XL Pipeline Oil Spill -Exxon Mobil

On Friday, an Exxon Mobil pipeline ruptured spilling an estimated 84,000 gallons of heavy crude oil from the Canadian tar sands region, causing the evacuation of 22 homes in the small town of Mayflower, Ark., about 20 miles north of Little Rock.

According to Exxon, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) considers the incident a “major spill.” The 20-inch Pegasus pipeline runs 858 miles from Patoka, Ill. to Nederland, Texas. According to a Saturday press release from Exxon, 189,000 gallons of oil and water have been recovered from the site so far, and it is prepared to clean up more than twice that amount. Exxon’s release said the company is “staging a response for over 10,000 barrels [420,000 gallons] to be conservative.”

Men wearing protective clothing survey cleanup efforts March 30, where an underground crude oil pipeline ruptured in the Northwood subdivision in Mayflower, Arkansas. Exxon Mobil was working to clean up thousands of barrels of oil after the pipeline ruptured causing 22 homes to be evacuated in the area. The Pegasus pipeline, which carries Canadian crude oil from Pakota, Illinois to Nederland, Texas was shut-off Friday after the leak was discovered, the company said in a statement. REUTERS/Rick McFarland/Arkansas Democrat-Gazette/Handout

This must have felt like a nightmare for the families suddenly having to evacuate their homes, but it’s a glimpse into some of the very real consequences of building the Keystone XL pipeline, which would carry the same dirty tar sands oil across the country,” said Dan Gatti, Environment America’s Get Off Oil program director.

Lately, it seems oil spills have become a part of our daily news.

On March 27, a massive train operated by Canadian Pacific Railway derailed, spilling 30,000 gallons of crude oil in western Minnesota. The train originated in western Canada and was bound for Chicago.

Crews work to recover an estimated 30,000 gallons of tar sands that leaked from derailed tanker train cars in Minnesota on March 27. AP Photo/Minnesota Pollution Control Agency

D

an Olson, a spokesperson for the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, confirmed to Tar Sands Blockade that the substance spilled is, indeed, tar sands from Alberta, Canada. “Only about 1,000 gallons has been recovered,” said Olson. “The remaining oil on the ground has thickened into a heavy tar-like consistency.” The spill has triggered an investigation by federal officials.

The AP reports that the spill could play a role in the politics surrounding the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline.

“For years, we’ve been saying that it’s just a matter of time before Keystone XL, if constructed, spills, bringing death and destruction to all in its route. The pipeline would also incentivize further tar sands growth and exploitation, signifying game over for livable communities and the planet,” said Tar Sands Blockade.

“In addition to hazardous spills, according to EPA, the global warming impact of building the Keystone pipeline is the equivalent to over four million cars or six coal-fired power plants. For the sake of the health and safety of our environment, we ask President Obama and the State Department to reject the Keystone XL pipeline and to oppose other tar sands projects, like the pipeline that would take tar sands oil through Sebago Lake in Maine,” said Gatti.

“Regardless of the transportation mode, an oil spill still contaminates Mother Earth and creates health and environmental concerns. This is why we want Enbridge’s illegal pipelines to cease the flow of oil and to be removed from the Red Lake Reservation. It is just a game of Russian Roulette as to where and when a spill occurs,” said Marty Cobenais, organizer for the Indigenous Environmental Network, a member of Red Lake Ojibwe and the Enbridge Blockade, in response to the catastrophe in Minnesota.

Visit EcoWatch’s KEYSTONE XL page for more related news on this topic.

Hokkaido Governor Opposes TPP

Home > Daily News (Japan Broadcasting Corporation)

Mar. 18, 2013 - Updated 17:12 UTC

The Governor of Hokkaido has urged the government to pull out of the Trans-Pacific Partnership talks if the trade pact is likely to negatively affect farming, forestry and fisheries. These are the northernmost prefecture's main industries.

Governor Harumi Takahashi along with Hokkaido assembly members and farm organization representatives made the appeal to agriculture, forestry and fisheries industry minister Yoshimasa Hayashi on Monday.

Takahashi said Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's announcement last week that Japan's is joining the talks is extremely regrettable.

She said the negative impacts of the pact would be concentrated on Hokkaido and other rural regions.

Hayashi responded that the government will do all it can to protect the nation's interests, maintaining withdrawal as an option.

Meanwhile, a group of farm and fisheries organizations in Iwate, northern Japan, have called on the prefectural governor to urge the government to retract its decision on the TPP talks.

