Regulation Freedom Moving

The Wyoming House of Representatives by a bipartisan vote of 51-9 has passed the "Regulation Freedom Amendment" Resolution, HJ 1, co-sponsored by Rep. Nathan Winters and WY Senate Majority Leader Eli Bebout.

The Arizona Senate Federalism, Mandates, and Fiscal Responsibility Committee yesterday passed the Regulation Freedom Amendment Resolution, SCM 1005, sponsored by Sen. Nancy Barto.

These Resolutions urge Congress to propose the "Regulation Freedom Amendment" to the U.S. Constitution to require that Congress approve major new federal regulations.

In much the same way as states helped force Congress to propose the Bill of Rights, 2/3 of the states, if they agree on a specific Amendment could force Congress to propose that Amendment.

These Resolutions are an important first  step in that process.

The Indiana Legislature and the Georgia Senate have  passed similar Resolutions sponsored by Indiana Senate President David Long and Georgia Senate President David Shafer.

Two governors, more than 200 state legislators, and the 6 million member American Farm Bureau now support the Regulation Freedom Amendment.

For more information contact these state Resolution sponsors or Roman Buhler, Director of the Madison Coalition at 202 255 5000, or visit
www.RegulationFreedom.org

Update from the Madison Coalition

The Madison Coalition is helping to build a nationwide coalition of legislators, backed by business and grassroots political leaders, to urge Congress to propose a "Regulation Freedom Amendment" to require that major new federal regulations be approved by Congress.

The "Regulation Freedom Amendment" is now backed by a coalition including the American Farm Bureau Federation, 2 Governors, a bipartisan group of more than 150 state legislators, and the General Counsel of the RNC.

Unlike a law, a Constitutional Amendment could not be repealed or waived by a future Congress, could not be challenged in Court on "separation of powers" grounds, and does not need to be signed by the President.

Just as states forced Congress to propose the Bill of Rights, 2/3 of the states who agreed on this Amendment could potentially force Congress to propose it because Congress will do almost anything to avoid a Convention.

Even the credible threat that states might force Congress to propose such an Amendment could significantly restrain abusive action by federal regulators.

Enclosed a proposed Resolution for state legislatures urging Congress to propose the "Regulation Freedom Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

This Resolutions has already been passed by the Indiana Legislature and a similar Resolution was passed by the Georgia Senate in 2014.  Such Resolutions will likely be introduced in more than 30 states in 2015.

Mark Norris, Senate Majority Leader in TN and the Chair of CSG (The Council of State Governments) is introducing the Resolution in TN.

Rep. Phil King, the Chair of ALEC (The American Legislative Exchange Council), will introduce a Regulation Freedom Amendment Resolution in the Texas House.

Curt Bramble, the Senate President Pro-Tem in UT and Chair-elect of NCSL (The National Conference  of State Legislatures) is supporting the Resolution in UT.

Our effort to empower the states and rein in regulators is growing but we need your help.

Let us know what questions you have or what additional information you would like to see.

We look forward to working with you and people who know who are interested in curbing  the authority of overreaching federal regulators and restoring the balance of state and federal power intended by the authors of our Constitution.

Roman Buhler
Director
The Madison Coalition
202 255 5000
www.RegulationFreedom.Org

INDIANA SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTIOn No. 10 urging Congress to propose the Regulation Freedom Amendment to the U.S. Constitution:

After passing the Indiana Senate SCR 10 was adopted by voice vote in the Indiana House on Feb 27, 2012.

Here is the link to the resolution on the General Assembly's website:

https://iga.in.gov/legislative/2014/resolutions/senate/concurrent/10

Senate Concurrent Resolution 10
Senate Resolution (S)
Authored by: Sen. Travis Holdman, Sen. David Long, Sen. R Michael Young
Co-Authors: Sen. Brent Steele, Sen. Brandt Hershman, Sen. Dennis Kruse
Sponsors: Rep. Eric Allan Koch
Third level navigation links - accordion
Authors / Sponsors

DIGEST

A CONCURRENT RESOLUTION urging Congress to propose the Regulation Freedom amendment to the United States Constitution.

