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Author Topic: Fossil Fuels: Degraded Democracy and Profit Over Planet Pollution  (Read 30228 times)

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AGelbert

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As Hurricanes Intensify,
So Does Resistance to Big Oil  in the Gulf

Sunday, September 10, 2017

By Mike Ludwig, Truthout | Report

SNIPPET:

Resistance in Climate Ground Zero

As Kelley and his family began putting their lives back together in Port Arthur, activist and L'eau Est La Vie organizer Cherri Foytlin was volunteering at an evacuation center an hour's drive east in Lake Charles, Louisiana, where people were arriving with only "the clothes on their back."

Foytlin said one of the big concerns among people showing up from Port Arthur was whether cancerous chemicals like benzene were floating in the floodwaters they waded through to get to and from their homes. The health effects of chemicals leaching from damaged refineries and flaring into the air may not become apparent until years down the road.

"Most of those refineries, if not all of them, went underwater, and there were a lot of concerns about what was actually in the water, and we don't know because it's proprietary information," Foytlin told Truthout on Wednesday.

http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/41891-as-hurricanes-intensify-so-does-resistance-to-big-oil-in-the-gulf







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Trump OKs Coal Mining in Roadless Colorado Forest

Thompson Divide, Colo.

Trump's Forest Service has given an initial OK for Arch Coal to expand mining leases into 1,700 acres of roadless wildlands in Colorado's Gunnison National Forest.

The company wants to mine 17 million tons of coal in this pristine forest — home to black bears, elk, beavers and lynx. The coal would generate at least 49 million tons of greenhouse gas pollution.

"The Trump administration is doubling down on coal and sacrificing our climate and Colorado's spectacular high-country forest," said the Center's Michael Saul.

Read More:

https://www.biologicaldiversity.org/news/press_releases/2017/coal-09-07-2017.php

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AGelbert

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Agelbert NOTE: Trump, as he has done from the  beginning (see graphic below), continues to prove he is a Fossil Fuel Industry profit over people and planet TOOL.




Trump’s NASA nominee denies climate change on Earth, says NASA should study climate change on Mars instead

LAST UPDATED ON SEPTEMBER 21ST, 2017 AT 11:22 AM BY MIHAI ANDREI

Oh God, please make it stop.

SNIPPET:

Trump’s “scientific” nominees are getting more and more absurd. Even as his NASA nominee denies climate change on Earth, he wants to study it on Mars.

Jim Bridenstine  , the nominee for NASA leadership, is your run-of-the-mill Trump Republican: an anti-science climate change denier with a long history of false claims and manipulation.

He also has no formal scientific or engineering education which, naturally, makes him unfit to lead an organization like NASA.

He is also a Congressman and were he confirmed, he would be the first member of Congress to lead NASA. But as we’ve already seen time and time again, none of this matters. Instead of qualified professionals, instead of someone who actually knows what science and space exploration mean, we get a political ally.



Bring your barf bag for full article:

http://www.zmescience.com/science/nasa-nominee-climate-change-21092017/
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Bernie Sanders & Robert Reich discuss how we defeat Republicans' horrid 'health care' proposal


Sitervain

Published on Sep 23, 2017
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AGelbert

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Fossil Fuel Industry  Has Cost USA $240 Billion A Year Over Last Decade Via Air Pollution & Extreme Weather, Study Finds
September 30th, 2017 by James Ayre

SNIPPET:

The fossil fuel industry has cost the US around $240 billion a year over the last decade through the effects of extreme weather and air pollution, according to a new study from the non-profit Universal Ecological Fund. That’s $240 billion per year.

That figure represents an average, of course, with year-by-year variations being present depending upon circumstances. This year, for instance, is already approaching the $300 billion mark (by estimation), owing to widespread and damaging wildfires and the fact that multiple powerful hurricanes have struck the US mainland.

“The evidence is undeniable: the more fossil fuels we burn, the faster the climate continues to change,” researchers wrote in the new study.

