Category Archives: Energy

Corporate “Citizens”

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Anyone who has ever founded a corporation knows that the entity exists only on paper. It’s a legal agreement between the shareholders and the government. Incorporation is designed to encourage the creation of jobs by offering legal protection to the shareholders in the event the corporation defaults on its financial liabilities. That’s it. It’s a legal “veil” of financial protection. Yet the current Supreme Court has disregarded long-established legal precedents to give corporations the same rights as individuals with regard to freedom of speech.

For the Court to make this ruling, it had to re-write the Consitution in two regards. One is that, according to the Court, money is now the equivalent of free speech. Two is that corporations are equal to individual citizens. If protecting a woman’s right to make decisions with respect to her own body is evidence of “activist” justices, what do these rulings represent? Super activism?

But now that conservatives on the Court have created this quagmire, I suggest they take it a step farther.

Why not rule that corporate “citizens” are subject to the same criminal codes as individuals? After all, aren’t conservatives always reminding us that rights must be accompanied by responsibilities?

So if a young male is sentenced to 5-10 years for robbing a convenience store, why shouldn’t the CEO of a corporate giant get at least that many years if that corporation defrauds millions from customers? If an undocumented immigrant is jailed and deported when found working in a meat-packing house, doesn’t it stand to reason that the corporation’s CEO be subject to penalties, including jail time, for hiring that immigrant? If a teenager is imprisoned for vandalizing public property, why shouldn’t BP executives get a prison sentence for causing the Gulf catastrophe?

Wouldn’t it be satisfying to see BP executives (and their government regulators) handcuffed and forced to do a perp walk in front of the national media? And once they’ve been imprisoned, maybe we should put them on a diet of water and seafood from the Gulf.

What if?

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The oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico should pose a number of questions for Americans to ask themselves. 

What if we prioritized quality of life and the sustainability of our planet over corporate greed?  What if we stopped treating our oceans, lakes and streams as landfills?  What if we stopped treating our planet’s resources as if there’s a limitless supply?  What if we stopped treating everything, including other species, as disposable? 

What if we didn’t have such an insatiable appetite for oil?  What if we quit buying large, gas guzzling cars and bought smaller, more efficient ones?  What if we each cut out one unnecessary trip a week?  What if we replaced long haul trucking with a modern rail system?  What if we manufactured most of what we need in our own country instead of shipping it halfway around the world?  What if we committed to a modern mass transit system? What if our Congress created subsidies for renewable energy that equaled those for oil and coal? 

What if we had listened to Jimmy Carter when he called for oil independence in the late 70s?  What if we had listened to Ronald Reagan when he did the same in the 80s?  What if we listened to George H.W. Bush’s call for energy independence?  What if we listened to Bill Clinton’s?  What if we listen to President Obama’s call for green energy today? 

What if we don’t? 

© LaMaster Propaganda – All rights reserved.

Poisoned Gulf. Poisoned Minds.

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A recent poll shows that 6 in 10 Americans are still in favor of “Drill, Baby, Drill.”  Huh?  Have they not seen the estimated 70,000 barrels of oil spewing into the Gulf of Mexico each day, the equivalent of an Exxon Valdez tanker every 4 days!?  Have they not seen images of dead birds coated in oil?  Have they not seen the photos of dead fish and aquatic mammals?  Have they not read about the Gulf Coast fishermen and residents who will lose their livelihoods?  Have they not seen the effects on tourism along the Gulf Coast?  Have they not heard the concern by scientists of the devasting effects of this environmental catastrophe?

What could they be thinking?  (Assuming, of course, that they actually are capable of lucid thought.) 

The answer is that they are thinking only of themselves.  They have succumbed to the all too prevalent condition known as “head-up-the-butt” disease.  Apparently, they are more concerned about maintaining our artificially low gasoline prices than the health of our environment.  Damn the other species that inhabit this planet, especially the ones underwater that we can’t even see.  Damn the future generations. 