Whereas, The growth and abuse of federal regulatory authority threaten our Constitutional liberties, including those guaranteed by the Bill of Rights in the First, Second, Fourth and Fifth Amendments of our Constitution.

Whereas:  Federal regulators must be more accountable to elected representatives of the people, and not immune from such accountability.

Whereas, The United States House of Representatives has passed with bipartisan support the REINS Act to require that Congress approve major new federal regulations before they can take effect.

Whereas, Even if enacted, a law may be repealed or waived by a future Congress and President.

Whereas, An amendment to the United States Constitution does not require the President’s approval and cannot be waived by a future Congress and President:

Therefore, Be It resolved by the Senate of the General Assembly of the State of Indiana, the House of Representatives concurring,

SECTION 1. That the Indiana General Assembly does hereby urge that the United States Congress vote to propose the Regulation Freedom amendment to the United States Constitution as follows:

"Whenever one quarter of the members of the United States House of Representatives or the United States Senate transmits to the President their written declaration of opposition to a proposed federal regulation, it shall require a majority vote of the House of Representatives and the Senate to adopt that regulation.".

SECTION 2. That copies of this resolution be transmitted by the Secretary of the Senate to each member of Congress, and the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President of the Senate of every state legislature in the United States.

Oil Companies Are Looking At 'Outright Liquidations'

From:  Business Insider 

by Akin Oyedele

he carnage from low oil prices is about to get even uglier.

Conway Mackenzie, the largest restructuring firm in the US, says that oil drillers will begin shutting down as soon as the second quarter, followed closely by explorers, according to Bloomberg's Joe Carroll. 

The game changed when on Jan. 5 crude broke $50 per barrel for the first time since April 2009, when the economy was in recession. Here's what Conway's John T. Young told Bloomberg:

"When I saw WTI hit $65, I thought we're going to be really busy with restructurings ... When it hit the $40s, I knew we were looking at outright liquidations."

MORE

Cancer Risk to BP Clean Up Workers

From:  Change 

Andy Rowell, September 18, 2013 

 When BP’s Deepwater Horizon oil rig exploded back in April 2010, a small group of scientists and activists urged extreme caution about the best way to respond to the unfolding environmental disaster.

The authorities would have been wise to listen to them, because they were the veterans of the Exxon Valdez spill that occurred in Alaska in 1989.

At the height of the Exxon spill, some eleven thousand workers were employed to clean up the black crude from the beautiful coastline of Prince William Sound. As many species – from wales, to ducks and fish were decimated – the ecological devastation caused by the spill rightly made news across the globe.  MORE

America's Disastrous History of Pipeline Accidents Shows Why the Keystone Vote Matters

From:  Huff Post Green 

by Noah Greenwald

It'd be easy to discount the Senate vote over the Keystone XL pipeline as mere political theater but that'd be a mistake.

Build Keystone XL and you build on a long and disastrous history of pipelines in America.

A new analysis of federal records reveals that in just the past year and four months, there have been 372 oil and gas pipeline leaks, spills and other incidents, leading to 20 deaths, 117 injuries and more than $256 million in damages. MORE

Bridger Pipeline Remains Closed After Oil Spill In Montana

From:  HuffPost 

Reuters 

Jan 20 (Reuters) - A small but heavily subscribed pipeline that transports 42,000 barrels a day of crude oil from North Dakota's Bakken region is expected to remain closed on Tuesday after a weekend breach that spilled 1,200 barrels of crude into the Yellowstone River near Glendive, Montana.

Bridger Pipeline LLC could not say how much of the light crude flowed into the river or when the pipeline will reopen. It was quickly shut after the leak was detected Saturday. The Environmental Protection Agency said it would be coordinating a response to the spill over the next several days.