While extreme weather events are what grabs the headlines, the new study makes it clear that the effects of air pollution on human/worker health are far more damaging. Of the $240 billion a year figure quoted above, an average of $188 billion relates to the effects of air pollution, and “just” $52 billion relates to extreme weather events.

Full article:

https://cleantechnica.com/2017/09/30/fossil-fuel-industry-cost-usa-240-billion-year-last-decade-via-extreme-weather-air-pollution-study-finds/



« Last Edit: September 30, 2017, 05:34:28 pm by AGelbert »
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The Core Problem With US Policies

October 26th, 2017 by Zachary Shahan

Originally published on Planetsave.

Hello, my name is Zach Shahan, and I have a problem. I’m a political nut.

More seriously, I’ll admit that I’m strongly drawn to politics, follow policy & politics closely (some might say obsessively), and have sometimes struggled with how much time and emotion I invest into all of that.

If I step back a bit and reflect on that passion and involvement, what often drives me in this matter is a desire for fair, humane, compassionate systems and policies. There are other ideals people bring with them into the political arena. Some want the most hyper-efficient economic and technological progress possible, for example. Either way, though, if you look at the US political system and economy objectively, I think it’s absolutely clear that we have a problem. Yes, the US has a problem. Shocked?

This is not even about Donald Trump, but Donald has drunk so heavily from the Fox News fountain and is so allergic to details and research* that he’s essentially the perfect tool to demonstrate the problem — especially since he’s been elevated to the most powerful stage in the country, providing a pretty dire lab demonstration of what happens when nonsensical Republican talking points get put into action. (*Note: I actually think Donald doesn’t understand the scientific method.)

If you talk to someone from the other side of the aisle about political issues and they’re actually able to converse with you without splattering spittle in your face while yelling that you worship the devil, the discussion often turns into vague statements about “values” and “business” and “equality” and “the free market” and “conservatism.”

But how much do people actually understand about the details of what they’re discussing? Even at this “high level” of discussion, I think there’s basically a fundamental misunderstanding of reality across much of the Republican leadership (the ones who are actually in politics because of ideals, of course — never mind the ones who are just there for power and money). These party leaders often think that certain policy theories/approaches are absolutely good and others are absolutely bad. They don’t typically acknowledge that there is variation, nuance, and relativity involved. They don’t acknowledge — and maybe don’t understand — that salt is good but not if you consume too much of it.

Too Much Salt = Disaster

A top-down, communist political system is not a good end goal, but neither is a libertarian anarchy void of any government regulation or oversight. Remember, a democratic government is of the people and by the people — in ideal form. Sure, there’s some corruption at play in reality (I’ll get to that in a moment), but the basic point is that it’s sometimes helpful if society as a whole (aka government) keeps an eye on the rules of the game and makes sure no specific companies, individuals, or industries are unfairly tilting the playing field or stabbing everyone in the eye so that they can perform better in the marketplace.


Democrats routinely note the importance of a free market, competitive enterprise, and efficient regulation. I don’t recall ever hearing a Democrat say that we should move to a non-free market system. On the other hand, significant arms of the Republican Party want to abolish regulations and the government’s role in managing broad societal challenges and externalities. There are places where it’s useful to pool our resources through an official process, but a certain portion of the Republican Party is unwilling to acknowledge this and seem to assume that federal government is inherently and wholly evil and bad. Pooling our resources in an official fashion in order to ensure a basic quality of life across the population is somehow a horrible thing to do.

To emphasize: there isn’t a significant arm of the Democratic Party that wants to put everything in the federal government’s control. Yes, they want to put a few basic human or American rights under the guidance and fair rulebook of the federal government — access to adequate health care (similar to what every other developed nation has for its citizens), access to satisfactory education, and access to energy, for example. The aim isn’t to turn these sectors into full government, top-down markets — it’s to just make sure some basics are covered and no American will get left without healthcare, with an inadequate education, and without energy simply because they’re poor or going through difficult times.

Democrats don’t want a fully powerful federal government — not even close. But Republicans apparently want a fully incapable, neutered federal government (aside from a completely bloated military that apparently has to be prepared to fight the entire world).

