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       #Post#: 4982--------------------------------------------------
       Re: Fossil Fuels: Degraded Democracy and Profit Over Planet Poll
       ution
       By: AGelbert Date: April 26, 2016, 9:49 pm
       ---------------------------------------------------------
       Agelbert NOTE:  Below please find a line of doubletalk and
       science free bullshit that is typical of the fossil fuel
       industry influence over the U.S. government. This "study" is the
       fig leaf that the fossil fuelers will now use to cut corners on
       their rig structure and flood the arctic with rigs considered
       "safe".
       A few years from now, the fossil fuel industry lawyers will turn
       to this very "study" when one of their platforms in the arctic
       causes a massive oil Deep Horizon style  blow out from a large
       chunk of ice impacting and toppling a rig, killing thousands of
       fish and other arctic marine and land life, as well as polluting
       the beaches nearby.
       They will seek, as they successfully did in the Exxon Valdez
       disaster and the Deep Horizon disaster, to limit the liability
       of the oil rig owner to less than a tenth of the ACTUAL damage
       visited on the biosphere.
       Have a nice day.
       [center]Existing Offshore Platforms Strong Enough for Arctic
       Operations, BSEE Study Finds[/center]
       April 25, 2016 by gCaptain
       The U.S Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE)
       has determined the designs of existing offshore platforms are
       strong enough to survive extreme Arctic conditions and sea ice
       experienced offshore northern Alaska in the Chukchi and Beaufort
       Seas.
       [center]
       [img
       width=440]
  HTML http://www.createaforum.com/gallery/renewablerevolution/3-010215143525.png[/img]<br
       />[/center]
       The determination  [img
       width=160]
  HTML http://www.whydidyouwearthat.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/tumblr_l7j9nik8Wf1qaxxwjo1_5001.jpeg[/img]<br
       />was made following a recently completed research study by the
       BSEE, in partnership with the University of Alaska, that
       examined the ability of current offshore structural designs to
       successfully survive sea ice demands under extreme Arctic
       conditions.
       The objective of the study was to produce information that will
       be used to supplement current standards and recommendations such
       as ISO 19906 Standard: Petroleum and Natural Gas Industries –
       Arctic Offshore Structures. The findings of the study are to
       support regulatory decision making and ensures that industry
       operations offshore incorporate the best available and safest
       technologies as required by the Outer Continental Shelf Lands
       Act and Energy Policy Act.
       Over a two-year period, researchers gathered data from 16
       seasons of ice measurements from the Chukchi and Beaufort Seas,
       providing comparisons of various sea ice parameters like first
       and last ice occurrence, level of ice, rubble fields, ridges and
       ice movement. After a full analysis, the research team was then
       able to analyze a range of annual values to develop averages and
       draw conclusions from what was witnessed.
       The study identified critical keel depth and provided an
       assessment of the suitability of the current ISO 19906
       recommendations for estimating global ice forces on offshore
       structures. Following the collection of additional data,
       analysis and thorough review of recorded events, the researchers
       concluded that it appears the current standard of practice cited
       in ISO 19906 is conservative for current structural design
       parameters and is capable of surviving the demands from sea ice.
       [center] [img
       width=300]
  HTML http://memecrunch.com/meme/5L3XX/spiderman-bullshit-detector/image.jpg?w=544&c=1[/img][/center]
       BSEE has a dedicated program coordinator in Alaska who assists
       with identifying research that advances BSEE’s regulatory
       objectives in the Arctic. There are currently seven studies
       ongoing that assess offshore engineering technology and
       conditions operators face in harsh Arctic conditions. All of
       these efforts assist BSEE in understanding how conditions in the
       Arctic could impact future regulatory standards.
       The sea ice study will be presented when the Bureau hosts
       representatives from regulatory authorities of six Arctic
       nations next week in Washington, D.C. as part of a meeting of
       the Arctic Offshore Regulators Forum (AORF).
       The AORF, which addresses a specific recommendation of the
       Arctic Council’s Task Force on Arctic Marine Oil Pollution
       Prevention, is an Arctic forum of technical and operational
       offshore petroleum safety regulators whose members are dedicated
       to the common cause of continually improving offshore safety
       outcomes.
  HTML http://www.createaforum.com/gallery/renewablerevolution/3-220216203149.gif<br
       />
       Its primary scope is the exchange of information, best practices
       and relevant experiences learned from regulatory efforts related
       to [i]developing petroleum resources in the Arctic.[/I]
  HTML http://www.pic4ever.com/images/acigar.gif
       
       [center]
       [img
       width=160]
  HTML http://www.createaforum.com/gallery/renewablerevolution/3-241013183046.jpeg[/img][/center]
  HTML https://gcaptain.com/existing-offshore-platforms-strong-enough-for-arctic-operations-bsee-study-finds/
       #Post#: 5021--------------------------------------------------
       Re: Fossil Fuels: Degraded Democracy and Profit Over Planet Poll
       ution
       By: AGelbert Date: May 2, 2016, 1:46 pm
       ---------------------------------------------------------
       [center]
       [img
       width=600]
  HTML http://d3n8a8pro7vhmx.cloudfront.net/climatehawksvote/pages/48/meta_images/original/CHV_Logo2.jpg?1430847358[/img][/center]
       [center]There's a lot of talk about fighting the power of Big
       Oil's political money, but too often it feels like we can't make
       a difference. Here's one key opportunity.[/center]
       In California’s 44th Congressional district, the contrast
       between the two leading candidates couldn’t be clearer. Nanette
       Barragán stands for clean air, clean water, and a better future
       for the working class families of her district. Isadore Hall
       cozies up to Big Oil, Big Tobacco, and the gambling industry.
