“Put the people before the profits!”

A company called Enbridge wants to expand a tar sands pipeline running through the state.  As the people of Jefferson were catching onto the peril they were being put in, Enbridge put together a PR stunt to connive the people into thinking that there was no need for concern.

The people didn't buy it and took over the meeting.  When put on the spot, the Enbridge people were unable and/or unwilling to answer the people's questions.

The results were predictable:

Residents brought up many valid reasons to oppose or question the pipeline expansion, but one thing was for certain; the entire room, with one visible exception, was opposed to the pipeline’s expansion or needed more questions answered. Not surprising for a project that would expand Line 61 to carry a far bigger tar sands payload than the Keystone XL, which itself has been delayed multiple times due to fierce resistance. Why then has there only been one public hearing in Superior, Wisconsin on Line 61? Because Enbridge doesn’t want this pipeline to be delayed the same way as Keystone XL so they’ve stealthily moved the pipeline forward in hopes of avoiding the same scrutiny. As the standing room only crowd at this hearing can attest, the people of Wisconsin are not happy about such corporate trickery, and are not about to back down. As Enbridge officials were wrapping up the event, a chant rose from the back of the room:

“Put the people before the profits!”

Not only was this a great showing for the people of Jefferson County in shining the light of truth on the pipeline, but it also shown the extreme importance for people to get involved in the happenings of their community. If people show this much more interest in their government - from school boards to municipal meetings to state legislative actions, we might be able to turn things around a lot faster and start restoring our state and our communities to the grandeur we once had.

Your Rights As A Landowner - Repub-ALEC-an Style

This is just disgusting:

How can you be arrested for “trespassing” on your own land? Well, anything can happen when a multinational corporation comes in and expropriates your farm for their profit.

That’s why actress and activist Daryl Hannah has joined forces with East Texas ranch owner Eleanor Fairchild, 78, to stage a protest against Keystone XL construction on Mrs. Fairchild’s farm. The actress is intent on defending Mrs. Fairchild’s home and business, Fairchild Farms, a portion of which has been expropriated by TransCanada, for its toxic tar sands pipeline. The duo claim their action is inspired by our ongoing tree blockade happening on a neighboring property.

On Thursday afternoon, Hannah marched across Fairchild Farms with the ranch owner to block bulldozers from continuing to clear large swaths of Mrs. Fairchild’s land along the toxic tar sands pipeline’s route. Keystone XL will permanently bisect Mrs. Fairchild’s 300 acre ranch, which includes undeveloped wetland areas and natural springs producing over 400 gallons of fresh water per minute from her property. Hannah, whose outspoken anti-Tar Sands position dates back many years, expressed pride to be able to stand with Mrs. Fairchild who is watching her home and its delicate ecosystems be destroyed in front of her eyes.

“I am standing in solidarity with the farmers, ranchers, and landowners who have been bullied, coerced, and threatened by TransCanada. Texans do not want this toxic export pipeline coming through and compromising their land and water,” she shared. “Texas has already experienced a tragic and epic drought. We cannot afford to compromise our water supply for a multinational corporation’s profits.”

Mrs. Fairchild, a great-grandmother, has been staunchly opposed to TransCanada’s Keystone XL tar sands pipeline project since she was first informed that it was to cross her land many years ago. She never signed a contract with the Canadian pipeline company, who, in turn, proceeded to expropriate her ranch through Texas’ lax eminent domain legal proceedings. Violated by TransCanada, all but abandoned by elected officials, and legally unrepresented, Mrs. Fairchild took action by other means during last year’s Tar Sands Action protests at the White House, which resulted in 1253 arrests during the two week long civil disobedience.

Unwilling to take further action since then, she found herself inspired yet again due to the bravery exhibited on a neighboring property by the tree blockade. Mrs. Fairchild explains, “We’re all neighbors here and everyone knows everyone’s business, really, so I knew the group was up to something at the tree blockade, but hearing about the young girl, Maggie, on the 40-foot tall pole all alone the other day, I knew I had to do something myself. I can’t climb a pole like her, but if I can raise hell by sitting down, I’m going to! What this foreign corporation’s doing just isn’t right.”

Here's some video of Mrs. Fairchild and Daryl Hannah just before they were arrested for trying to defend Mrs. Fairchild's land while ON Mrs. Fairchild's land:



'Murica! Hell, yeah!

