo Honeycutt, communications director for Caldwell, said it was not the attorney general’s lawyers who pressed the issue of Briggs’ failure to appear.
“Judge Clark was angered because (1) Briggs filed the suit; (2) Briggs knew this court date was coming and the rest of us showed up; and (3) Briggs was subpoenaed but defied the subpoena because in his deposition last Thursday he discovered he had no evidence, no case, and hadn’t even read his own lawsuit,” Honeycutt said in a statement emailed from the courtroom Tuesday.
He later added:
Honeycutt said Briggs’ failure to show up also is curious because he gave a keynote speech to 300 people at Lafayette’s Petroleum Club only three weeks ago “in which he stated the oil industry was enjoying the best year in 40 years with the greatest potential he had ever seen.” 
“This is bizarre, unbelievable and ridiculous behavior by a man who constantly rails against frivolous lawsuits,” Honeycutt said. “Now, he is one.”
Honeycutt accused Briggs of engaging in stall tactics aimed at delaying the levee authority’s lawsuit “long enough to give (Gov. Bobby) Jindal time to replace enough (authority) board members who’ll stop the suit.”
The hypocrisy of Briggs is alarming, and big news here in Louisiana, but it’s not the Big Oil double-talk that’s making the biggest waves nationally this week. That honor goes to ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson, who proved that when it comes to the many inconveniences — large and small – of fracking for oil and natural gas, what’s OK for your backyard is definitely not OK for their upscale backyards:
As ExxonMobil’s CEO, it’s Rex Tillerson’s job to promote the hydraulic fracturing enabling the recent oil and gas boom, and fight regulatory oversight. The oil company is the biggest natural gas producer in the U.S., relying on the controversial drilling technology to extract it.
The exception is when Tillerson’s $5 million property value might be harmed. Tillerson has joined a lawsuit that cites fracking’s consequences in order to block the construction of a 160-foot water tower next to his and his wife’s Texas home.
The Wall Street Journal reports the tower would supply water to a nearby fracking site, and the plaintiffs argue the project would cause too much noise and traffic from hauling the water from the tower to the drilling site. The water tower, owned by Cross Timbers Water Supply Corporation, “will sell water to oil and gas explorers for fracing [sic] shale formations leading to traffic with heavy trucks on FM 407, creating a noise nuisance and traffic hazards,” the suit says.
Ironically (and there is almost too much irony to handle here), one of Tillerson’s main missions as head of the world’s richest oil company is to tell the world that fracking is safe, and perfectly normal. In Texas, the ExxonMobil CEO hasn’t even been exposed to the worst that fracking has to offer in terms of toxic air pollution or unsafe tap water. But merely an unsightly water tower is too much for Tillerson to bear.
Suddenly, the stack of lies that Big Oil has been peddling for years to the American people are collapsing like the giant wobbly Jenga tower that it’s always been. Their longstanding claims that reasonable environmental protections would destroy their business model have fallen apart, laughably, in a few minutes of questioning under oath. And now Tillerson’s lawsuit proves what so many of us have been saying for a long time – that living near a fracking operation is neither desirable nor safe. America is finally waking up to our oil emperors’ new clothes…there is nothing there.
Read more about oil and gas lobbyist Don Briggs and his anxiety-provoking deposition: http://www.nola.com/environment/index.ssf/2014/02/state_judge_throws_out_louisia.html#incart_river
- See more at: http://www.stuarthsmith.com/the-hypocrisy-of-big-oil-is-collapsing-from-baton-rouge-to-dallas/#sthash.FWQjQ0pt.T5OIm1PC.dpuf