This stark difference in where the party ideologies end captures the core point of this article: The “middle point” is abnormally far to the right in the US, so far to the right that our political system is out of balance.

The core problem with the Republican Party is it doesn’t understand (or won’t admit) that there are aspects of society that need strong federal government involvement and regulation in order to function well.

∴  Our air should be clean enough that kids aren’t collecting cancer from the overwhelming pollution.

∴  Our health care system should provide people in need with life-saving medical care without leaving them a $500,000 medical bill.

∴  Our climate should be protected … if we want to leave our future generations a livable world.

∴  Wall Street gamblers and mega corporations need oversight to ensure they don’t crash our economy and leave hundreds of millions of people struggling.

∴  Pharmaceutical companies need to be regulated to ensure they aren’t turning the country into population of drug addicts and then draining their bank accounts while depleting their physical and mental capacities.


The problem that far too many Americans don’t understand is that regulation is needed to put a safe limit on industries that are polluting our air, polluting our water, selling us drugs of “medical” varieties, and gambling with our economy.

     

 

 

 

 

 


 


 
The problem in the US is very specifically not over-regulation, but under-regulation. Under-regulation is what harms our health — the tune of hundreds of billions of dollars a year. Under-regulation is what led to our last gigantic economic recession (under-regulation that went all the way back to the Ronald Reagan era and deceivingly hit us decades later). Under-regulation is why the United States is facing public health epidemics that other countries aren’t facing.

We need better regulation of industries that are naturally inclined to abuse the American public. We do not less regulation.

Furthermore, regulation often creates jobs — because it forces innovation. The political assumption on both sides of the aisle is often that regulations somehow cost us jobs, but research has found that forcing companies to innovate, do things in safer ways, and do things in better ways often results in more jobs. It makes complete sense, but we have been so brainwashed with a certain party’s anti-regulation talking points that we typically don’t realize this.

Unfortunately, as I noted above, Donald Trump is more or less an angry old grandpa who hasn’t just watched far too much Fox News, but also has Sean Hannity’s phone number! He has been so heavily fed the “regulation is killing you” nonsense that he genuinely thinks the best thing he can do is destroy as many regulations and as many regulatory agencies as possible. (Remember, this is a man who isn’t convinced asbestos is dangerous. …)

As such, Trump has appointed the worst possible people to head several US agencies, often people who simply supported him or did him favors. Talk about crony capitalism! He has put people in the highest positions of government power who fully work to boost specific corporate profits rather than protect human health, the American economy, and American jobs. These people are indeed crushing regulations that were designed to protect Republicans and Democrats alike. They are engaged in departmental suicide, with the apparent assumption that entire departments set up to benefit American society shouldn’t exist. These are governmental departments that have been working hard (if at times slowly) to improve quality of life in the United States. Donald Trump and his corrupted corporate friends, at the incessant request of Fox News and its extremist ideology, have been fully engaged in crushing these departments. The results will be devastating for millions of Americans — no, hundreds of millions of Americans.

It’s a tragedy of the first order. 


Follow The Money
It also doesn’t help that certain industries fund the Republican Party and basically buy the policy approach they want. Pollution industries — oil & gas, coal, and others — heavily fund the Republican Party, not the Democratic Party. This is a departure from several industries where the largest companies put significant resources into both parties. Without morals or by simply convincing themselves of a convenient non-truth, Republicans in power return the favor by consistently voting to allow pollution, to let companies pump out carcinogens, to facilitate the premature deaths and suffering of hundreds of thousands of Americans — not tens of Americans, not hundreds of Americans, not thousands of Americans, but hundreds of thousands of Americans.

 

These Republicans tie their decisions to some kind of “pure” conservative ideology — “less regulation is always good.” They don’t pay attention to the details, to the nuance. They apparently assume that even if people prematurely die from the corporate permission to do anything they want, some kind of higher (religious?) preference for no societal/governmental oversight is going to magically end up creating a net benefit. Those lost lives were just sacrifices for a better society.