       It’s a very competitive primary in a deep blue district.
       Nanette Barragán fights Big Oil. [quote]As mayor pro tem of
       Hermosa Beach, she stumped for “No On O” to keep oil exploration
       out of her city and off Los Angeles-area beaches, and won in a
       landslide. [/quote]Barragán is the 12th child of Mexican
       immigrants, a fact that matters in a district that is 70 percent
       Latino. She’s passionate about bringing good, clean jobs to her
       district.
       [center][img
       width=440]
  HTML http://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/tbrnews.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/c/11/c11c0434-1a98-11e5-b242-eb22f94e0d08/558aed3cef8b5.image.jpg?resize=1200%2C938[/img][/center]
       [center]Nanette Barragán[/center]
       By sharp contrast, her primary opponent fights for Big Oil.
       Isadore Hall III has worked to shield oil and gas companies from
       carbon pollution fees, to protect them from fracking-chemical
       disclosure, and voted in support of natural-gas pipelines for
       his campaign donor Sempra Energy.
       [center][img
       width=440]
  HTML http://sacobserver.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/isadore-hall-450x282.jpg[/img][/center]
       [center]Isadore Hall III [/center]
       Hall's campaign is funded by the gambling, tobacco, and oil
       industries. In the state Senate, Hall chairs the Governmental
       Organization committee in charge of regulating gambling and
       tobacco. Those industries are not allowed to give to his state
       Senate campaign — so they’ve been giving to his Congressional
       campaign. Under his leadership, the committee has become well
       known for stalling, tabling, amending, and killing tobacco
       legislation opposed by his donors.
       Hall has received nearly $150,000 from the oil and gas industry
       in campaign contributions, and if elected he’ll be California’s
       oiliest Democrat for a long time.
       The seat is open, as the incumbent Janice Hahn is retiring.
       Thanks to California’s top-two rule, the top two vote-getters in
       June will face each other again in November — so Nanette needs
       to make a strong showing now to be able to win this fall.
       Climate Hawks Vote endorsed early, nearly a year before the
       primary in this solidly Democratic district. We’ve been joined
       by Democracy For America, US Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY),
       the Sierra Club and the League of Conservation Voters, Emily’s
       List, BOLD PAC and PODER PAC, many members of Congress, and
       local leaders. But Hall has corporate support and the backing of
       the California Democratic machine — so we can’t rest easy.
       With a June 7 primary approaching, our plan is to begin an
       aggressive outreach program to identify and turn out Barragán
       supporters in this highly diverse district. We’re hiring Spanish
       and Tagalog speakers to reach newly registered Democrats and
       other high-reward voters in California’s open primary. This
       low-cost, high-return effort will also be turning out new Bernie
       Sanders voters for the crucial presidential primary.
       [center]
       [img
       width=200]
  HTML http://d3n8a8pro7vhmx.cloudfront.net/climatehawksvote/pages/48/meta_images/original/CHV_Logo2.jpg?1430847358[/img][/center]
       [move]
  HTML http://www.freesmileys.org/emoticons/emoticon-object-106.gif
       If
       you know anyone who lives in California’s 44th Congressional
       district, please send this to them and ask them to pass it on to
       their friends and neighbors.
  HTML http://www.freesmileys.org/emoticons/tuzki-bunnys/tuzki-bunny-emoticon-028.gif[/move]
       #Post#: 5048--------------------------------------------------
       Re: Fossil Fuels: Degraded Democracy and Profit Over Planet Poll
       ution
       By: AGelbert Date: May 5, 2016, 2:53 pm
       ---------------------------------------------------------
       [center]
       Groups Sue
  HTML http://www.pic4ever.com/images/2mo5pow.gif
       EPA
  HTML http://www.pic4ever.com/images/swear1.gif
       Demanding Stricter
       Fracking Waste Rules[/center]
       Natural Resources Defense Council | May 5, 2016 10:14 am
       A coalition of community and environmental organizations filed a
       federal lawsuit against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
       (EPA) Wednesday calling for regulations to stop oil and gas
       companies from disposing and handling drilling and fracking
       wastes in ways that threaten public health and the environment.
       [center][img
       width=640]
  HTML http://ecowatch.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/Fracking_waste_750.jpg[/img]
       [/center]
       [center]Fracking fluid and other drilling wastes are dumped into
       an unlined pit. Photo credit: Faces of Fracking / Flickr
       [/center]
       [quote]“Waste from the oil and gas industry is very often toxic
       and should be treated that way,” [/quote]Amy Mall, senior policy
       analyst at the Natural Resources Defense Council, said. “Right
       now, companies can get rid of their toxic mess in any number of
       dangerous ways—from spraying it on icy roads, to sending it to
       landfills with our everyday household trash, to injecting it
       underground where it can endanger drinking water and trigger
       earthquakes. EPA must step in and protect our communities and
       drinking water from the carcinogens, radioactive material and
       other dangerous substances that go hand-in-hand with oil and gas
       waste.”
       The organizations are pushing the EPA to issue rules that
       address problems including the disposal of fracking wastewater
       in underground injection wells, which accept hundreds of
       millions of gallons of oil and gas wastewater and have been
       linked to numerous earthquakes in Arkansas, Colorado, Kansas,
       New Mexico, Ohio, Oklahoma and Texas.