Governor Takuya Tasso said the prefecture also considers it regrettable that the government announced the decision despite the prefecture's calls for caution and the full disclosure of information.
Mar. 18, 2013 - Updated 10:09 UTC (19:09 JST)

Ambre Energy Asks For Deadline Extension For Port of Morrow Coal Export Terminal

Company’s Letters to Dept. of State Lands Confirm Refusal

to Disclose Full Impacts

(each of the linked articles below is fascinating, esp. the audio conference call)

Salem, OR In a letter sent yesterday to the Oregon Department of State Lands (DSL), Ambre Energy requested an additional permit deadline extension for its controversial proposed Coyote Island coal terminal on the Columbia River in Oregon. Yesterday’s request follows Ambre’s March 1st letter to the Dept. of State Lands, balking the state agency’s request for more information about the potential impacts of the coal terminal and greater consultation with impacted parties. Ambre’s proposed terminal poses significant risks, including increased coal train traffic, damage to the shoreline and wetlands with the construction of a dock, threatened fishing grounds, and a near doubling of barge traffic in the Columbia River Gorge. 

"It's good to see that Ambre Energy is being forced to disclose the impacts of coal export, but telling that Ambre once again tries to hide their problems,” said Brett VandenHeuvel with Columbia Riverkeeper. “In the words of The Who: we won't get fooled again."

ALEC and Ohio anti-RTW law

ALEC's Reach Widens

Union leaders in Michigan say they were stunned by the shocking speed with which the bill was passed and signed into law, particularly since Republican Gov. Rick Snyder had previously said RTW was "not on [his] agenda." But it has long been on the agenda of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC).

In fact, it's little surprise that much of the Michigan laws' language comes verbatim from ALEC model legislation. As the Center for Media and Democracy shows, ALEC's model  has also appeared in the union stronghold of Pennsylvania, with backing from the Koch-funded Americans for Prosperity and cheerleading from union-busting fanboys like Stephen Moore of The Wall Street Journal (subscription req'd). With further support from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and untold secret financing from corporations -- thanks to the corporation-friendly Supreme Court's Citizens United ruling -- Ohio appears to be next on the RTW chopping block.

You may recall that Ohio enacted anti-public-union legislation in 2011, but that this was overturned by public referendum. Likely in fear of a similar rebuke by their constituents -- many of whom owe their livelihoods and standard of living to the state's union legacy. 

Michigan legislators attached an appropriation to their bill, which means it cannot be overturned by popular vote. But the anti-union forces haven't given up on having their way in Ohio.

Make no mistake, workers will suffer if RTW laws spread across what's left of the industrial heartland, whether they belong to a union or not. It's a well-known fact that  union workers make more money and have better benefits than similarly situated non-union workers. What's less well known is that unions lift wages for everyone in the labor market, as non-union employers must compete with unions' higher wage standard to attract better employees.

In response to Obama's behavior re: sequestration

My thoughts regarding Obama and Leadership

March 3, 2013


This verbal exchange (in the press conference Friday) is not about anything to me, other than leadership.  The concept I seek in a leader, particularly in very hard times, is one of "differentiation."  This is a systemic problem, bigger than the individuals playing roles within the system of government.  Right, left, black, white, Dems, Rs, none of these "artificial divides" is the problem in this case.  We are beginning to see, I think, that our system of governance is broken.  Busted.  This should scare us into planning to replace this system with one that works to protect earth and human rights.  We can all list the numerous ways in which those rights have disappeared over the last decade, in particular, just by reviewing supreme court decisions.  The government is run by corporations (see ALECexposed.org to learn more about who is in charge of US policies, and then check out Trans-Pacific Partnership.  Pick one multinational corporation, like Caterpillar, and follow the dots).

So Obama does not "differentiate."  He does what he is told.  Morally, any and all abrogation of human or earth rights goes without challenge.  We will continue to use drones to kill innocent people, continue wars for fossil fuels as long as there are any to be produced and distributed.  We will not take action on climate crises, we will not stop the massive use of weapons here or anywhere else.  We will not stop the massacre of economies, here or anywhere globally.  In our name, the downward spiral will continue as long as "Presidents" and "Representatives" continue to allow the rape of resources and death of the economies.  Why? I hear President Obama telling us "I can't do anything about this.  I'm not a dictator.  I'm just the President."  When you have a gun pointed at your head, do not expect this man to take action to protect you.  He is a victim of the abusive, corrupt system, and he is addicted to power.  This man is not a Martin Luther King.  Look at our heroes:  Bradley Manning, the wonderful Russian female band, Pussy Riot; Julian Assange, all jailed (in an array of "jails") for taking incredibly clear stands against multiple, ongoing violations of human rights.

We need to practice differentiation.  It means going against the popular or "safe" positions of denial.  Being addicted requires us, as "family members" to stand up to outrageously immoral, illegal actions.  Obama is again telling us, "make me do something."  [I'm incapable of doing it alone.]  He needs help from the people, and a lot of it.