It’s nonsense, of course. Republican voters understand that. They understand that pollution should be prevented and Wall Street billionaires shouldn’t be able to play risky games with our economy. But they are sold on these vague promises of “less regulation” and “more jobs,” so they vote Republican not fully realizing what they are getting into.

If a company or industry can choose an option that doesn’t kill or harm humans instead of an old, polluting, harmful option, the company or industry should be forced to choose that more human option. It should not be allowed to funnel a bit more cash into billionaire bank accounts by stripping less rich humans of their lives.

But as it stands right now, simple obsession with “free markets” and “less regulation” means that one party is trying to deregulate an already under-regulated country. It is trying to heal a wound by making a deeper cut. it is trying to cure a sickness by throwing you out into the cold rain with no clothes on. It is insane.

How could the story be changed? Well …

more involvement in politics from people who know better, and

better candidates running on a platform that is focused on helping average Americans, not poisoning them.

Do your part. A government will only be as good as the people involved in running it.

https://cleantechnica.com/2017/10/26/core-problem-us-policies/
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AGelbert

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Fake News B.S. — A Lesson In Communications

October 27th, 2017 by Zachary Shahan

Full article with some VERY informative and educational videos (for those who still use reason and logic):

https://cleantechnica.com/2017/10/27/fake-news-b-s-lesson-communications/


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AGelbert

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Quote
“The tax overhaul proposed in the U.S. House is a better bet for oil and gas companies than solar developers or electric car buyers, keeping with President Donald Trump’s decidedly fossil-fuel friendly views.

Long-Awaited US Tax Reform Signals Continued Undermining Of Renewables

November 3rd, 2017 by Joshua S Hill

https://cleantechnica.com/2017/11/03/long-awaited-us-tax-reform-signals-continued-undermining-renewables



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Trump administration to double down on carbon fuels at UN Conference


Trump team to preach virtues of fossil fuels and nuclear power at Bonn climate change conference

Peabody Energy, NuScale Power and LNG exporter Tellurian among US companies promoting national energy interests in Germany
 
The Independent (U.K.), Nov. 3, 2017
 
The Trump administration will promote coal, natural gas and nuclear energy as an answer to climate change at a presentation during a UN global warming conference this month, the White House has confirmed.

The programme is billed as a discussion of how US energy resources, particularly fossil fuels, can help poor countries meet electricity needs and drive down greenhouse gas emissions. Titled “The Role of Cleaner and More Efficient Fossil Fuels and Nuclear Power in Climate Mitigation,” it will feature speakers from Peabody Energy, a coal company; NuScale Power, a nuclear engineering firm; and Tellurian, a liquefied natural gas exporter.

“As the world seeks to reduce emissions while promoting economic prosperity, fossil fuels will continue to play a central role in the energy mix,” a preview of the 13 November presentation says.

The programme is likely to provoke strong reactions at the UN conference gathering in Bonn, Germany, beginning on Monday for two weeks of negotiations on ways to keep rising global temperatures from reaching catastrophic levels. Most climate experts contend the world must shift from fossil fuels to cleaner alternatives to meet emissions targets. Nuclear power, which does not produce earth-warming emissions, is viewed with scepticism by many environmental activists, who say its dangers outweigh its benefits.

No major funding announcements are expected during the event. Delegates from 195 countries will work on a “rule book” for implementation of the Paris agreement.

Trump has vowed to withdraw from the Paris agreement, calling it “a deal that punishes the United States.” But under the rules of the deal, the United States cannot withdraw until 2020. Until then, the administration has said, it will continue to work toward bringing the Paris agreement into force.


Barry K. Worthington, executive director of the US Energy Association, said he hoped to deliver a dose of reality about the future of fossil fuels at a forum. He argued that “no credible projection” shows fossil fuels meeting less than 40 percent of global energy demand by mid-century.

The administration’s emphasis on fossil fuels represents a sharp break from the Obama administration, which focused on renewable energy abroad.