       [quote]“Updated rules for oil and gas wastes are almost 30 years
       overdue and we need them now more than ever,”[/quote] Adam Kron,
       senior attorney at the Environmental Integrity Project, said.
       “Each well now generates millions of gallons of wastewater and
       hundreds of tons of solid wastes and yet EPA’s inaction has kept
       the most basic, inadequate rules in place. The public deserves
       better than this.”
       The groups filing suit include the Environmental Integrity
       Project, Natural Resources Defense Council, Earthworks,
       Responsible Drilling Alliance, San Juan Citizens Alliance, West
       Virginia Surface Owners’ Rights Organization, and the Center for
       Health, Environment and Justice.
       The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District
       of Columbia, calls on the court to set strict deadlines for the
       EPA to comply with its long-overdue obligations to update waste
       disposal rules that should have been revised more than a quarter
       century ago.
       The organizations are urging the EPA to ban the practice of
       spreading fracking wastewater onto roads or fields, which allows
       toxic pollutants to run off and contaminate streams. And the EPA
       should require landfills and ponds that receive drilling and
       fracking waste to be built with adequate liners and structural
       integrity to prevent spills and leaks into groundwater and
       streams.
       The groups filed a notice of their intent to sue the EPA last
       August, warning the agency a lawsuit would follow unless it
       complied with its duty under the Resource Conservation and
       Recovery Act (RCRA) to review and revise the federal regulations
       and guidelines governing how oil and gas waste must be handled
       and disposed. RCRA requires that the EPA review the regulations
       and state plan guidelines at least every three years and, if
       necessary, revise them. The agency determined in 1988 that such
       revisions of the regulations were necessary to address specific
       concerns with oil and gas wastes, yet has failed to meet its
       legal responsibility to act for nearly three decades.
       [center]Background
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       />
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  HTML http://www.pic4ever.com/images/acigar.gif
       [/center]
       Over the last decade, the oil and gas industry’s fracking-based
       boom has produced a vast amount of solid and liquid waste. Each
       well produces millions of gallons of wastewater and hundreds of
       tons of drill cuttings, which contain contaminants that pose
       serious risks to human health. These include known carcinogens
       such as benzene, toxic metals such as mercury and radioactive
       materials. However, the current RCRA rules that govern oil and
       gas wastes are too weak because they are the same rules that
       apply to all “non-hazardous” wastes, including household trash.
       As a result, oil and gas companies are disposing, storing,
       transporting and handling these wastes in a number of
       troublesome ways. These include: spraying fracking waste fluids
       onto roads and land near where people live and work; disposing
       of billions of gallons of oil and gas wastewater in underground
       injection wells; sending the drill cuttings and fracking sands
       to landfills not designed to handle toxic or radioactive
       materials; and storing and disposing of wastewater in pits and
       ponds, which often leak. Across the U.S., there are numerous
       instances of wastes leaking out of ponds and pits into nearby
       streams and the groundwater beneath and operators often “close”
       the pits by simply burying the wastes on site.“
       In 1988, the EPA promised  [img
       width=30]
  HTML http://www.createaforum.com/gallery/renewablerevolution/3-280515145049.png[/img]<br
       /> [img
       width=30]
  HTML http://www.createaforum.com/gallery/renewablerevolution/3-051113192052.png[/img]<br
       />to require oil and gas companies to handle this waste more
       carefully,” said Aaron Mintzes, Policy Advocate for Earthworks.
       “Yet neither EPA nor the states have acted. Today’s suit just
       says 28 years is too long for communities to wait for
       protections from this industry’s hazardous waste.”
       The following are some examples of problems caused by the
       improper disposal and handling of fracking and drilling waste:
       •Ohio: Underground injection wells in Ohio accepted 1.2 billion
       gallons of oil and gas wastewater for disposal in 2015, more
       than double the amount in 2011. Half this wastewater came from
       out of state. This has resulted in scores of earthquakes in the
       well-dense Youngstown area, with one well alone linked to 77
       earthquakes. The Ohio Oil and Gas Commission recently noted that
       regulations “have not kept pace” with the problem and that (to
       an extent) both the state and industry are “working with their
       eyes closed.” Other states that have experienced increased
       seismic events in the proximity of injection wells include
       Arkansas, Colorado, Kansas, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas.
       •Pennsylvania: In May 2012, a six-million-gallon industrial pond
       holding fracking wastewater in Tioga County leaked pollutants,
       including arsenic and strontium, through holes in its liner into
       groundwater and a nearby trout stream.
       •West Virginia: Oil and gas wastewater dumped or spilled in
       rivers in West Virginia and Pennsylvania contains high levels of
       potentially hazardous ammonium and iodide, according to a study
       by Duke University scientists.
       •North Dakota: In January 2015, three million gallons of
       drilling wastewater spilled from a leaky pipe outside Williston,
       polluting a tributary of the Missouri River. In July 2011, a
       pipeline serving a well in Bottineau County leaked over two
       million gallons of fracking wastewater, damaging 24 acres of
       private land.
       •Colorado: A contractor for a pipeline services firm gave a
       detailed account of sand-blasting pulverized waste buildup
       (called “scale”) from pipeline seals directly into the air
       outdoors without a filter, even though such dust can be
       radioactive and cause damage to lungs.