The 42,000 barrel-per-day Poplar pipeline system gathers crude from producers in eastern Montana and North Dakota.  MORE

BP Oil Spill Cleanup Workers Are At Higher Risk Of Sickness, Cancer

From:  Climate Progress 

by Annie-Rose Strasser

The people who worked to clean up the Gulf of Mexico after the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill are at an increased risk of getting cancer, leukemia, and a host of other illnesses, according to a new study released Tuesday in the American Journal of Medicine. 

More than 170,000 workers were hired to clean up the nearly 5 million barrels of oil that poured out of the ocean’s floor, rising to the surface in oil slicks and globules. Not only were they exposed to the toxic oil itself — as the report points out, oil contains the carcinogen benzene — but they spent days working with the nearly 2 million gallons of dangerous dispersants used to break up the oil. 

At the time of the spill, cleanup crews reported feeling dizzy and fatigued, suffering headaches and nausea. Workers have also reported increases in asthma and coughing up blood. Long term, those could be the least of their worries. MORE

Richest 1% to own half of world’s wealth by 2016, says Oxfam

From:  Business Insider 

AFP

© Getty/AFP/File Spencer PlattThe richest one percent's share of global wealth increased from 44 percent in 2009 to 48 percent in 2014, Oxfam says, adding that it will be more that 50 percent in 2016

Paris (AFP) - Wealth accumulated by the richest one percent will exceed that of the other 99 percent in 2016, the Oxfam charity said Monday, ahead of the annual meeting of the world's most powerful at Davos, Switzerland.

"The scale of global inequality is quite simply staggering and despite the issues shooting up the global agenda, the gap between the richest and the rest is widening fast," Oxfam executive director Winnie Byanyima said.

The richest one percent's share of global wealth increased from 44 percent in 2009 to 48 percent in 2014, the British charity said in a report, adding that it will be more that 50 percent in 2016.

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/afp-richest-1-to-own-half-of-worlds-wealth-by-2016-says-oxfam-2015-1#ixzz3PG09y9yD

The End of the Partisan Divide Over Climate Change

From:  Forbes 

by Tom Zeller Jr. Contributor

The revelation late last week that global average temperatures set a new record in 2014 seemed to underscore a political and cultural shift on climate change that, by many accounts, was already well underway. From the stock markets and Wall Street to the boardrooms of Big Oil — and even the living rooms of Republican voters — the era of reflexive skepticism and denial of basic climate science appears to be coming to a close.

That won’t likely mean an end to partisan bickering, of course. But as the adage goes, the first step to solving a problem is admitting that you have one.

That’s precisely what the American Petroleum Institute did when it released its annual State of American Energy Report two weeks ago. Amid its bullish assessment of the nation’s ongoing boom in shale oil and gas, the leading fossil fuel trade group clearly and unequivocally acknowledged the threat of global warming, and highlighted — at some length — the steady rise of solar power as an encouraging sign.  MORE

American Farm Bureau Convention Votes to Endorse the Regulation Freedom Amendment!

From:  Regulation Freedom 

by Roman Buhler 

By a voice vote which appeared unanimous the delegates at the Annual Convention of the American Farm Bureau Federation just voted to endorse:
 "The Regulation Freedom Amendment to require that Congress approve major new federal regulations".
The Convention will vote again later today to adopt the final report of the of the Resolutions Committee. as approved section by section during the debate today.   This provision on the Regulation Freedom Amendment just approved is Section 7.7 of Section 102 entitled "The Constitution."
There are 354 voting delegates at the Convention which is meeting in San Diego.
Our thanks to all of you who have helped with this effort!
If you or someone you know  would like to get more involved in the effort to mobilize states and state leaders to persuade Congress to propose the "Regulation Freedom Amendment", please contact us
Roman Buhler
Director
The Madison Coalition 202 255 5000
RBuhler@MadisonCoalition.Org www.RegulationFreedom.Org