“It’s embarrassing,” said Senator Brian Schatz, Democrat-Hawaii. “After forfeiting international leadership on climate, the Trump White House is compounding their error with a silly stunt. Fossil fuel companies are not clean energy companies, and no amount of spin will change that.”

http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/donald-trump-fossil-fuels-nuclear-power-bonn-climate-change-conference-coal-natural-gas-a8035121.html
« Last Edit: November 06, 2017, 02:28:16 pm by AGelbert »
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Quote
The 44 Koch Cronies Staffing 45’s Administration


 




It’s no secret that despite Trump’s campaign bluster about being immune to influence by the Koch Brothers , they have effectively become the Administration of 45th President of the United States.

From VP Pence’s well-documented Koch connections to the appointees now serving obscure positions within agencies, it’s hard to get a sense of just how effective the Koch network has been at infiltrating the administration.

Fortunately, Public Citizen gives us a good idea with its new report, aptly titled The Koch Government, which identifies 44 Trump appointees with ties to the Kochs. In some cases, like Mick Mulvaney and Rick Perry, it’s politicians whose campaigns received Koch donations now serving in leadership positions. Current CIA Director Mike Pompeo, for example (who is also rumored to be the replacement for Tillerson at the Department of State) represented the Koch’s hometown of Wichita, Kansas and earned a reputation as the billionaire brother’s “favorite congressman.”

Then there are the people who worked for the Koch Foundation before arriving in the administration. Some of the folks Public Citizen takes a look at were officially hired Koch lobbyists, while others acted as unofficial lobbyists employed by the vast web of nonprofits funded by the Kochs.

The web is wide and diverse: at the EPA, we’re talking about Pruitt, who’s worked in concert with the Kochs, Samantha Dravis, who was counsel for Koch’s Freedom Partners, Charles Munoz, who was a field organizer for the Koch’s Americans for Prosperity , and more.

Meanwhile, over at Interior, Koch ties manifest in the background of people like Freedom Partners’s Gary Lawkowski, the Charles Koch Institute’s Daniel Jorjani and Texas Public Policy Foundation’s Doug Domenech (and their employee, Kathleen Hartnett White, who is likely to soon be confirmed as chair of the Council on Environmental Quality). At DoE, it’s Koch-donation-receiving Rick Perry, Koch lobbyist Mark Menezes, and people employed by Koch-funded groups like Travis Fisher, Doug Matheny and Alex Fitzsimmons.   

And it’s not just the Pruitts and Perrys at EPA and DOE, where we would expect to find people to advance oily Koch interests. The Koch network has also installed operatives at the Department of Education to carry out the Kochs’ longtime agenda against public education under the guise of promoting charter schools.

Public Citizen’s report also includes a list of 16 major targets for the Trump administration, as detailed by the Koch’s Freedom Partners “Roadmap to Repeal” deregulatory agenda document released in January.

Of the 16 issues, the Kochs can count nine clear wins, including rolling back the Clean Power Plan and exiting Paris, which Pruitt’s started, rescinding the moratorium on federal coal leases, repealing the Stream Protection Rule, killing an overtime pay rule, and more.  There’s one likely win, 4 issues still unclear, and only 2 losses.

Half the Koch’s wishlist already checked off? And people say Trump hasn’t accomplished anything!



It REALLY WAS a good ride, not for you and me, but for TPTB. So expect them to do WHATEVER to prolong their RIDE, against all scientific evidence that EXPLOITATION WITHOUT REFLECTION OF FELLOW EARTHLINGS OF ALL SPECIES (not just humans) AND THE BIOSPHERE FOR PROFIT OVER PLANET is deleterious (i.e. SUICIDAL/abysmally STUPID) to the Homo SAP species.
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AGelbert

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Quote
The 44 Koch Cronies Staffing 45’s Administration


 




It’s no secret that despite Trump’s campaign bluster about being immune to influence by the Koch Brothers , they have effectively become the Administration of 45th President of the United States.

