 …in the long term, what the industry has affected is not increased security via Canadian oil to the gulf coast, but a concentration of the nation’s refining capacity in the heart of the nation’s hurricane corridor. The lessons of 2005 have clearly not been heeded. Pennsylvania labor activists marched on Capitol Hill yesterday in protest … Read More
On Tuesday, January 24, as Washington readies for the annual State of the Union address, more than 500 people in referee outfits are converging on Capitol Hill to “blow the whistle” on Congress. Why? Â Consider these two facts: 1. The American people believe (rightly) that Members of Congress are more responsive to their campaign donors … Read More
Pssst. I’ve got a secret. The oil industry is in it for the money. I know how shocking this must be for many of you. But it’s true. Literally. The duty of Big Oil’s executives to their shareholders is to maximize their profits. There’s nothing wrong with that, in theory.  They are in fact, quite … Read More
 By Brendan Demelle, DeSmogBlog American Petroleum Institute President Jack Gerard today announced the oil and gas industry’s latest election-year scare campaign to threaten the demise of the U.S. economy unless Big Oil gets its every wish in Washington. This year the wish list includes approval of the Keystone XL pipeline, expanded offshore drilling on both … Read More
Every year, the fossil fuel industry pumps more money into Congress, local governments, and advertising. They’re upping the ante to get what they want. But this year, they hit a roadblock. This year, the many stood in the way of the money and said no. From the Keystone XL pipeline to the communities that have … Read More
Love it or loath it as the voice of business, you can say one thing about the Financial Times, it normally covers the energy beat with a reasonable degree of accuracy. That’s why is was so disappointing to read the latest misguided comment piece by the paper’s Washington columnist Edward Luce, in an article “Look … Read More
Written by Ross Hammond There may be no better example of the corrupting influence of Dirty Energy Money in the current Congress than Supercommittee member Representative Fred Upton of Michigan. In July Upton warned of the dangers of private lobbying organizations and special interests “operating in an increasingly competitive lobbying realm in Washington—a world where … Read More
So the Europeans don’t want it. And by delaying the decision on Keystone XL for eighteen months, it looks like Obama and America doesn’t want it either. Despite one of the most aggressive marketing and public relations campaigns ever seen by the oil industry and Canadian government to try and sell the dirty tar sands, … Read More
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
In a chilling preview of what life may be like if Rick Perry were to become president, a commission appointed by the Texan Governor is proposing handing Valero and other Texan refiners a tax refund worth $135 million. That would be bad enough but where will they find the money in these hard times? Around … Read More
