Written by Ross Hammond When it comes to government handouts to the fossil fuel industry, one of the more intractable members of the Supercommittee appears to be Senator Jon Kyl of Arizona, who voted in both 2010 and 2011 to continue to give our tax money to Big Oil. Senator Kyl made a name for … Read More
Author: Lorne Stockman
What now? Reading the tea leaves on Keystone XL
Written by Steve Kretzmann and Lorne Stockman Last week, the Obama Administration announced that it would “examine in depth alternative routes” for the Keystone XL pipeline and that this process “could be completed as early as the first quarter of 2013”. The Administration pledged to consider “all the relevant issues together”, including climate change, energy … Read More
Will The Real Max Baucus Stand Up Please?
In less than two weeks the Congressional Supercommittee must submit a plan to Congress to reduce the deficit by at least $1.5 trillion. One of the big questions is whether the Supercommittee will recommend cutting billions of dollars in subsidies to the hugely profitable oil, gas and coal industries. According to a group of 36 … Read More
Keystone delayed: prepare for the industry backlash
With Keystone XL delayed and almost certainly dead in its current form, the industry is a little upset. What we can expect to see over the next days and weeks and on into the election season is a relentless barrage of misinformation and outright attacks on the green movement, the President and anybody who shares … Read More
President Obama sides with the “many over the money” by effectively rejecting Keystone XL
This afternoon, officials at the White House and the State Department announced that they would “examine in depth alternative routes” for the Keystone XL pipeline and that this process “could be completed as early as the first quarter of 2013”. This amounts to an effective rejection of the pipeline. During TransCanada’s third quarter results call … Read More
How to buy a pipeline? Buy Congress.
As thousands gather around the White House tomorrow to urge President Obama to reject the Keystone XL pipeline, let’s take a minute to look at some of the ways the project has garnered political support so far. Because in the end this is a political decision. A yes indicates support for Big Oil and the … Read More
Military Wisdom: Pentagon strategy doesn’t include Canadian oil
We have discussed a number of times on this blog how energy security cannot be attained through importing more oil from Canada or increasing domestic drilling. These false solutions give the impression something is being done to ease the burden of high oil prices on the nation but in reality make no difference. So it … Read More
The Living Dead: will Big Oil’s record profits turn us all to zombies?
$100 Billion. That’s what the big 5 oil companies have made in profits since January 1. $102.85 billion to be more precise, according to my own calculations (see table below). That means that they’re on course to top $140 billion for 2011. More if oil prices keep rising. And that’s in a year when unemployment … Read More
Rick Perry’s predictable energy plan
I wasn’t bowled over with surprise to hear news of Rick Perry’s energy plan today. I could have written it myself. The plan is a fossil fuel industry wish list. Open everything up and dismantle any regulation that might get in the way of digging, drilling, fracking and burning. It’s not really news. It wasn’t … Read More
The Keystone XL Energy Security Sham
Tomorrow sees the final public hearing in the national interest determination process surrounding the controversial Keystone XL pipeline. The proposed 1,700 mile pipeline would bring up to 900,000 barrels per day of dirty tar sands crude to the Gulf Coast from Alberta, Canada if approved by the State Department. The hearing will take place in … Read More