       •Across the Marcellus region: Over the past several years,
       landfills in states around the Marcellus shale formation—even in
       New York, where fracking is prohibited—have experienced
       increasing shipments of drill cuttings that contain high levels
       of radiation. Many of the landfills do not test for radiation
       and do not have adequate controls to prevent the often toxic and
       radioactive “leachate” from seeping into groundwater.
       “Although West Virginia has taken some steps to improve
       regulation, the state’s approach has been to permit horizontal
       drilling without carefully considering whether current methods
       of waste disposal are appropriate or adequate,” Julie Archer,
       project manager at the West Virginia Surface Owners Rights
       Organization, said. “It’s past time for the EPA to provide clear
       guidance on how these wastes should be handled to protect our
       communities.”
       EPA’s current regulations do not take into account [b]the
       dangerous contents of oil and gas wastes or their unique
       handling and disposal practices.
       Since 1988, the agency has acknowledged the shortcoming of its
       basic rules for solid waste management and has indicated that it
       needs to create enhanced rules tailored to the oil and gas
       industry. However, the agency has yet to take any action to
       develop these updated regulations.
       [center]  [img width=200
       height=100]
  HTML http://fc06.deviantart.net/fs71/f/2009/347/2/6/WTF_Smiley_face_by_IveWasHere.jpg[/img]
       [/center]
       “A major reason for the industry’s use of injection wells to
       dispose of toxic fracking waste is the low disposal cost,”
       Teresa Mills, director of the Ohio field office for the Center
       for Health, Environment and Justice, said. “We reject this
       reasoning because the public’s health and safety must come
       first.” [img width=100
       height=60]
  HTML http://cliparts.co/cliparts/Big/Egq/BigEgqBMT.png[/img]
       “As an organization representing hundreds of families living in
       close proximity to oil and gas operations, we see not only the
       physical pollution, but also the psychological toll that oil and
       gas waste exacts on communities,” Dan Olson, executive director
       of the Colorado-based San Juan Citizens Alliance, said. “That
       the EPA is 30 years overdue in creating common sense rules for
       managing toxic waste from oil and gas operations is a cause of
       great concern for everyone living near these sources of
       improperly regulated industrial pollution.”
  HTML http://ecowatch.com/2016/05/05/groups-sue-epa-fracking-waste/
       Agelbert: This is why the "promise" of the EPA in 1988 was not
       worth the paper it was printed on:
       What really Happened at the EPA
  HTML http://renewablerevolution.createaforum.com/who-can-you-trust/corruption-in-government/msg3619/#msg3619<br
       />
       Cathie Reid:  You must get this action through and legislation
       enacted ... before any further disastrous TTP or other "Investor
       Protection and profit over Health and environmental/climate
       sustainability" Acts are passed that strip civilization of the
       frameworks and levers of equitable/peaceful prosperity.
       
       frackugee:  If the oil and gas industry are such great companies
       that we sooo need and are on here all the time saying how
       awesome they are(matt Jason) then they will have no problem
       accepting the fact that their waste is hazardous material and
       pay for that accordingly-oh wait that would stop the fracking
       they do today immediately as they will not spend 46$ a barrel
       for its proper disposal, that's right hazardous waste costs more
       to dispose of correctly then oil and gas are worth and the
       testing of the waste to determine what it is would blow the lid
       off the toxic brew they create at every single well. They are
       not good neighbor companies like they profess, every other
       corporation in this country plays by rules not these guys and
       they are called out on it all the time with video and complaints
       to epa at state and fed level and are never held accountable
       Shame on all of them
       agelbert > frackugee:
       Well said.
       There is also ZERO excuse for the oil and gas "externalization"
       of the toxic brew of gases they flare 24/7 at both land and
       ocean rig sites. It's time they be ordered to capture and
       package all those carcinogenic gases that they now dump on us
       for profit over planet.
       They KNOW how toxic those gases are because the ocean rigs have
       a "water curtain" technology to keep the flared gas fumes from
       degrading the health of rig workers.
       [img
       width=640]
  HTML http://vertassets.blob.core.windows.net/image/e235b708/e235b708-88c9-4573-95df-3a3ec2845aab/q4000andenterprisesmall.jpg[/img]
       [center][i]Water curtain in use - cleverly labeled "Water
       Curtain Rig Cooling Offshore Heat Suppression" as if "heat" was
       the anything but a side issue in the flared fumes toxins [img
       width=40]
  HTML http://www.createaforum.com/gallery/renewablerevolution/3-311013200859.png[/img][/center]
       IOW, the oil and gas pigs are polluting the ocean near the rigs
       along with the world's atmosphere. Flared gas fumes cause
       respiratory illnesses in the short term and cancer and global
       warming in the long term.
       It's TIME the oil and gas corporations be STOPPED from polluting
       for profit!
       [move][I][font=impact]The Fossil Fuelers   DID THE Climate
       Trashing, human health depleteing CRIME,[COLOR=BROWN]   but
       since they have ALWAYS BEEN liars and conscience free crooks,
       they are trying to AVOID [/color]  DOING THE TIME or     PAYING
       THE FINE!     Don't let them get away with it! Pass it on!