Ontario, Canada, and Caterpillar: TPP Nightmare

In Ontario, 465 union workers used to make locomotive engines. Then Indiana passed ALEC's anti-union legislation, and Caterpillar moved the works to Muncie. And that's bad for everybody.

It's an anniversary London, Ontario, did not celebrate. It's been a year, and the shock has yet to wear off in the Canadian city just an hour's drive east of Detroit. All that remains is the hardship of carrying on through mass joblessness, and its hand-in-hand partners, surges in poverty, mental health crises and addiction.

It's a story many American communities will recognize -- but this one involves an American company wooed with a sweetheart deal by the Canadian government for a factory the Americans likely never intended to keep. What they really wanted, it seems, is to bust the union.

The lockout began on New Year's Day, 2012, when Caterpillar Inc., a U.S. company, left 465 union workers on the pavement. At the Electro-Motive Diesel factory, they made engines and parts for diesel locomotives; Caterpillar subsidiary Progress Rail Services bought up the company in 2010.

The workers had refused the company's demand of a 50-percent wage cut and slashed pensions and benefits. Then the workers of Canadian Auto Workers Local 27 voted to strike. They were prepared to fight hard bargaining with people power.

But on February 3, the company essentially told them all to go to hell, and permanently closed the plant.

"All facilities within EMC, Electro-Motive Diesel and Progress Rail Services must achieve and maintain competitive costs, quality and operating flexibility to win in the global marketplace," read a carefully-worded corporate statement. "The London plant, primarily because of an antiquated labor contract, faced serious competitive disadvantages."

Had the Canadian government examined the deal beforehand, they might have learned what CAW President Ken Lewenza says his union knew from the beginning -- that the fix was in. "We learned from internal [Caterpillar] documents that the corporation had planned to close the plant before they ever negotiated to buy it," Lewenza says.

Then Lewenza asked for a government review under foreign investment laws of Caterpillar's 2010 takeover of the London plant, saying it should have been examined at the time to ensure that the corporation's intent was not simply to strip the plant of its assets and move the operation to another country. The government said no, claiming the sale did not meet the $299 million threshold to trigger a review. The actual numbers, however, were never made public.

Seeking a buyer for the plant, the Conservative government of Prime Minister Stephen Harper sweetened the pot for Caterpillar, showering the company with tax breaks and demandingnothing  in return -- no job guarantees, no promise to stay -- when it approved the sale. In its relentless pursuit of profit, and Caterpillar is highly profitable, the corporation had no incentive to keep it in Ontario. So eager was it to leave London that Caterpillar spent $38 million to shutter the plant. Local 27 President Tim Carrie said a status quo agreement with the union would have been far cheaper.

So why leave?

A New, Anti-Union Paradise for Corporations
In its closure announcement, Caterpillar said it was shifting operations to other facilities in North and South America. Among the newest Caterpillar facilities is a factory in Muncie, Indiana. The welcome mat Indiana set out was generous. Millions of dollars in tax breaks 
and grants, plus millions more from the county, would seem like a lot of money, but it still doesn't add up to the $38 million cost of closing the factory in London.
No, the real incentive was the anti-union law signed by Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels (R) less than 36 hours before Caterpillar shut down the Canadian plant.

"Right-to-work" (RTW), as the Indiana law and others like it are known, is one of those Orwellian phrases conservatives like to use when they want to paint a smiley face on some horrible thing they do. It is actually nothing more than a union-busting law, slowly starving collective bargaining representatives of the dues that keep them alive.

It works like this: Unions are obligated by law to fully and diligently represent everyone 
within their bargaining unit, even if they are not union members. Union members pay dues; non-members are required to pay a proportional fee based on the amount necessary to negotiate and enforce the union contract. This proportional fee eliminates "free riders," i.e., those who pay nothing, yet receive all the benefits.
But RTW statutes strip unions of the authority to collect any fees from anyone, union member or not, essentially leaving them to run on a "donations only" basis. Since RTW laws require unions to provide a service to people who cannot be required to pay for it, these laws act as a disincentive to organizing a union, because who's going to pay for something they can get for free?

Anti-union advocates say RTW is the alternative to "forced union membership." This is a lie. Section 7  of the National Labor Relations Act protects the right of workers to refuse to join a union. Lack of candor pervades the RTW message, and experience shows that it permeates the movement.

RTW is an effort of anti-union forces going back to the Taft-Hartley Act, the 1947 law that authorized it, along with a slew of other anti-union regulations. These measures place limits on union activities -- First Amendment-protected speech conduct like certain strikes and pickets - that would be unconstitutional in any other context. But in the name of "worker freedom," they have been allowed stand. Since 1947, 24 states have adopted RTW, the most recent being Michigan, birthplace of the modern industrial labor union.
What happened in Michigan last December is highly instructive about whom, exactly, RTW is intended to help, and who is behind it.