Wednesday, February 26, 2014

The Collapse Of Bitcoin


 By Michael Snyder

 
BitcoinBitcoin is a virtual currency that has no intrinsic value.  The only thing giving bitcoin value is the faith that people have in it, and now that faith has been shattered.  This week, the most prominent bitcoin exchange in the entire world, Mt. Gox, totally collapsed.  At one time, Mt. Gox boasted more than a million accounts and it accounted for approximately 25 percent of all global bitcoin trading.  But now the website has been taken down, there are rumors of catastrophic losses, and many investors are concerned that they will lose all of their money.  In fact, according to one report, investors could be facing total losses of up to 367 million dollars.  The collapse of Mt. Gox is also affecting other bitcoin exchanges.  As I write this, the market value of bitcoin had fallen to about $470, but just three months ago it was trading close to $1,200.  Needless to say, a lot of bitcoin investors are going to be licking their wounds tonight.
I have never written much about bitcoin because I never believed in it.  Personally, I have always preferred to stick to silver and gold.  But I can't blame people for wanting to create a monetary system that worked outside of the central bank-controlled paradigm that we have today.
I just didn't have any faith in bitcoin.  I considered it something of a Ponzi scheme.  That is why I never recommended it to anyone.  Those that got in early and got out at the peak of the market made a killing.  Good for them.  But most investors are going to end up taking a bath - especially those that got in at the very end.
When you have an imaginary currency that has no intrinsic worth that is being managed and traded by organizations that have very little regulation or accountability, bad things can happen.  And we saw a perfect example of this on Tuesday...
A major bitcoin exchange has gone bust after secretly racking up catastrophic losses, other virtual currency companies said Tuesday — a potentially fatal blow for the exotic new form of money.
The website of Tokyo-based Mt. Gox was returning a blank page Tuesday. The disappearance of the site follows the resignation Sunday of Mt. Gox CEO Mark Karpeles from the board of the Bitcoin Foundation, a group seeking legitimacy for the currency, and a withdrawal ban imposed at the exchange earlier this month.
MORE

Tuesday, February 25, 2014

Enough With Scientific Jargon. Let's Hear The True (Scary) Facts From The Real Experts.

From: UpWorthy




ACT CHECK TIME! Here's what our fact checkers found:
  • In March 2013, more than 200,000 gallons of tar sands oil (WHOA that's a lot) spilled in Mayflower.
  • Tar sands oil is different from the motor oil you'd put in your car, in part because it's diluted with benzene (which, btw, can be super harmful to humans). In fact, the folks in the video are right in saying that exposure to tar sands can cause nausea, ear ringing, and general malaise.
  • The proposed Keystone XL pipeline would carry a whopping 35 million gallons of tar sands each day, which is pretty scary considering the existing Keystone pipeline spilled more than 30 times in one year.

Koch Brothers Positioned To Be Big Winners If Keystone XL Pipeline Is Approved



Feb 10, 2011 
David and Charles Koch
David and Charles Koch

The Keystone XL pipeline, awaiting a thumbs up or down on a presidential permit, would increase the import of heavy oil from Canada's oil sands to the U.S. by as much as 510,000 barrels a day, if it gets built.

Proponents tout it as a boon to national security that would reduce America's dependence on oil from unfriendly regimes. Opponents say it would magnify an environmental nightmare at great cost and provide only the illusion of national benefit.

What's been left out of the ferocious debate over the pipeline, however, is the prospect that if president Obama allows a permit for the Keystone XL to be granted, he would be handing a big victory and great financial opportunity to Charles and David Koch, his bitterest political enemies and among the most powerful opponents of his clean economy agenda.

The two brothers together own virtually all of Koch Industries Inc. — a giant oil conglomerate headquartered in Wichita, Kan., with annual revenues estimated to be $100 billion.

A SolveClimate News analysis, based on publicly available records, shows that Koch Industries is already responsible for close to 25 percent of the oil sands crude that is imported into the United States, and is well-positioned to benefit from increasing Canadian oil imports.

A Koch Industries operation in Calgary, Alberta, called Flint Hills Resources Canada LP, supplies about 250,000 barrels of tar sands oil a day to a heavy oil refinery in Minnesota, also owned by the Koch brothers.

Flint Hills Resources Canada also operates a crude oil terminal in Hardisty, Alberta, the starting point of the proposed Keystone XL pipeline. 

The company's website says it is "among Canada's largest crude oil purchasers, shippers and exporters." Koch Industries also owns Koch Exploration Canada, L.P., an oil sands-focused exploration company also based in Calgary that acquires, develops and trades petroleum properties.

Koch Industries declined opportunities to comment.

MORE

Oil and gas price forecast for 2014

Whither the world of energy prices during the next 12 months? Energy analyst Chris Nelder grades his 2013 oil and gas price forecast, and gazes into the crystal ball for his 2014 predictions.

