The last two weeks has seen environmental activists converging on Washington D.C. and the White House to protest the Keystone XL pipeline that is proposed to bring oil from Alberta Canada to the United States. To hear the activists speak it sounds as if the world is sealing its collective doom as carbon will be unleashed within the atmosphere and irrevocably alter human existence as we know it. The claim is that unearthing this oil will be the proverbial straw that broke the camels back and although I don't agree with the supposition it does beg the question, why are they protesting in Washington when the extraction is taking place in Canada? The truth, I think is that carbon is irrelevant.
If you tune in to some part of the “debate”, and the participants are going on about Eevill CO2 and Saving the Planet, turn it off and go elsewhere. It simply means all of those people are liars and/or too ignorant to pound sand.
If the pipeline is not built, another will be, from the tar sands deposits to the Canadian West Coast, completely outside the jurisdiction of the U.S. Government (much to the frustration of the IRS and the other TLAs). It will be cheaper than Keystone-XL; not only will it be shorter, it will be cheaper per linear measure because it will be built under Canadian regulations, which focus on (gasp! choke!)pipeline safety, rather than maximizing saliva generation when kissing environmentalist ass. The oil will be pumped to Vancouver, where it will be loaded on tankers and taken (mostly) to China, where it will be burned to provide power to industry.
The oil will be produced, whether Keystone-XL is built or not.
The oil will be burned, whether Keystone-XL is built or not.
The carbon will enter the atmosphere, whether Keystone-XL is built or not.
So in this particular case, both “anthropogenic global warming” and environmental degradation at the production zone are irrelevant. The carbon dioxide is gonna get into the atmosphere, and the tar sands deposits are gonna get mined, whether Keystone-XL is built or blocked. There are some (minor) issues regarding environmental impact of the pipeline, and those might be worth debate, but Saving the Earth is not an issue in this context, and anybody who starts bloviating, passionately or otherwise, about Global Warming and CO2 emissions is too stupidly self-centered to realize what’s going on and/or deliberately trying to confuse the issue. Shut ‘em out.
It's not about carbon, it's not about global warming or climate change. For the uninformed, it is about making yourself feel good. Getting yourself arrested, paying a fine and going about you day thinking your action has made an actual difference. For the true believers though it is something else entirely and the green agenda is a means to an end and the President was supposed to be the spearhead.
But, finally it is over.
What has been described as a "massive" environmental protest against the Keystone XL pipeline comes to a conclusion today. Organized by Bill McKibben and Josh Fox environmental activists have been waging a sit in at the White House gates since August 20. Today marks day 14 and the blessed end.
So how did the "largest environmental civil disobedience in decades" end? With a self reported 1,252 arrests. I say self reported because this number is provided by the Tar Sands Action website and cannot be confirmed, but regardless this is a far cry from massive and many fewer than the 2,000 protesters promised. This breaks down to 89 people per day. No wonder the President never knew about it!
On the whole this has to be a disappointing week for the environmental movement and lobby. By anyone's terms the described action above has to be described as a failure.
1,200 people over 14 days? Face it, Daryl Hannah just isn't what she used to be. James Hansen, NASA's chief (former) scientist is a poseur of the highest degree, much more interested in advocacy than science! Tantoo Cardinal and Margot Kidder? You must be kidding yourself to think this is news! Even Al Gore couldn't be bothered to show up. He issued a statement instead.
Couple this with the announcement that President Obama plans to shelve EPA plans to implement new smog standards and you have Big Green blowing smoke.
“Many MoveOn members are wondering today how they can ever work for President Obama's reelection, or make the case for him to their neighbors, when he does something like this, after extending the Bush tax cuts for the rich, and giving in to tea party demands on the debt deal,” MoveOn’s executive director, Justin Ruben said in a statement. “This is a decision we'd expect from George W. Bush.”
The National Resources Defense Council statement:
The White House is siding with corporate polluters over the American people. The Clean Air Act clearly requires the Environmental Protection Agency to set protective standards against smog--based on science and the law. The White House now has polluted that process with politics.
Our public officials, including in the White House, serve to protect us from harm. They need to get on with doing their jobs. Inaction cannot be an option when it comes to ensuring a healthy and prosperous America.
According to MoveOn Executive Director, Justin Ruben, the group may choose not the campaign for the president in 2012. Right?
"According to the EPA, the clean air standards the President blocked would have saved up to 12,000 children, elderly folks, and others each year. That means thousands are likely to die because the President caved to big polluters. Many MoveOn members are wondering today how they can ever work for President Obama's re-election, or make the case for him to their neighbors, when he does something like this, after extending the Bush tax cuts for the rich, and giving in to Tea Party demands on the debt deal. This is a decision we'd expect from George W. Bush, not from a Democratic President elected to protect the environment and the health of our children."
Finally we have the Solyndra boondoggle that has seen $500 billion dollars flushed down the imaginary green energy sink hole. Like most green energy start ups, they had a minor problem, they were not profitable. But it wasn't a total loss...
The big winner in all of this is Oklahoma billionaire George Kaiser. The billionaire oil man just happens to be a democratic campaign bundler, and in that capacity he directed huge campaign donations into the ‘O8 election campaign of President Obama. Kaiser was the largest private shareholder in Solyndra, and grew his stake in the company after the loan guarantees were put in place. “Billionaire oil man and large campaign contributor stands to profit from failing company at tax payers expense.” That reads like every headline that never materialized under the previous administration. This story would be front page news for months if President Bush was still in the White House; but since a being of superior morality now occupies the position you are forced to read this story here. This is what hope and change looks like; all of the corruption that the far left pined for in times past, with none of the reporting. That’s life under the most ethical and transparent administration in history. Southern Oil barons enriching themselves from other people’s money ,strictly because they were willing to play the game in a way that pleased this administration.
This story is not unique, save it is one of the first that are beginning to be revealed. There will be many other cases like Solyndra in the coming months. We should keep this in mind when Obama gives his jobs speech in a few days. He is going to propose large spending as the only way to deliver jobs in this struggling economy. In the case of Solyndra he infused half a billion dollars to create jobs at a company with 1200 employees. Those people are now out of work, the company no more, while we get to return the investment of George Kaiser. This is what hope and change looks like when it passes from the lush hillsides of rhetoric into the cold realities of life.
Thank you Mr. President. No wonder you are hiding from your base!
Just for fun, some must see videos....
Josh Fox explains why he is so important. Did he say Gasland 2?
James Hansen has a dream. Wake up Jim!
Where is the diversity? Green racist!
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