From VP Pence’s well-documented Koch connections to the appointees now serving obscure positions within agencies, it’s hard to get a sense of just how effective the Koch network has been at infiltrating the administration.

Fortunately, Public Citizen gives us a good idea with its new report, aptly titled The Koch Government, which identifies 44 Trump appointees with ties to the Kochs. In some cases, like Mick Mulvaney and Rick Perry, it’s politicians whose campaigns received Koch donations now serving in leadership positions. Current CIA Director Mike Pompeo, for example (who is also rumored to be the replacement for Tillerson at the Department of State) represented the Koch’s hometown of Wichita, Kansas and earned a reputation as the billionaire brother’s “favorite congressman.”

Then there are the people who worked for the Koch Foundation before arriving in the administration. Some of the folks Public Citizen takes a look at were officially hired Koch lobbyists, while others acted as unofficial lobbyists employed by the vast web of nonprofits funded by the Kochs.

The web is wide and diverse: at the EPA, we’re talking about Pruitt, who’s worked in concert with the Kochs, Samantha Dravis, who was counsel for Koch’s Freedom Partners, Charles Munoz, who was a field organizer for the Koch’s Americans for Prosperity , and more.

Meanwhile, over at Interior, Koch ties manifest in the background of people like Freedom Partners’s Gary Lawkowski, the Charles Koch Institute’s Daniel Jorjani and Texas Public Policy Foundation’s Doug Domenech (and their employee, Kathleen Hartnett White, who is likely to soon be confirmed as chair of the Council on Environmental Quality). At DoE, it’s Koch-donation-receiving Rick Perry, Koch lobbyist Mark Menezes, and people employed by Koch-funded groups like Travis Fisher, Doug Matheny and Alex Fitzsimmons.   

And it’s not just the Pruitts and Perrys at EPA and DOE, where we would expect to find people to advance oily Koch interests. The Koch network has also installed operatives at the Department of Education to carry out the Kochs’ longtime agenda against public education under the guise of promoting charter schools.

Public Citizen’s report also includes a list of 16 major targets for the Trump administration, as detailed by the Koch’s Freedom Partners “Roadmap to Repeal” deregulatory agenda document released in January.

Of the 16 issues, the Kochs can count nine clear wins, including rolling back the Clean Power Plan and exiting Paris, which Pruitt’s started, rescinding the moratorium on federal coal leases, repealing the Stream Protection Rule, killing an overtime pay rule, and more.  There’s one likely win, 4 issues still unclear, and only 2 losses.

Half the Koch’s wishlist already checked off? And people say Trump hasn’t accomplished anything!

It REALLY WAS a good ride, not for you and me, but for TPTB. So expect them to do WHATEVER to prolong their RIDE, against all scientific evidence that EXPLOITATION WITHOUT REFLECTION OF FELLOW EARTHLINGS OF ALL SPECIES (not just humans) AND THE BIOSPHERE FOR PROFIT OVER PLANET is deleterious (i.e. SUICIDAL/abysmally STUPID) to the Homo SAP species.
[/center]

It obviously started when Pence was selected as running mate, because he was the Koch go-to guy in Washington for years when he was in congress. I think there is evidence that Trump then kissed the Koch ring and swore fealty sometime between the election and the inauguration.

The Koch brothers money has done as much or more damage in state elections as it has done in DC. That's what's behind the shift to the right in the general population.

It's a bought-and-paid-for coup d'etat, and now they are buying all the media outlets to silence the voices of opposition. Game, set , match. We are so fu ck ed.


I do not think the "shift to the right in the general population" is anything but a Koch bought-and-paid for media (false) perception. When honest polls have been done, the fact is that that the general population of the USA favors Socialism in government, not profit over people and planet Capitalism. Deliberately targeted voter disenfranchisement and undemocratic gerrymandering has more to do with getting Kochroachs "elected" to State and Federal government positions than anything else.

I know you do not believe that, but I agree with you that our country and our planet is in dire straits.



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The above two greedy bastards talk "liberty" while they connive, collude, bribe and lie 24/7 to steal ours.