It's the end of the year, and that means it's time to review my oil and gas price forecast for 2013, look into my crystal ball, and foretell prices for 2014.

Reviewing my 2013 forecast

At the end of 2012, I forecast that Brent Crude (the London benchmark price, which serves as a global proxy for oil prices) would average $105 per barrel (bbl) in 2013, and that West Texas Intermediate (WTI), the North American benchmark, would average $90 to 95/bbl. 

In the spring, gas prices shook off 20 straight months of unprofitably low levels and shot over $4 per million British thermal units (MMBtu). Accordingly, I updated my gas call in May to $4.50/MMBtu by the end of the year, and left my oil price calls unchanged. 

With no articles on my publishing schedule until late January, this seems a good time to run the numbers.
As of this writing, with 49 weeks of data available for 2013, Brent has been $108/bbl and WTI has been $98/bbl on a daily averaged basis. Spot natural gas is selling for $4.24 and front-month gas futures now stand at $4.40/MMBtu. Natural gas prices have charged straight up from $3.60/MMBtu in mid-November; a cold winter is forecast; and gas in storage is 3 percent below the five-year average and 7 percent below year-ago levels. It seems quite possible that my $4.50 target will be achieved by the end of the year.

view counter EagleFordProjectPreviewBlock Loopholes Speeding Keystone Route Through Nebraska Backfire on Gov., TransCanada Report Describes the Unfathomable Cost of Inaction on Rising Seas U.S. Keystone Report Relied Heavily on Alberta Govt-Funded Research How to Deconstruct the Difficult Math of Keystone XL's Carbon Footprint Tar Sands Industry Has Greatly Underestimated Pollution Figures, Study Finds Big Oil and Bad Air on the Texas Prairie: Residents Fear For Their Health (Video) BloombergLegacyPreviewBlock BusinessDeveloperAd Visit Our News Center for Expert Coverage of the Exxon Oil Spill in Arkansas Full Name: Email: Most Viewed Stories Fracking Is Spewing Toxic Air on Texans China's Clean Air Plans: A Nightmare for the Climate? Oil Industry Winning Battle to Kill Biofuels Harper Govt. Moves to Silence Environmental Groups Caught on Video: Enbridge Pipe Accident Does Keystone XL Have a Place in Oil Train Debate? Texas Turns Blind Eye to Fracking's Toxic Air Emissions 2014: Industry Faces Hurdles in Its Quest to Export U.S. Oil February 25, 2014 TransCanada 'Non-Compliant' With Federal Rules, Canadian Audit Finds (Globe and Mail) President Obama Expects Keystone XL Decision Within Months (Politico) Mississippi Oil Spill Highlights Risk of U.S. Oil Boom (Bloomberg) see all headlines > CleanBreakAdAmazon February 25, 2014 The Companies That Are Using the Most Solar Power (Fast Company) India Solar Cost Sets New Lows (Bloomberg) 2013 Wind Installations Stall in US, Surge in China (CleanTechnica) see all headlines > Donate to InsideClimate News through our secure page on Network for Good. Clean Economy News December 3 Bloomberg LP Launches First Tool That Measures Risk of 'Unburnable Carbon' Assets November 22 Bloomberg's Hidden Legacy: Climate Change and the Future of New York City, Part 5 November 21 Bloomberg's Hidden Legacy: Climate Change and the Future of New York City, Part 4 Koch Brothers' Political Activism Protects Their 50-Year Stake in Canadian Heavy Oils Koch Subsidiary Told Regulators It Has 'Direct and Substantial Interest' in Keystone XL Keystone Pipeline Will Diminish Energy Security, Prominent Canadian Says Koch Brothers' Political Activism Protects Their 50-Year Stake in Canadian Heavy Oils

From:  Inside Climate News 



Long involvement in Canada's tar sands has been central to Koch Industries' evolution and positions the billionaire brothers for a new oil boom.

 Over the last decade, Charles and David Koch have emerged into public view as billionaire philanthropists pushing a libertarian brand of political activism that presses a large footprint on energy and climate issues. They have created and supported non-profit organizations, think tanks and political groups that work to undermine climate science, environmental regulation and clean energy. They are also top donors to politicians, most of them Republicans, who support the oil industry and deny any human role in global warming.