VIDEO - Credo Mutwa: My vision is peace in the world. I blame myself for Michael Tellinger’s malfeasance

​

Credo Mutwa: My vision is peace in the world. I blame myself for Tellinger’s malfeasance

​WATCH ON YOU TUBE​

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O1gXcOfFpEY&feature=youtu.be

KURUMAN, SOUTH AFRICA – On a sofa in his home in rural Kuruman, South Africa Credo Mutwa, South African Zulu sangoma or traditional healer, author, and prophet, sits next to Virginia Mutwa whom he calls his sister wife.
Africa as humanity’s birthplace
Credo first touches on themes of Africa as the birthplace of humanity and how his discovery through an early mentor Prof. Raymond Dart that Africa was the birthplace of humanity had led to his work to bring together African and Native American communities after discovering that the Inuit and Zulu words for dwelling were similar (Igloo and Iglu).
As an author, Credo Mutwa is credited with co-writing “The Reptilian Agenda” series with David Icke.
“What I did not know was the viciousness of people seeking the same things I was”
“My grandfather said never blame other people, you have yourself to blame,” Credo said when asked of the current controversy as to whether publisher Michael Tellinger of Zulu Planet has honored his March 27, 2010 contract with Credo Mutwa to produce and distribute a DVD of a September 2008 video-recorded talk between Credo Mutwa and Tellinger and “pay Credo Mutwa 50% of all NETT profit from the sales of the DVD/interview.” [Ed. Note – See Contract below Appendix I]
Asked if he had ever received any money from Tellinger under the contract for sales of the DVD, Credo Mutwa looked at Virginia and both stated emphatically, “No.”
Never a prophet in his own country
Asked about his prophesying the 2010 BP oil spill[1], Credo replied that prophesying was one of his more difficult gifts. “They stone prophets,” Credo says. “I hope I did not upset too many people in North America with my prophesying that trouble for them. My wish for the future is peace.”
Credo Mutwa’s books include:

• Indaba, My Children (1964). ISBN 0-8021-3604-4, 1st American edition (March 1999)
• Zulu Shaman: Dreams, Prophecies, and Mysteries. ISBN 0-89281-129-3, 2nd edition (10 October 2003)
• Songs of the Stars. ISBN 1-886449-01-5, 1st edition (May 2000)
• Africa Is My Witness, Johannesburg: Blue Crane Books, 1966. ISBN unknown
• The Reptilian Agenda with David Icke and Credo Mutwa – the complete series.
• My People, the Writings of a Zulu Witch-Doctor (Penguin Books, 1977)[1] ISBN 0-14-003210-X

​CONTINUE READING ARTICLE​:

VIDEO - Credo Mutwa: My vision is peace in the world. I blame myself for Tellinger’s malfeasance

http://newsinsideout.com/2015/01/credo-mutwa-vision-peace-world-blame-tellingers-malfeasance/

Dems’ epic Keystone troll: Proposed amendment asks Senators to acknowledge climate change

From:  Salon 

by Lindsay Abrams
 

If GOPers want their pipeline bill, they'll have to go on the record as climate deniers 

Mitch McConnell (Credit: Reuters/Joshua Roberts/AP/Tony Gutierrez/Photo montage by Salon)

The Senate advanced its big Keystone XL pipeline bill Monday night in a 63-32 vote (10 Democrats and one Independent were in favor), opening it up for debate and for additional amendments — which Senators on both sides of the aisle are invited to propose. And boy, are they taking advantage of that.

President Obama has already threatened to veto the bill when it all but inevitably lands on his desk. But in the meantime, Democrats who oppose the pipeline are taking advantage of the open-amendment process — which the bill’s sponsors say could help it overcome the veto — to introduce some changes that, strategically, will make it harder for Republicans to endorse it, but that also come off as some pretty clever trolling.