Caca From Koch Brothers Creates Cacophony Of Cuckoo Commentary

November 30th, 2017 by Steve Hanley

SNIPPET 1:

Quote
Liberty, in the Byzantine world of the Koch brothers, means grabbing all the government subsidies you can, including favorable laws and regulations, while screaming bloody murder if anyone else gets any.

SNIPPET 2:

Quote
Those Koch fellows are big on wrapping themselves in the flag and screaming about freedom, but the freedom they crave is the ability to shovel even more money into their already overstuffed wallets regardless of the social, ethical, or environmental consequences. They are the prime movers behind the plan to repeal the Affordable Care Act and the Republican tax bill that will shower billions of dollars on America’s most wealthy citizens — especially themselves.

Full article:

https://cleantechnica.com/2017/11/30/caca-koch-brothers-creates-cacophony-cuckoo-commentary/
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He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Matt 10:37

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Members of the National Petroleum War Service Committee, pictured here in Standard Oil’s boardroom in 1918, helped create the American Petroleum Institute.  National Archives and Records Administration


The United States of Petroleum 

by Jie Jenny Zou

December 12, 2017

The Great War began in 1914 with cavalrymen on horseback and ended four years later with armored tanks and airplanes. It was, as one scholar put it, the “first war to run on oil.”

To ensure a steady flow of fuel, petroleum executives met regularly with federal officials in Standard Oil’s oak-paneled boardroom on Wall Street. The same industry broken up as an illegal monopoly in 1911 had become a quasi-arm of government.

As the Allies brokered peace in the spring of 1919, the American Petroleum Institute was born in a ballroom at New York’s Biltmore Hotel. Among its founding members were the same regulators entrusted to oversee the industry.

Over the course of a century, API has embedded itself in the U.S. government. Decades ago, the institute embarked on a campaign to sell Americans on a fossil-fuel future, despite having heard dire warnings of climate change as early as 1959. With more than 650 corporate members, the group now encompasses every sector of the oil and gas industry, from drilling to plastics manufacturing.

Big Oil’s influence has come at a steep cost to the public. From Kyoto to Paris, the institute has helped block or stall action on climate change, consistently putting profit ahead of health. API is now working to undermine bedrock environmental laws that promise Americans clean air and water — all while promoting deeper and riskier drilling in places long off limits.

Though the institute has for decades championed free-market economics, its success has been predicated on government buy-in at every level. Since the Wilson administration, API’s directors have enjoyed unfettered access to the White House and federal agencies, thwarting or slowing progress on everything from leaded gasoline to smog. With Donald Trump in the White House, the organization sees an unprecedented window of opportunity.

The story, in three chapters:

https://apps.publicintegrity.org/united-states-of-petroleum/



The Fossil Fuelers DID THE Clean Energy  Inventions suppressing, Climate Trashing, human health depleting CRIME,   but since they have ALWAYS BEEN liars and conscience free crooks, they are trying to AVOID   DOING THE TIME or     PAYING THE FINE!     Don't let them get away with it! Pass it on!   
He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Matt 10:37

AGelbert

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Goldman Says Big Oil Is Poised for Its Best Year in Decades 

December 14, 2017 by Bloomberg

SNIPPET:

By Kelly Gilblom and Nejra Cehic (Bloomberg) — Big Oil’s slump is over and industry domination beckons, according to Goldman Sachs Group Inc.

In 2018, companies from Royal Dutch Shell Plc to Exxon Mobil Corp. will find themselves with a surplus of cash to fund dividends, ruling the world of deep water mega-projects and even coming out ahead in tax negotiations with oil-reliant governments around the globe, according to Michele Della Vigna, Goldman’s head of energy-industry research.

The industry’s success in cutting costs, paired with a low oil price that keeps smaller competitors out of the biggest projects, has created an environment where only major players can compete, Vigna said. That should bolster earnings and return the industry giants to a position of dominance not seen in 20 years.

Full article:

http://gcaptain.com/goldman-says-big-oil-poised-best-year-decades/


He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Matt 10:37

 

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