What is less well documented are the many Koch businesses that benefit from the brothers' efforts to push the center of American political discourse rightward, closer to their own convictions. At the top of the list are the Koch family's long and deep investments in Canada's heavy oil industry, which have been central to the company's initial growth and subsequent diversification since 1959.

Because Koch Industries is a privately held company, the public has little access to information about the depth and diversity of its Canadian oil sands holdings. Over the past several months, however, InsideClimate News has pieced together a rough picture of the company's involvement in the industry, using published reports from the National Energy Board of Canada; documents and data extracted from the website of Canada's Energy Resource Conservation Board; securities disclosures and filings of Koch businesses in Canada; court documents from an inheritance battle that pitted Charles and David Koch against their two other brothers; Canadian and U.S. media reports; company newsletters and press releases; and two books, one written by Charles Koch and the other the autobiography of a long-time Koch company director.  

 MORE

Monday, February 24, 2014

TransCanada pipeline safety practices need to improve, finds NEB audit

From:  CBC

Calgary-based company breaking the rules in some areas, says National Energy Board

The report comes as TransCanada awaits a U.S. decision on its controversial Keystone XL pipeline.
The report comes as TransCanada awaits a U.S. decision on its controversial Keystone XL pipeline. (Tony Gutierrez/Associated Press)
A National Energy Board audit has found room for improvement when it comes to TransCanada's pipeline safety practices.
Although the federal energy watchdog is "of the view that the processes presently used by TransCanada have identified the majority, and most significant, of its hazards and risks," it says the company is still breaking the rules in some areas.
The NEB had scheduled an audit on TransCanada's integrity management programs to begin last spring, but decided to move on it sooner after a then-employee of TransCanada came forward with allegations of safety lapses.
The audit took place between November 2012 and August 2013.
"The audit has confirmed that, in response to these allegations, TransCanada has developed and implemented a program of actions with the goal of correcting and preventing similar occurrences," the NEB said.  MORE

Food, Insights Stop Feeding the Beast and Start Feeding the People

From:  EcoWatch


  
Have you ever wondered how anyone makes any money on a $2 bag of nacho-cheese flavored corn chips or a .25¢ apple? Economists and policy wonks have been talking about how we privatize profits and socialize loss here in the U.S. for at least a decade. If your eyes glazed over when you read that, you’re not alone. Unfortunately, we can’t afford to ignore how this big picture idea affects each and every one of us. What does it mean for Main Street America?
garden
We need to support the organic farmers who are creating a public benefit. Photo credit: Rodale Institute

How we grow our nation’s food is the perfect snapshot. Organic activists and locavores have also been talking about the same concept for just as long, if not longer: The hidden costs of cheap, industrial food.
We have a system of predatory agriculture in which corporations (aka Big Ag) pursue private gain relentlessly regardless of the social consequences. To bring it closer to home, social consequences can be defined as anything from polluting our water, land and air to impacting the health of our families to making the business of farming economically unsustainable.  MORE

Trading Water for Fuel is Fracking Crazy

From:  EcoWatch


 It would be difficult to live without oil and gas. But it would be impossible to live without water. Yet, in our mad rush to extract and sell every drop of gas and oil as quickly as possible, we’re trading precious water for fossil fuels.
 
A recent report, Hydraulic Fracturing and Water Stress, shows the severity of the problem. Alberta and B.C. are among eight North American regions examined in the study by Ceres, a U.S.-based nonprofit advocating for sustainability leadership.

Nearly half (47 percent) of oil and gas wells recently hydraulically fractured in the U.S. are in regions with high or extremely high water stress.
Nearly half (47 percent) of oil and gas wells recently hydraulically fractured in the U.S. are in regions with high or extremely high water stress. Map credit: Ceres

One of the most disturbing findings is that hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, is using enormous amounts of water in areas that can scarcely afford it. The report notes that close to half the oil and gas wells recently fracked in the U.S. “are in regions with high or extremely high water stress” and more than 55 percent are in areas experiencing drought. In Colorado and California, almost all wells—97 and 96 percent, respectively—are in regions with high or extremely high water stress, meaning more than 80 percent of available surface and groundwater has already been allocated for municipalities, industry and agriculture. A quarter of Alberta wells are in areas with medium to high water stress.