  HTML http://www.pic4ever.com/images/176.gif[/font][/I][/move]
       [center][img
       width=240]
  HTML https://allthoughtsworkoutdoors.files.wordpress.com/2011/08/p9047017-030close-up.jpg[/img][/center]
       #Post#: 5092--------------------------------------------------
       Re: Fossil Fuels: Degraded Democracy and Profit Over Planet Poll
       ution
       By: AGelbert Date: May 13, 2016, 7:49 pm
       ---------------------------------------------------------
       [center]The arsonists of Fort McMurray have a name
       [/center]
       
       [move]Fossil fuel corporations are causing the climate change
       fuelling mega-fires – and they should be footing the bill for
       the devastation [/move]
       
       (picture at story link)
       A charred vehicle and homes are pictured in the Beacon Hill
       neighbourhood of Fort McMurray, Alberta, Canada, May 9, 2016
       after wildfires forced the evacuation of the town.  Photograph:
       Chris Wattie/AFP/Getty Images
       @Martin_Lukacs
       
       Thursday 12 May 2016 08.23 EDT  Last modified on Friday 13 May
       2016 18.17 EDT
       As the fire that ravaged Fort McMurray finally moves past the
       city, and the province tallies the heartbreaking damage, a
       search will begin to discover the source of the destruction.
       Investigators will comb the nearby forests for clues, tracing
       the fire’s path to what they call its “point of origin.” They’ll
       interview witnesses, collect satellite imagery, and rule out
       natural causes—much like the work of detectives.
       Except in the age of climate change-fuelled mega-fires, this
       truly is a crime scene.
       Not, I mean, the handiwork of troublesome teenagers, nor a
       campfire left accidentally burning. The devastation of Fort
       McMurray is the predictable outcome of arson on an entirely
       different scale.
       These arsonists have a name and they’re hiding in plain
       view—because their actions, at the moment, are still considered
       legal. They’re the companies that helped turn the boreal forest
       into a flammable tinder-box. The same companies that have
       undermined attempts to rein in carbon emissions. The same
       companies that, by their very design, chase profits with no mind
       for the ecological and human consequences.
       Yet in the fire’s aftermath, it has seemed impossible to name
       them: fossil fuel corporations. Of course they’re not the only
       ones who have fuelled climate change: all of us consume oil at
       every level of our lives. But the record is clear that we are
       not equally responsible: an astonishing 90 companies alone have
       caused two-thirds of global carbon emissions. And all the oil
       giants involved in the Alberta tar sands are among them:
       ExxonMobil, BP, Shell, Total, CNRL, Chevron.
       Alberta wildfires leave Fort McMurray charred and desolate – in
       pictures (pictures at story link)
       
       In the last week, these corporations have escaped accountability
       as quickly as ordinary Albertans have risen to action. Across
       the province, people have opened their homes to evacuees,
       offered gas, shared food. The most marginalized have given the
       most: First Nations welcoming thousands to their communities;
       Muslims praying for rain at the Alberta legislature; and Syrian
       refugees, barely resettled in the province, gathering donations.
       Stories of heroism have abounded: like the school principal who
       drove a bus full of children out of the burning city, reuniting
       each one with their families, and filling extra seats with
       strangers from the roadside. At almost a moment’s notice, a
       province often written off as dog-eat-dog individualists proved
       the naysayers wrong: they have come together in a spirt of
       fellowship and solidarity.
       1:39 video  (at story link)
       [center] Alberta wildfires: key facts and figures in a historic
       disaster
       [/center]
       Most of these people had no idea of the disaster that was
       coming. But there were some who did: the corporate arsonists
       themselves. As far back as forty-five years ago, certain
       Canadian oil corporations already knew the lethal climate
       consequences of their business model. Last month, building on
       similar revelations about US companies, investigative reporters
       discovered stunning proof in the archives of a Calgary museum—a
       clue as good as any about this mega-fire’s “point of origin.”
       An uncovered report produced in 1970 by Imperial Oil, the
       Canadian branch of ExxonMobil, put it crystal clear: “Since
       pollution means disaster to the affected species, the only
       satisfactory course of action is to prevent it.” Except the oil
       company proceeded to spend decades lying about what they knew,
       and ensured the disaster would be as profound as possible.
       Little wonder the same company report branded its own actions as
       “anti-social.”
       The very picture of anti-social? A fire ripping through a city.
       The incineration of homes. Irreplaceable possessions and family
       albums burned to ash. Climate refugees spilling across a
       province and country, stripped of their livelihoods and
       uncertain of their future.
       A burnt vehicle in Fort McMurray, 10 May 2016 Photograph: Amru
       Salahuddien/EPA  (picture at story link)
       Science may not show a direct link between climate change and
       the existence of one particular fire, but there is no doubt why
       the blaze that devoured the Alberta town was so powerful.
       “We have loaded the dice for more extreme wildfires,” says Mike
       Flannigan, a wildfire scientist at the University of Alberta.
       “We attribute the increase in wildfires and their severity and
       intensity to human-caused climate change. We’ve been saying it
       for years. Many of us saw a Fort McMurray-like situation coming,
       but none of us expected anything as horrific as what has
       happened.”
       Today, twice as much land in Canada is being devoured by fires
       as in the 1970s—and that will double or quadruple again in the
       decades to come. Climate change is putting such pressure on the
       boreal, which covers most of northern Canada, that a study
       published last year in the journal Science issued a stark
       warning: “this forest will convert to a type of savannah.”
       To remain mute about those responsible for this devastation is
       not an act of sensitivity toward the citizens of Fort McMurray.
       It is to stand idly by while these corporations move on to claim
       their next victims. To argue, as prime minister Justin Trudeau
       has, that making the connection between climate change and this
       infernal fire isn’t “helpful,” is not a gesture of statesmanly
       maturity. It is the prevarication of political cowards.