No doubt these selfish asses would tell you that they are environmentalists.  How much they like watching Discovery Channel and Animal Planet.  How often they take the kids to zoos.  How they recycle bottles, cans, paper and cardboard (as long as it’s convenient).  How they now purchase “environmentally-friendly” soaps and household chemicals (as long as they don’t have to pay more).

Yeah, that’ll save our planet.

Of course, they conveniently ignore reports of floating “continents” of plastic debris in our oceans.  They never hear of the “small” oil spills that regularly occur when drilling for oil.  And they actually admire the obscene profits being raked in by big oil and mining companies at the expense of our environment and workers’ lives.  (Profits are good for the 401k, right?) Unfortunately, most people don’t care about any of that.  They’re more interested in who got kicked off American Idol.  Or who their favorite celebrity is sleeping with.  Or who will win the latest episode of Survivor.

If only they were as interested in the survival of the nearly 17,300 species that are currently under threat of extinction.  Likely, humans will soon join them.

The Oil Boys’ Legacy.

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In the first 90 days of the George W. Bush administration, Richard the Dick Cheney held a series of secret meetings on the subject of energy policy.  Famously (or should I say infamously), the Dick refused to list those who were present and what was discussed, but it’s well-known that the meetings included more than 100 oil industry officials who drafted a wish list of demands.  In all likelihood, those meetings led to almost every single negative event over the past 10 years.

Think I exaggerate?  Consider this:

Over that 10 years, our nation has suffered through skyrocketing gas and oil prices.  We have engaged in two wars, which interestingly enough have involved two nations considered critical to the oil industry.  (It’s well-known that Iraq has large oil deposits, and Afghanistan is necessary for the construction of a pipeline to get oil from the Balkans to world markets.)  We have seen pressure from the Bush administration to drill for oil in the Atlantic National Wildlife Refuge.  We have seen a Republican-led campaign to expand off-shore drilling.  And we have seen the oil giant, Halliburton, awarded enormous no-bid government contracts in Afghanistan and Iraq by its former CEO, Richard the Dick Cheney.  (Of course, it’s only coincidence that Halliburton paid the Dick $34 million after he was elected Vice-President.)

There’s another troubling legacy of the Dick’s meetings.

An internal investigation of the Minerals Management Service in 2008 described a “culture of substance abuse and promiscuity” by workers at the agency which regulates the oil industry. The investigation by Inspector General Earl E. Devaney found “a culture of ethical failure” at the MMS royalty collection office in Denver.  The report pointed to parties for MMS personnel and energy company representatives.  Indeed, the report stated that MMS personnel and oil companies were literally in bed with one another.  In addition to the sex, the Inspector General also reported that MMS employees accepted drugs, illegal contracts and gifts, such as ski trips and golf outings from oil representatives. 

Even more troubling, the Inspector General reported that the Bush/Cheney gang at MMS “showed no remorse” when confronted with the accusations.  And though they were disciplined, most of those people are still employed by MMS as regulators of energy.

It doesn’t take much imagination to see that the current oil gusher and environmental disaster in the Gulf is the direct result of Bush/Cheney policies and appointees.   Indeed, just this week, a whistleblower came forward with information detailing a pattern of negligence and falsified tests by BP and other oil giants along with lax oversight by government “regulators.”

So what are the solutions to this mess?  (Of course, there is no solution to the ecological disaster taking place in the Gulf.  It will be decades, if not centuries, for the environment to recover.)  BP, Halliburton and Transocean should be held accountable for the environmental and economic disaster taking place in the Gulf.   Congressional Republicans should immediately release their holds on dozens of Obama appointees.  Congress should subpeona Cheney to testify under oath about his energy meetings. 

Most important, we all should push our representatives to vote for non-carbon renewable energy. 

Spill, Baby, Spill!