Bernie Sanders emerges as master of the latter: according to the Hill, the Independent Senator plans to offer a non-binding resolution on the scientific consensus that climate change is real and caused by human activity. The Washington Postgot its hands on a copy of the resolution, in which Senators will be asked to indicate whether or not they agree with the following:

It is the sense of Congress that Congress is in agreement with the opinion of virtually the entire worldwide scientific community and a growing number of top national security experts, economists, and others that – MORE

 

 

Mainstream media finally realizing 3D printing could spur global revolutions

From:  Natural News 

Thursday, January 08, 2015
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger

(NaturalNews) As someone who routinely considers the future ramifications of present-day trends, I'm always astonished when people are reluctant to acknowledge obvious trends. As I have begun to share here on Natural News in recent articles, 3D printing is rapidly taking shape as a revolutionary technology for liberty and freedom, but relatively few people are able to see that yet.

I see the implications of 3D printing revolution as clear as day, and over the last several months I've taken it upon myself to become extremely well-versed in a 3D design software product called Solidworks from Dassault Systems (www.Solidworks.com). I've also purchased four 3D printers (so far), printed hundreds of objects and tested nearly every filament available today.

In just a few short weeks, I'll be unveiling breakthrough new technology on www.FoodRising.org that will be freely distributed as downloadable files that people can print on their own 3D printers. This effort combines open source grassroots file sharing with revolutionary self-reliance "low tech" technology that will be widely embraced and shared all around the world.

As this is all taking shape, there are still some people who just don't get it. They think 3D printing is a "gimmick" that can only be used to print holiday decorations and cookie cutters. What they don't yet realize is that people like Cody Wilson have already successfully designed and shared functional firearms receivers that can fire live ammo (www.DefDist.org). This is not a gimmick. In fact, it was taken so seriously that top federal officials in the U.S. government freaked out and threatened Defense Distributed with criminal prosecutions.

Learn more: http://www.naturalnews.com/048227_3D_printing_global_revolution_decentralized_technology.html#ixzz3OVgNnmth

Dave Lincoln, He Blew the Whistle on Big Oil

Dave was recruited by Union Oil in 1966. He was fourteen. From that day until the moment he walked away from the job he loved and a six figure income he lived and breathed the oil business. 

Union Oil was looking for PR cover, which they would use during the Santa Barbara Oil Spill in 1969.

At the time, Dave was completing his work to become an Eagle Scout, making him a natural recruit to sell the good intentions of Union Oil. Scripts of well-honed lies were provided to Dave and his fellow recruits. 

The techniques used by Union Oil could have been taken from indoctrination material for Nazi Youth. 

It would be twenty years before Dave realized, to his horror, how he and the other students had been used. By then, Dave was a geologist working in Malaysia for Enron, and dealing directly with foreign countries for the company. 

Dave believed it was his duty to protect nature, not destroy it. 

Walking away was the only option. Dave returned to the US and went to work for Green Peace. His entire life had been focused on the oil industry. He had both academic and on the ground experience with all aspects of the technologies for oil production, drilling, and had studied intensely the sloppy and cost cutting planning and strategies which were destroying lives and the environment. 

His depth of knowledge and clear thinking made it possible for him to identify the most devastating facts and images to be used against the experts assembled by Big Oil.


Carried out for the Gloucester Fishermen's Wives Association
The Association had been losing their battle to stop construction on the proposed off shore gas pipeline in MA 1997, gas pipe from Canada to Boston Harbor. Dave provided hard data on the incidence of gas pipeline leaks presented to make it impossible not to understand a leak could be dangerous because a large of volume methane could change the density of the water and cause the ships to sink. Methane changes the buoyancy. The opposition, a gas company, withdrew their proposal. 

 
Carried out for the Massachusetts Fishermen’s Partnership and Commonwealth Corporation
Enacting a moratorium against exploration and drilling on George's Bank in Canada 1999 opened up the campaign for a moratorium by the US. 