       Other politicians have adopted an even more toxic approach: not
       letting the crisis go to waste. Former Conservative natural
       resources minister Joe Oliver argued on national television that
       Trudeau should seize the fire as an opportunity to force through
       a tar sands pipeline to the coast. And British Columbia premier
       Christy Clark insisted the economic impact of the blaze could be
       balanced by ramming oil and liquified natural gas projects
       through the regulatory process—doubling down on what helped
       cause this crisis in the first place. In the days ahead, watch
       for this argument to grow even louder.
       But the greatest model of insensitivity is this: the arsonists
       don’t seem content with the burning of just one Canadian town.
       The latest climate science has told us exactly how much fossil
       fuels we can burn before we lock in catastrophic warming—warming
       that will make today’s mega-fire look modest. But companies have
       access to four or five times that amount in their reserves. They
       plan to extract and burn it all.
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       [img
       width=60]
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       [center] [img
       width=640]
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       If we want to contain warming to the Paris climate accord’s
       target of 1.5 degrees, we will need to keep most fossil fuels in
       the ground—to strand these assets and shift to clean energy. But
       corporations have no such intention. “We don’t see any stranded
       assets. We think all our assets will be required,” an ExxonMobil
       spokesperson said after the signing of the Paris accord. It
       “reinforces our approach,” Shell added. In other words, they’re
       bent on arson on a global scale.
       The law is finally catching up to this planet-altering
       recklessness. In the United States, both California and New
       York’s attorneys general are investigating ExxonMobil for
       spending decades misleading the public about its knowledge of
       the risks of climate change. Meanwhile, both Democratic
       presidential candidates have joined the chorus of voices
       demanding the federal Department of Justice join the
       investigation. Last month, lawyers in the Philippines launched
       another precedent-setting case: a lawsuit against fifty of the
       world’s fossil fuel companies for damages the country has
       suffered from climate change-driven hurricanes.
       This path should show the way forward for Canada, entrenching a
       basic moral principle: the polluter pays. Fossil fuel companies
       shouldn’t be celebrated for the minimal corporate paternalism
       they are now demonstrating—housing, feeding and flying evacuated
       workers out of Fort McMurray and the surrounding work camps.
       They should be footing the bill for the devastation. They
       invested billions in an industry knowing it would prove
       destructive to the air, water, climate, and health of Albertans?
       It’s time to put our hands—through higher taxes, royalties, even
       a public takeover—on some of their gargantuan profits, and use
       them to transition to a new economy full of good clean jobs and
       beyond these dangerous energy sources.
       That would mean rejecting the lopsided sacrifice currently
       demanded of us: that corporations derive the rewards while we
       cover their damages. Canada’s fossil fuel companies have
       vacuumed billions in profits out of Alberta, and used their
       political influence to prevent the emergence of a more
       diversified economy in a province with incredible renewable
       energy potential. Yet the relief and recovery effort, which may
       cost upward of $10bn, will be paid for by the government and
       taxpayers. The donations offered by individual Canadians are a
       testament to incredible generosity: they also represent an
       outsourcing of responsibility.
       But that spirit of solidarity and mutual aid, of compassion and
       confidence in each other, is the best expression of ourselves.
       It points the way forward. Two people tragically died in the
       evacuation of Fort McMurray—but many more no doubt were saved,
       by courage and heroism and the deep care and love for fellow
       citizens that can flourish in a period of catastrophe. Such are
       the values we will need to mount a collective fight against the
       unfolding disaster of climate change.
       Imagine these values actually governing our society—for a start,
       relaxing EI rules to ensure dignity for all of the evacuated
       workers. Imagine this resiliency, courage and generosity being
       harnessed to lead the transition to a healthier, more just
       post-carbon society—helping prevent even more extreme weather to
       come. Imagine the rebuilding of Fort McMurray being not just a
       page turned on an unprecedented disaster, but the beginning of a
       new direction.
       If that can happen, the smoke will truly lift from this country
       and this town.
       On Twitter: @Martin_Lukacs
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       #Post#: 5110--------------------------------------------------
       Re: Fossil Fuels: Degraded Democracy and Profit Over Planet Poll
       ution
       By: AGelbert Date: May 18, 2016, 2:52 pm
       ---------------------------------------------------------
       [center]
       [img
       width=340]
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       [center][img
       width=640]
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       [center][img
       width=640]
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       [quote author=MKing link=topic=559.msg103803#msg103803
       date=1463531596]
       I wonder what corrections, adjustments, extrapolations,
       interpolations and correlations were used on what original
       temperature data to create the cool graphic?
       [/quote]
       Well, considering the fact that you are a word twisting
       propagandist out to justify the use of fossil fuels come hell or
       high water, I don't wonder that you will engage in every hair
       splitting excuse you can think of to question reality. The
       answer to your futile, but clever, exercise in hairsplitting was
       partially provided at the link to Thom Hartmann's article. But,
       as usual, you prefer to snipe than to study.
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       [center] [img
       width=100]
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       YOU, the alleged "expert" in supply and demand for fossil fuels,
       continue to ignore the FACT that, at present, the world is
       producing over 1,000,000 bpd MORE than it uses. YET, you have
       the brass balls, or simply world class ignorance, to claim the
       recent rise in the price of crude is "based on fundamentals",
       instead of the commodities futures speculation CRAP that is
       ACTUALLY making the price artificially go up.