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Following the Democratic rebuff of attempts to drill for oil in the Alaska National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) Republicans began chanting “Drill, Baby, Drill.”  Indeed, it became a mantra of the climate change deniers, the Fox News Channel dimwits and the McCain/Palin campaign. 

Now we have clear evidence of how wrong they were.  (Imagine that!?)

A few months ago, an Alaskan pipeline burst, spilling tens of thousands of gallons of oil onto the Arctic tundra.   This follows another spill in 2006 that dumped an estimated 200,000 gallons of oil onto the tundra.  Indeed, it’s estimated that 500 oil spills occur in the Prudhoe Bay oil fields and along the Alaskan pipeline system each year.  But, if you were to listen to big oil and their Republican supporters, you’d think that oil spills are rare and insignificant. 

Just this past week, a BP oil rig exploded in the Gulf of Mexico resulting in the potential for one of our nation’s largest oil spills and catastrophic damage to our environment.  The deep water well is currently leaking at the rate of 210,000 gallons a day and, if BP can’t close underwater valves, the leak could continue for up to 5 months!  Of course, big oil will likely be forced to pay for the damage.  But a few million dollars won’t act as much of a deterrent.  It certainly won’t restore the environment.  And don’t count on seeing the money anytime soon.  After all, it only took Exxon 16 years to fork over the money awarded to those whose livelihood was disrupted after the Exxon Valdez dumped an estimated 10.8 million gallons of crude oil on their shores.

Is it any wonder that many along the East Coast are concerned about President Obama’s recent decision to yield to pressure from Republicans and big oil to open more areas for off-shore drilling?

Truth is, we’re certain to see more damage to our environment from the decision.  Combined with the plastic “continents” now floating in both the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, it may well contribute to the death of the most important natural assets on our planet – our oceans. 

Of course, we could minimize the damage and end our dependence on foreign oil by prioritizing renewable energy.  And we’d likely create thousands of high-paying jobs in the process.  Unfortunately, the renewable fuel industry doesn’t have the lobbyists big oil does.

© LaMaster Propaganda – All rights reserved.

The Ghosts of George W. Bush and Richard (The Dick) Cheney.

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On January 20, 2009, you probably thought the Bush/Cheney administration had come to an ignominious end.  You were wrong.  The problems generated by these goons still haunt us.  The war in Iraq may be winding down (although we can’t be certain), but the war in Afghanistan is growing.  The oil companies and Big Pharma are still holding a gun to our collective heads.  The Wall Street tycoons are still gambling with our money and paying themselves six to eight figure bonuses.  The corporations and utilities are still spewing poisons into our atmosphere.  The gun lobby is still rewriting laws to permit more weaponry.  Health insurance companies are still hauling in record profits while denying care to millions. 

Don’t blame Obama.  These issues all began or at least ballooned under Bush/Cheney and it will take years to change them. 

But these issues are the least of our problems.  Seriously!  The most problematic legacy of the Bush years is a Supreme Court dominated by conservatives who liberally support big corporations while denying rights for individuals.

And now that the Roberts Court has over-reached by over-turning 103 years of established law to allow unlimited funding for candidates by large corporations, what Senators or Congressional representatives will dare to vote against corporate interests when those corporations can spend millions, maybe billions, to defeat them in the next election?  What Gubernatorial or Legislative candidate will be able to raise enough money to compete with a corporate-sponsored foe?  The majority opinion of the Court says it ruled to erase limits on free speech.  The effect will be very much the opposite. 

What are we fighting for?

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I recently watched a documentary about the Civil War.  In discussing the events leading up to the war, the narrator stated, “For the Confederacy, it was dependent upon wealthy plantation owners convincing the poor to fight for them.” 

I could scarcely believe the openness and honesty of that statement! 

But isn’t that almost always the case?  True, many Union soldiers volunteered to join the battle as a fight against slavery.  And, in WWII, most U.S. soldiers joined the battle as retaliation for Pearl Harbor and to stop world domination by the Axis powers.  But most wars wouldn’t have happened if the rich hadn’t been able to manipulate the poor into fighting for them.

