77 ALEC Bills in 2013 Advance a Big Oil, Big Ag Agenda

by Brendan Fischer / PR Watch

At least 77 bills to oppose renewable energy standards, support fracking and the controversial Keystone XL pipeline, and otherwise undermine environmental laws were introduced in 34 states in 2013, according to a new analysis from the Center for Media and Democracy, publishers of ALECexposed.org. In addition, nine states have been inspired by ALEC’s “Animal and Ecological Terrorism Act” to crack down on videographers documenting abuses on factory farms. 

ALEC, Fueled by Fossil Fuel Industry, Pursues Retrograde Energy Agenda

For decades, ALEC has been a favored conduit for some of the worlds largest polluters, like Koch Industries, BP, Shell, Chevron, and Exxon Mobil, and for decades has promoted less environmental regulation and more drilling and fracking. 

ALEC bills in recent years have pulled states out of regional climate initiatives, opposed carbon dioxide emission standards, created hurdles for state agencies attempting to regulate pollution, and tried to stop the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from regulating greenhouse gas emissions. The legislation introduced in 2013 carries on this legacy. ALEC bills favor the fossil fuel barons and promote a retrograde energy agenda that pollutes our air and water and is slowly cooking the planet to what may soon be devastating temperatures.

BREAKING: TWAC Blocking Portland Transcanada Office with Tripod

Update: The action has been declared a success as businesses were forced to lock their doors and close their blinds – apparently the dance party was just too much for them! In addition, all TWAC activists have avoided arrest and gear was not confiscated.

by Niko / Earth First! Newswire

A tripod has been erected at the entrance of a building that houses a TransCanada office, blocking the entrance and causing businesses inside to lock the doors. Protesters outside have responded with a very glittery and colorful dance party in front of the building and a banner that reads “No Tar Sands On Native Lands. Stop Genocide.”

This action was organized by the Trans and Womyns Action Camp (TWAC), a direct action group for women and trans* and gender-variant folks. A correspondent from TWAC said that they took action today “to stand in solidarity with communities that are affected disproportionately by tar sands, including everyone in Alberta who is forced to live in areas of tar sands oil extraction, folks near the Gulf Coast affected by tar sand refinement plants, and communities who are living on the pipeline route.” With conditions on the Gulf Coast already toxic, high rates of asthma and cancer are becoming the norm, and the arrival of tar sands will only worsen these conditions. In the Athabaska watershed in Alberta, communities have seen the rise of a large number of rare cancers, and First Nations communities have been affected most heavily.

TransCanada Is Briefing Police About KXL Protests and Urging Terrorism Prosecutions

by Will Potter / Green Is The New Red

New documents show that TransCanada, the corporation behind the $5.3 billion Keystone XL oil pipeline, has been briefing police about non-violent protesters and urging prosecutors to consider them “terrorists.”

Environmentalists have waged a diverse campaign against the 2,000-mile pipeline that has included civil disobedience at the White House, tree sits and blockades, and a new lawsuit by the Sierra Club saying the U.S. State Department’s environmental review of the Keystone XL is “plagued by conflicts of interest.”

The tactics are working. In response, TransCanada is filing lawsuits across the country in hopes of deterring opposition; in Oklahoma, they recently filed a restraining order against protesters.

New documents show that TransCanada is also working behind the scenes with local police, providing cops with names and photographs of dozens of activists, warning of non-violent tactics, and urging terrorism prosecutions.

TransCanada Reps Kicked Out of Cheyenne River Sioux Reservation

Cross Posted From Tar Sands Blockade

“You’re not welcome here… We’ve said no from day one.”

And with these firm words the TransCanada representatives were kicked out of Cheyenne River Sioux Reservation last week. The seemingly aloof TransCanada officials showed up at the Tribal Office in Eagle Butte, South Dakota in an attempt to win the tribe over to the pipeline, but were met with a swift, firm response. Robin LeBeau, Cheyenne River Sioux Councilwoman for District 5, saw them in the parking lot and promptly told them off.

The encounter was caught on video:

Make History: Stop the Keystone XL Pipeline

Keystone XL Pipeline Compilation by Earth First! Journal Collective

Great Plains Tar Sands Resistance shoot an Oklahoma native up a monopole!

Today, Monday, April 22, is the deadline for the last official public comment period on the Obama administration’s review on the Keystone XL Pipeline. It also happens to be Earth Day – a day that is celebrated worldwide to demonstrate support for environmental protection. Wouldn’t today be a great day to stop TransCanada’s Keystone XL pipeline from further construction, destruction and future eruptions!?!?!

The clock is ticking on our last chance to officially weigh in on the “game over for the climate,” the Tar Sands pipeline, before the president makes his decision later this year. There are many ways you can make your voice of opposition to this pipeline heard – break the silence and make a ruckus! There are also countless petitions circulating the internet that need as many signers as possible! Cross-post the news to your family and friends, have conversations with people in your office and ask them – are you familiar with the Keystone XL pipeline and the Alberta tar sands? Because today is the day to read all about it and do something about it!

The State Department’s latest sham review of the Keystone pipeline – the Draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement that is the subject of this comment period – ignored the pipeline’s significant risk for toxic spills, ignored its catastrophic impacts on our climate,¹ and ignored the clear consensus among financial analysts and oil executives who agree Keystone XL will make the difference in tar sands development.

We need a response that will make clear to the Obama administration that Americans oppose the Keystone XL pipeline.

NEW TransCanada Tar Sands Pipeline

TransCanada is repurposing an existing filthy fracked gas pipeline to carry more TOXIC TAR SANDS. The pipe will run from Alberta to New Brunswick in the Canadian Maritimes – a region of Eastern Canada consisting of three provinces, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island. This pipeline will have the same capacity as Keystone XL, 850,000 BPD. While TransCanada continues to “round up commitments” from investors and oil companies, resistance to the Tar Sands and Keystone XL pipelines and all pipelines proposed to move tar sands continues to increase and make an impact. Here’s a little wrap-up of recent events. 

Protesters at California Fundraisers Urge Obama to Reject Keystone XL

April 5, 2013
Cross-posted from Democracy Now!

President Obama has wrapped up a two-day swing through California to raise money for Democratic candidates in the 2014 midterm elections. In San Francisco, Obama was met by hundreds of protesters urging him to reject the Keystone XL oil pipeline as he attended two fundraisers. One of the events was held at the home of the hedge fund billionaire Thomas Steyer, who has vocally opposed the Keystone XL. In his remarks, Obama appeared to justify his failure to aggressively tackle global warming by claiming it is not a top priority for working-class Americans. Describing his take on the typical mindset, Obama said: “You may be concerned about the temperature of the planet, but it’s probably not rising to your No. 1 concern. And if people think, well, that’s shortsighted, that’s what happens when you’re struggling to get by.”

Tar Sands Bloopers Part 2!

A crew cleaning 30,000 gallons of tar sands spilled in MN

by Carter / Earth First! Newswire

If you missed the first edition it’s here

The embarrassing industrial gaffs just keep coming! Earlier this week TransCanda had to wipe the toxic egg of their face when a tailing pond from the tar sands spilled into the Athabasca River. As if that wasn’t enough to make you chuckle at the sheer negligence and/or stupidity of these blundering billionaires, the two additional tar sands spills that happened this week should have you laughing until you cry… and then weeping for hours.