Dave provided the in-depth research and the illustration which immediately lead to the adoption of a moratorium for seven years, which was then extended and is active today.
Dave played the sound of an airgun going off while he testified, ignoring requests he turn it off. The sound had a stunning impact on those attending. 

The oil company involved was Texaco. Texaco was sold the next year. They had lost their cash cow. First time an oil company was told it could not drill. Tactics used including issued a report on the seismic effect on mammals and fish, also prepared by Dave. 

The Moratorium for the US was adopted in 2000. In this case Dave was up against the New England Aquarium, which had taken a large grant from Pew, which is, of course, Sun Oil (Sunoco). The New England Aquarium hired someone from California who was cued to say Texaco's plans might not cause harm. 

Dave again used the materials prepared for the Canadian campaign and additionally focused in on damage to marine organisms and toxic drilling muds when they play together. These were illustrated very graphically during the panel. Opposition was Shell, Texaco in the US.


Materials Dave wrote:

February 25, 1998 - Letter from Gloucester Fishermen’s Association
 
January 1,      1999-  ARTICLE:  The Truth About George's Bank Exploration and 
                                     Production Operations May                             Oil Drilling on Georges Bank?
 
October  2000           ARTICLE:  Coexistence of the Fishery & Petroleum Industries

                                     News Release  for Massachusetts Fishing Partnership 
 
May 24, 2002 -         Media Release: The Sierra Club of Canada applauds extension of the
                                     moratorium
 
2002 -                         STUDY: Submission to Public Review Commission - Sense 
                                     and Nonsense-The Environmental Impacts of   Exploration on Marine 
                                     Organisms Offshore   Cape Breton
 
March 2003-             Media Release: Cape Breton Island Threatened by Coastal Oil and Gas
                                     Development.
 
In 2000 the US changed its rules about seismic noise.


Carried out for The Dragon Chinese Restaurant, Pittsfield, MA. 
 
In 2004 a tanker truck carrying 9,000 gallons of heavy fuel oil turned over in the parking lot of the The Dragon Chinese Restaurant in Pittsfield Massachusetts. 

Dave was hired by an attorney who had heard of his work to provide the evidence for court. Dave carried out an investigation onsite to show there were contaminants left over after the fire department removed most of the oil. He provided a computer model of the event and presented this to the jury. 

Additionally, the owner of the restaurant, who was Vietnamese, thought it was her job to protect the food and stayed on the site. Because no one told her this was unsafe she remained at her place of business for two days. 

Two separate law suits were filed. Dave was the forensics expert for both. 

Dave examined the fuel company's records for driver safety discovering the driver involved had exceeded his time and the trucking company had an abnormally high number of accidents. They were breaking all the rules, working too long, going through population centers. 

In court, Dave also testified on the air dispersion models showing where the gases went and the concentration. These concentrations were high enough to have caused her nausea. Using his own peer-reviewed articles Dave was prepared for any question asked. He always answered clearly and concisely. This was also litigated and she received $100,000. The suit was won hands down. 

During the time this was going on her son won a prize on Top Chef.


Carried out for Environmental Rights International

The issue was the decades old oil spill in Ecuador originally caused by Texaco. The drilling had been carried out in the 1970s. Trial was schedule for 2009. 

As a byproduct of their drilling the company had built oil pits which they used to dispose of oil and produced water. This sank into the water table causing the 30,000 Indians living in the area to be poisoned. These people and their children now suffer from stomach cancer, or other forms of cancer and chronic diseases. Many have died as a result and many more will die. A generation of children have grown up drinking and bathing in oil polluted water, which Texaco described as 'produced water.' 

Forced to provide information during the early stages of the litigation Texaco provided Dave with five boxes of data. 

Dave scanned through the stuff, finding their reports. These had been written for Texaco using their own specifications which limited what was provided because of what they said would otherwise be too costly. Therefore, they had only sampled half of the pits, leaving the worst ones for later. 