Many years ago, I found myself sitting next to the CBS bureau chief for Central and South America.  I told him I was confused about the situation in Nicaragua and El Salvador.  “Who are the good guys?” I asked.  He turned to me and laughed.  “There are no good guys.  Like most Americans, you’re under the false impression that U.S. foreign policy is about right and wrong.  Nothing could be farther from the truth.  The U.S. simply supports whoever is friendliest to our corporations,” he said. 

Since that conversation, I’ve examined conflicts with his words in mind.  Almost always, I’ve realized that our soldiers are ordered to fight to preserve corporate interests.  For example, the Afghan War was not only the result of the Taliban providing sanctuary for Al Qaeda.  Bush, Cheney and their oil buddies had long wanted to build a pipeline across that country.  The Iraq War was sold as a pre-emptive strike against Saddam’s alleged weapons of mass destruction.  But it was likely more about the oil reserves Saddam controlled.  And, according to a professor at Northern Arizona University who studies the origins and results of conflicts, our war in Bosnia was more about demonstrating the continued need for NATO following the fall of the Soviet Union than it was about the so-called genocide. 

Indeed, if the U.S. entered wars only to protect our homeland or American citizens, we likely wouldn’t have participated in the Opium War with China, the Spanish-American War, WWI, Korea, Vietnam, Grenada, Lebanon, Kuwait, Bosnia and Iraq.  Moreover, we wouldn’t need to have our military stationed around the world in Germany, Japan, Okinawa, Bosnia, Turkey, Kuwait, Iraq, etc.

And if we entered wars solely for human rights abuses and the prevention of genocide, we likely would have sent troops to Tibet, Cambodia, Chile, East Timor, Sudan and dozens of other nations. 

So the next time you hear a politician start talking about the need to send our military halfway around the globe to protect “American interests,” ask yourself.  What interests does he or she really want to protect?  Those of our large, greedy corporations?  Or those of our citizenry? 

Let the investigations begin.

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It was recently announced that a former member of the Bush cabinet, Gail Norton, is the subject of a corruption probe. As Secretary of State, Ms. Norton awarded some lucrative oil shale leases to a subsidiary of Royal Dutch Shell PLC, the company that hired her a few months later.

The focus of the investigation is whether Norton violated a law that prohibits federal employees from discussing employment with a company if they are involved in dealings that could benefit the firm. It’s also possible that she broke the federal “denial of honest services” law, which permits a government official to be prosecuted for violating the public trust.

I have no idea if Ms. Norton is guilty. Her actions certainly give the appearance of guilt. But she’s certainly not the only former member of the Bush administration who appeared guilty of some impropriety. 

How about former EPA chief Stephen Johnson who found ways to avoid regulating greenhouse gases? How about former Secretary of Treasury Henry Paulson who authorized billions to former colleagues in financial institutions without restrictions? How about former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales who fired US attorneys for what appeared to be political purposes? Or how about John Yoo who found questionable justification to approve torture? Scooter Libby was convicted of outing a covert CIA operative, but what about those above him who likely encouraged him to release the information?

How about Don Rumsfeld who was responsible for awarding “no bid” military contracts to the corporation that was previously headed by former Vice-President Cheney? Finally, how about the former president who usurped power from Congress and seemingly ginned up information to justify an unwarranted invasion of Iraq?

As long as there are reasonable suspicions that these people committed illegal or unethical actions, there is a great likelihood that this kind of unethical behavior will continue.

And why limit the investigations to former government officials? The Bush administration was especially egregious. But the problems with our government go much deeper.

While we’re at it, let’s investigate the links between all elected officials and lobbyists. After all, when a political candidate receives tens of thousands of dollars from an industry, corporation, lobbyist or individual expecting special access or treatment, is that not as unethical as what Gail Norton is accused of?