Drought and fracking have already caused some small communities in Texas to run out of water altogether, and parts of California are headed for the same fate. As we continue to extract and burn ever greater amounts of oil, gas and coal, climate change is getting worse, which will likely lead to more droughts in some areas and flooding in others. California’s drought may be the worst in 500 years, according to B. Lynn Ingram, an earth and planetary sciences professor at the University of California, Berkeley. That’s causing a shortage of water for drinking and agriculture, and for salmon and other fish that spawn in streams and rivers. With no rain to scrub the air, pollution in the Los Angeles area has returned to dangerous levels of decades past.

Kasich Joins Troubled GOP Governor Group for Involvement in ‘FrackGate’

From:  EcoWatch

EcoWatch reported last weekend that a public documents request revealed a plan by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) to work with “allied” groups to promote fracking in state parks.

On Feb. 17, EcoWatch reported that new evidence was released showing Ohio Gov. Kasich’s involvement in the communications plan that detailed how the ODNR would “marginalize” opponents of fracking by teaming up with corporations—including Halliburton—business groups and media outlets.

On Feb. 18, State Representatives Nickie J. Antonio (D-Lakewood) and Robert F. Hagan (D-Youngstown) called on the Ohio Speaker of the House to hold legislative hearings to determine whether Gov. Kasich and the ODNR are promoting the interests of the oil and gas industry rather than protecting the public interest.

 Watch this episode of MSNBC’s The Ed Show highlighting how yet another star Republican governor finds himself under investigation, as Gov. Kasich faces huge criticism for his involvement in “FrackGate.”

MORE

U.S. oil boom threat to tar sands much greater than State acknowledges

From:  Change 

Looming_Threat-784103
In the Market Analysis section of the DSEIS, State concluded:
The increase in domestic production of light crude is expected to result in a substantial reduction in imports of light crude oils rather than a reduction in demand for heavy, sour crude oils, including from Canada.
State’s conclusion was primarily based on analysis from the EIA’s Annual Energy Outlook 2013 Early Release. The EIA has since released analysis that contradicts that initial assessment. However, there were plenty of signs that State should have seen that the tight oil boom poses an increasing threat to the tar sands market, some dating back to before the State Department was tasked with conducting a new analysis of the project.

First some background: Refineries on the Gulf Coast have a high concentration of specialized refining equipment designed to refine low quality heavy sour oil, into high quality petroleum products such as low sulfur diesel and gasoline. Gulf Coast refiners have imported heavy sour oil from Mexico, Venezuela, Kuwait and other distant sources for years, but the prospect of increasing tar sands production, the primary product of which is a heavy sour blend known as dilbit (diluted bitumen), triggered a new wave of investments in specialized refining equipment over the past five years. Refineries in Port Arthur and Houston, Texas in particular invested heavily in this equipment in anticipation of the arrival of Keystone XL, the terminus of which is planned nearby.  MORE

TransCanada Begins Injecting Oil Into Keystone XL Southern Half; Exact Start Date A Mystery

From:  DeSmog 

by Steve Horn

Keystone XL's southern half is one step closer to opening for business. TransCanada announced that "on Saturday, December 7, 2013, the company began to inject oil into the Gulf Coast Project pipeline as it moves closer to the start of commercial service."

The Sierra Club's legal challenge to stop the pipeline was recently denied by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit, so the southern half, battled over for years between the industry and environmentalists, will soon become a reality.

According to a statement provided to DeSmog by TransCanada, "Over the coming weeks, TransCanada will inject about three million of [sic] barrels of oil into the system, beginning in Cushing, Oklahoma and moving down to the company’s facilities in the Houston refining area."

In mid-January, up to 700,000 barrels per day of Alberta's tar sands diluted bitumen (dilbit) could begin flowing through the 485-mile southern half of TransCanada's pipeline, known as the Gulf Coast Project. Running from Cushing, Oklahoma to Port Arthur, Texas, the southern half of the pipeline was approved by both a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Nationwide Permit 12 and an Executive Order from President Barack Obama in March 2012.