Results provided included only half the 300 pits. There were also five gathering stations, where pipes come together in each field. Oil pits are used to separate oil from water. Three of the five actually sampled just on the surface came back 100% oil. 

Texaco had claimed the problem had been solved in 1980. Problem occurred in the 1970s continued until 1980 when Texaco claimed they had cleaned up the toxic waste. This was a lie. 

The presentation materials Dave built includes photos of the kids. The opposition was given copies of these as part of the pre-trial disclosure. 

Dave went through several full days of depositions. During this time he was subjected to a battering of Good Cop – Bad Cop harassment. In court, as he was waiting alone for the hearing to begin a group of around ten men from the oil company sat around him and began to make threats and remind him he had been “one of their own.” Dave did not budge and did not respond.

The lawyers hired managed, by legal manipulation, to keep Dave from testifying and then suppressed his book, “The Hidden Cost of Oil.” 
 
Big Oil is not afraid of the Sierra Club or Greenpeace – but they fear Dave. 

 
Rally to stop Keystone

More than $150 billion worth of oil projects face the axe in 2015 Canadian oil sands, LNG projects at high risk of delays

From:  Arab Times 

LONDON, Dec 4, (RTRS): Global oil and gas exploration projects worth more than $150 billion are likely to be put on hold next year as plunging oil prices render them uneconomic, data shows, potentially curbing supplies by the end of the decade. As big oil fields that were discovered decades ago begin to deplete, oil companies are trying to access more complex and hard to reach fields located in some cases deep under sea level. 

But at the same time, the cost of production has risen sharply given the rising cost of raw materials and the need for expensive new technology to reach the oil. Now the outlook for onshore and offshore developments — from the Barents Sea to the Gulf or Mexico — looks as uncertain as the price of oil, which has plunged by 40 percent in the last five months to around $70 a barrel. Next year companies will make final investment decisions (FIDs) on a total of 800 oil and gas projects worth $500 billion and totalling nearly 60 billion barrels of oil equivalent, according to data from Norwegian consultancy Rystad Energy. 

But with analysts forecasting oil to average $82.50 a barrel next year, around one third of the spending, or a fifth of the volume, is unlikely to be approved, head of analysis at Rystad Energy Per Magnus Nysveen said. “At $70 a barrel, half of the overall volumes are at risk,” he said. Around one third of the projects scheduled for FID in 2015 are so-called unconventional, where oil and gas are extracted using horizontal drilling, in what is known as fracking, or mining. Of those 20 billion barrels, around half are located in Canada’s oil sands and Venezuela’s tar sands, according to Nysveen. 

MORE

Here Are The Most And Least Expensive Ways To Drill For Oil

From:  Business Insider 

by Myles Udland

There are a bunch of ways to drill for oil. 

You can drill it in your backyard if you're in the right spot, or you can go just offshore and drill it from the ocean.

You can also frack for it or extract oil from tar sands. 

But whichever way you choose to procure your oil, the costs are going to be different. 

On Monday, the price of West Texas Intermediate oil — the US benchmark price — traded below $53 a barrel for the first time since May 2009, bringing WTI's decline to nearly 50% from its June highs. And as the price of oil has declined, many have asked what the "breakeven" price is for various oil projects around the world. 

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/markets-chart-of-the-day-december-29-2014-12#ixzz3Ne7EJQlU

90 Pipeline Spills You Probably Haven’t Heard About

From:  EcoWatch 

by Stefanie Spear

Watch as Tyson Slocum, director of Public Citizen‘s Energy Program, joins Thom Hartmann on The Big Picture to discuss the more than 90 pipeline spills that have occurred in Alberta, Canada, in October alone, releasing more than 625,000 liters of “toxic crap.”

Slocum and Hartmann talk about the Keystone XL and the many other pipelines in the works, including the Energy East pipeline, and the huge impact the extraction and burning of tar sands oil will have on the climate if these pipelines are built.