We're not fighting for the 47%. We're not fighting for the 99%. We're fighting for every single person in this world, even those that are too stupid or too greedy or too whatever to do what's in their own best interest.

Trading Card or Campaign Poster?

Via Jason Haas:



According to Jason, it's a trading card. I'm not to sure.

Check out the others.

Those Poor, Poor Oil Companies

I've seen on Twitter and in the blogs that conservatives are complaining that Exxon Mobil had to pay some taxes this last quarter and that their profits are down.

Well, their profits are down:

In the fourth quarter, Exxon Mobil’s profit dropped 23 percent, to $6.05 billion, or $1.27 a share, compared with $7.82 billion, or $1.54 a share, in the period a year ago.

The earnings, however, beat analysts’ expectations, helping drive up shares, which rose 2.72 percent on Monday, to $66.18.

Revenue was up 6 percent, to $89.84 billion in the quarter.

The poor darlings only netted $6 billion (yes, that's billion with a capital B) in those three months. I should have it so rough.

Shrill Here, Shrill Now

So much for the right wing's talking point of the "desperate need" to drill in off-shore sites or in ANWR. Despite never explaining why, if it was so important to start a process that would take years and might, only might, save seven cents on a gallon of gas, the Republicans never passed those laws in all the years they were in control, we find that the law of supply and demand really wasn't the cause for high oil prices.

An independent study found that the price of oil was artificially inflated by speculators:

Speculation by large investors - and not supply and demand for oil - were a primary reason for the surge in oil prices during the first half of the year and the more recent price declines, an independent study concluded Wednesday.

The report by Masters Capital Management said investors poured $60 billion into oil futures markets during the first five months of the year as oil prices soared from $95 a barrel in January to $145 a barrel by July.

Since then, these investors have withdrawn $39 billion from those markets as prices have retreated dramatically, the report said. Oil traded at about $102 a barrel Wednesday on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

"We have clear evidence the fund flow pushed prices up and the fund flow pushed prices down," said Michael Masters of Masters Capital Management, calling the amount of money moving into oil futures markets by large institutional investors in the early part of the year "way off the scale."

Masters said its analysis shows investors "began a massive stampede for the exits" on July 15 and that this caused the price decline.

"These large financial players have become the primary source of the dramatic and damaging volatility seen in oil prices," concluded the report.

Meanwhile, in a related story, that adds a whole new definition to the right's favorite catchphrase of "Drill Here. Drill Now":

Government officials in charge of collecting billions of dollars worth of royalties from oil and gas companies accepted gifts, steered contracts to favored clients and engaged in drug use and illicit sex with employees of the energy firms, federal investigators reported yesterday.

Investigators from the Interior Department's inspector general's office said more than a dozen employees, including the former director of the oil royalty program, took meals, ski trips, sports tickets and golf outings from industry representatives. The report alleges that the former director, Gregory W. Smith, also netted more than $30,000 from improper outside work.

[...]

The royalty-in-kind program, based near Denver, allows energy companies to pay the government in oil and gas, rather than cash, for the privilege of drilling on government land. It has been the subject of multiple investigations since 2006 by the Interior Department's secretary, its inspector general, the Justice Department and Congress for alleged mismanagement and conflicts of interest.

In the report released yesterday, investigators said they "discovered a culture of substance abuse and promiscuity" in which employees accepted gratuities "with prodigious frequency." The report cited one e-mail from a Shell Pipeline representative asking a woman in the royalty office to attend "tailgating festivities" at a Houston Texans football game: "You're invited . . . have you and the girls meet at my place at 6am for bubble baths and final prep. Just kidding."

Besides Shell, the energy company employees mentioned in the report worked for Chevron, Hess and Gary-Williams Energy. The social outings detailed in the report included alcohol-, cocaine- and marijuana-filled parties where certain employees of the Minerals Management Service were nicknamed the "MMS Chicks" by the energy employees. The companies paid for federal workers to attend football and baseball games, PGA Tour events, Colorado ski trips, paintball outings and "treasure hunts," investigators found.

Perhaps, once we get the Grand Oil Party out of the White House, and prevent them from putting their subsidiaries McCain and Palin from continuing these frat house antics, we will finally see real relief from the gouging at the pumps and power companies.