BloombergThe Canadian Press and The Oklahoman each reported that the Gulf Coast Project pipeline is now being injected with oil. Line fill is the last key step before a pipeline can begin operations. 

"There are many moving parts to this process -- completion of construction, testing, regulatory approvals, line fill and then the transition to operations," TransCanada spokesman Shawn Howard told DeSmog. "Line fill has to take place first, then once final testing and certifications are completed, the line can then go into commercial service."

MORE

Pipeline Expert: Over 90% Probability of Line 9 Rupture with Tar Sands Dilbit


by  Derek Leahy


Dilbit rupture in Mayflower, Arkansas
The international pipeline safety expert who last August described Enbridge’s Line 9 pipeline as “high risk for a rupture” now says the probability of Line 9 rupturing is “over 90%.”
“I do not make the statement ‘high risk for a rupture’ lightly or often. There are serious problems with Line 9 that need to be addressed,” Richard Kuprewicz, a pipeline safety expert with over forty years of experience in the energy sector, said in an interview with DeSmog Canada.
Hundreds rallied in Toronto on the weekend to voice their opposition to Enbridge’s plans to ship Alberta tar sands bitumen from Sarnia to Montreal through the 37-year-old Line 9 pipeline.
Kuprewicz also expressed concerns about transporting diluted bitumen through Line 9 saying it will increase the growth rates of cracks on the pipeline. Line 9 lies in the most populated part of Canada and crosses the St. Lawrence River and major waterways flowing into Lake Erie and Lake Ontario. A Line 9 spill could pollute the drinking water of millions of Canadians.  






MORE

Sunday, February 23, 2014

Gripping Report and Film Reveal How Fracking Boom Destroys Texans' Lives

From:  EcoNews



Shelby Buehring was born in South Texas and bought a home there in 1995, but he has grown to hate the area.
That’s because the area’s fracking boom caused his wife, Lynn, to depend on an inhaler to help her breathe properly amid an atmosphere rife with thick black smoke, strong stenches and other environmental effects from fracking near their Karnes County home.
The Buehrings are two of several people the Center for Public Integrity, InsideClimate News and The Weather Channel spoke to as part of a most-gripping report and short film package released Tuesday that exposes the impact of fracking as well as any on record.
“There’s nothing we can do,” Shelby Buehring said of living near the Eagle Ford Shale play. “Nobody is listening to us.
“They’re not going to stop, so we have to live with it or leave … This is my home, and I hate it here.”


Saturday, February 22, 2014

Jogger Arrested by Austin Police for Crossing Street - Then Things Escalate


From: Freedom Outpost

Lily Dane 12 hours ago

A woman jogging on Guadalupe Street near the University of Texas at Austin was stopped by police for jaywalking and then arrested for failure to provide ID. Onlooker Chris Quintero witnessed the incident and caught it in a series of photographs and on video.
Quintero recounted the details of the arrest on his blog, chlorineoverdose.blogspot.com:

Sitting at Starbucks, on the corner of 24th and San Antonio, I noticed a particularly odd situation. Two Austin Police officers standing outside the Castilian just lingering. Every time I looked back there was a different student holding a carbon copy of what looked to be a jay walking citation. Suddenly, one of the cops shouts at an innocent girl jogging with her headphones on through West Campus. He wobbled after her and grabbed her by the arm. Startled, and not knowing it was a cop, she jerked her arm away. The cop viewed this as resisting arrest and proceeded to grab both arms tightly, placing her in handcuffs. She repeatedly pleaded with them saying that she was just exercising and to let her go. She repeatedly cried out, “I did not do anything wrong…just give me the ticket.” The other officer strolled over and now they were making a scene. She tried to get up. I doubt she was running away as she was in handcuffs, but the second cop pushed her back down to the ground. Because of the commotion, they walked her to the cop car in the alleyway next to Big Bite, where she, overcome with frustration, yelled loudly to gain attention. Because of that, the cops tightened their grip causing her to squirm and kick. Then came two bike cops from down the alley. We now have four cops and one small, helpless girl in the back of a cop car, because she was just going for a run.

Maybe the plus size cops should follow her lead, and go on a jog instead of wasting tax dollars on trivial matters… just a thought.