       But hey, congratulations are in order to your welfare queen
       fossil fuel and nuclear pals. Just like YOU, they can't make any
       money without stealing money from we-the-people, so the fossil
       fuel OWNED politicians just rode in to BAIL DIRTY ENERGY ASSES
  HTML http://www.pic4ever.com/images/165fs373950.gif
       OUT AGAIN.
       [center]Happy day for [b]MKing   [img
       width=100]
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       and his biosphere math challenged, empathy deficit disordered
       pals! [/b][/center]
       [center] [img
       width=640]
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       05/16/2016 04:03 PM
       [move]Fossil-Heavy Energy & Water Appropriations Bill Passes
       Senate[/move]
       SustainableBusiness.com News
       Last week, the US Senate passed the first appropriations bill
       for the 2017 budget, funding energy and water programs with
       $37.5 billion.
       We're surprised that it passed 90-8, given that it clearly
       prioritizes fossil and nuclear energy over renewables. President
       Obama threatens to veto it for that reason. Where are the
       Democrats on this? ? ? ?
       $9.3 billion of the $37.5 billion total is for nuclear weapons
       programs. $808 million is cut from the non-defense side of the
       Department of Energy, while the nuclear side gets $355 million
       more to "ensure nuclear stockpile readiness."
       The White House says, "The bill "fails to put us on an
       achievable path toward doubling clean energy research and
       development by FY2021. Specifically, the Administration objects
       to the low funding levels provided for the Advanced Research
       Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) and the Office of Energy
       Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE)."
       "Funding at this level also would impede development of
       solutions to reduce U.S. dependence on oil and reduce energy
       waste, and undermine the Nation's competitiveness in the future
       global clean energy economy," the White House continues.
       
       Exactly What's Intended [img
       width=60]
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       Rep. Mike Simpson (R-ID)
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       says the bill
       prioritizes defense, nuclear weapons priorities and fossil fuel
       R&D, while reining in President Obama's out-of-bounds renewable
       energy agenda.
       [center][img
       width=440]
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       It "rebalances the portfolio to provide a true all-of-the-above
       strategy. It includes strong funding for nuclear energy,
       providing research and development to ensure a safe, efficient,
       reliable nuclear fleet, and laying the foundation for the next
       generation of nuclear reactors.  [img
       width=30]
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       /> [img width=50]
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       "It puts more money into fossil fuel  [img
       width=30]
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       />energy and less into renewables  [img
       width=40]
  HTML http://www.createaforum.com/gallery/renewablerevolution/3-311013200859.png[/img],<br
       />to ensure the nation is utilizing its abundant fossil energy
       resources  as efficiently and safely as possible, he says."
       [center]
       [img
       width=300]
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       The one thing Democrats didn't budge on was the attempt to
       undercut EPA's Waters of the US rule  by eliminating its
       funding. ::)  It restores protection for two million miles of
       streams and 20 million acres of wetlands, allowing it to
       safeguard drinking water supplies for a third of Americans, and
       for ecosystems. Calling it "massive overreach, it is currently
       on hold by a federal court.
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       They also voted down an amendment from Sen. Dan Coats (R-IN) to
       wind down the Energy Department's Advanced Vehicle Manufacturing
       Loan program.
       Rep. Nita Lowey (D-NY) says, "We cannot afford to bury our heads
       in the sand on climate change. And yet, the energy efficiency
       and renewable energy account would be funded at $248 million
       below the president's request. An annual appropriations bill is
       not the place to amend or significantly change the Clean Water
       Act or restrict gun laws. These efforts year after year imperil
       the appropriations process.
       Some Details   [img
       width=40]
  HTML http://www.createaforum.com/gallery/renewablerevolution/3-311013200859.png[/img]
       Compared to Obama's 2017 budget, ARPA-E gets 16% less and EERE
       gets a 26% cut for renewable energy, 27% less for sustainable
       transportation and 20% less for energy efficiency.
       Obama's budget doubles funding for clean energy R&D, as 20
       nations promised to do under Mission Innovation at the Paris
       Climate Summit. And it includes the nation's first carbon tax,
       which would fund a 21st century low-carbon transportation
       system.
       Read our article,  What's In Obama's 2017 Budget: Energy &
       Environment, called "dead on arrival" by the [img
       width=50]
  HTML http://renewablerevolution.createaforum.com/gallery/renewablerevolution/3-130418203402.gif[/img]<br
       />Congressional majority.
  HTML http://www.sustainablebusiness.com/index.cfm/go/news.display/id/26546<br
       />
       On the positive side, Obama supports the bill's investments in
       restoring aquatic ecosystems and helping communities reduce the
       risk of floods - improving resilience against climate impacts.
       It meets his budget request for restoration of the Louisiana
       Coastal Area Ecosystem, Columbia River, South Florida Ecosystem,
       and Missouri River Fish and Wildlife Recovery.
       The bill now goes to the House for a vote.
       Read the White House statement on the appropriations bill:
       
       Website:
       www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/omb/legislative/sap/114/s
       aphr2028s_20160420.pdf
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  HTML http://www.sustainablebusiness.com/index.cfm/go/news.display/id/26546
       [i]Agelbert NOTE:[/i] You may THINK you have won, MKing. But, as
       usual, you have cognitive problems with cause and effect.
       You see, the fossil fuel government in the USA is NOT going to
       keep your precious welfare queen fossil fuel industry from going
       the way of the dodo bird. Sure, you have obtained your typical
       reprieve on we-the-people's money in the USA.
       But you neglect the FACT, one that you have been eyeing over the
       past decade and not said SH IT about in this forum, that fossil
       fuels have been steadily losing energy market share, NOT because
       of any renewable energy subsidy, but because they have ZERO fuel
       costs. Once the Renewable energy infrastructure is installed
       (which gets cheaper every year to manufacture and install),
       fossil fuels simply cannot compete with ZERO clean energy fuel
       costs.
       YOU said, a couple of days ago (and you repeat that wishful
       thinking frequently), that the fossil fuel industry would
       recover when the price comes back up, as it did in the 1980's.
       The problem with that thinking is that Dirty energy does not
       have a snowball's chance in hell of recovering it's lost energy
       market share from a 70 to 1 Renewable to fossil fuel new
       generation installation rate.
       This is not the 1980's, when the available renewable energy
       (apart from hydro) was a drop in the energy market share bucket
       compared to fossil fuels and nuclear power. But you desperately
       want to believe it is.
       The ONLY common thread between the 1980's and now is the WELFARE
       QUEEN SWAG coming from the U.S. Government. You irresponsible
       CROOKS talk about "responsibility" in business practices when
       you get babied six ways from Sunday every time you get you ass
       in a debt crack. HYPOCRITES! LIARS! CHEATS!
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       Now that my rant is over  ;D, this the message you may continue
       to try to deny with your wishful thinking, Mr. Supply and Demand
       Math Challenged Fossil Fuel Fascist:
       No matter how much welfare queen swag you get from the fossil
       fuel government and no matter how much your bought and paid for
       politicians try to strange Renewable Energy by killing subsidies
       and inventing rules, regulations and laws, like you did in the
       1980's, there is NO WAY that the fossil fuel industry will EVER
       be able to recapture their lost energy use market share in ANY
       of the high Renewable Energy percentage countries like Scotland
       (and Portugal and Costa Rica and Spain and the Netherlands and
       Sweden and Norway and Germany - and so one, etc.).
       No matter how many politicians the fossil fuel fascists BUY to
       make fossil fuels artificially cheap through hidden and not so
       hidden "subsidies" (free passes on pollution and government
       money coerced from we-the-people), the fossil fuel industry
       simply cannot compete with Renewable Energy.
       And smart people in the USA, England, France, Australia, south
       Africa, Italy, Japan (and so on - you get the idea) are
       certainly NOT going to go back to fossil fuels with a ZERO fuel
       cost on their current Renewable energy Infrastructure (which
       gets cheaper to manufacture and install every year). Even the
       "natural" gas fired power plants used for peak power grid demand
       balancing that now use Fracked gas can be run from TRULY NATURAL
       gas produced from methane harvesters on cattle and pig farms in
       these countries. Germany is already doing quite a bit of animal
       based methane harvesting with a nice side benefit that pumps out
       a NON-fossil fuel based NATURAL fertilizer product added profit
       stream.  ;D
       Continually shrinking market share is a death sentence for an
       energy producer. That is why the fossil fuel industry is doomed
       to shrink into bankrupt welfare queen, has been irrelevance.
       
       Anybody that thinks we are in a repeat of the 1980's doesn't
       know their ass from a hole in the ground.
       #Post#: 5111--------------------------------------------------
       Re: Fossil Fuels: Degraded Democracy and Profit Over Planet Poll
       ution
       By: AGelbert Date: May 18, 2016, 5:00 pm
       ---------------------------------------------------------
       [quote author=MKing link=topic=4539.msg103645#msg103645
       date=1463350261]
       [quote author=agelbert link=topic=4539.msg103638#msg103638
       date=1463344888]
       Agelbert NOTE: A fossil fuel industry propagandist using the
       MKing handle -  he WON'T use his NAME
  HTML http://www.createaforum.com/gallery/renewablerevolution/3-200714191329.bmp)<br
       />made an interesting claim recently. He said that he spoke to t
       he
       governor of North Dakota.
       Exact Quote from MKing: [quote]I've actually spoken with the ND
       Governor back when things were blowing and going, as well as the
       Federal land managers of MT and ND, and there was a perspective
       there of 40 years of drilling to be had. Discussing why that
       might not be the most likely outcome, and that the amount of oil
       they were counting on might not be as large as they expected,
       was quite a chore. My presentation on this topic to Lynn Helms
       went over better. [/quote]  ::)
       I rather doubt that.
       [/quote]
       Doubt it all you'd like, it doesn't change the facts. And I
       won't mention the other folks in the room, because it would give
       away the exact meeting, and my place in it.
       [quote author=agelbert]
       People who refuse to make their name public should not resort to
       such puffery.
       [/quote]
       Who said anything about my name not being public? RE and Surly
       have been going through my decades of science, not finding as
       much as a misspelled word, are you saying they didn't include
       you when passing this information around? You should ask for it.
       And I have explained previously why I consider low profiles
       quite excellent. Go reread that.
       [quote author=agelbert]
       But if some fossil fuel front man defending Fracking in North
       Dakota did speak to the governor, I am certain the following was
       accidently on purpose not mentioned in the conversation.  ;)
       Yes, the study was just published. But if you think the Frackers
       were unaware of these ""externalized" costs dumped on
       we-the-people so they could make more profit over planet, you do
       not understand the MKings of this world. They know. They know.
       
  HTML http://www.createaforum.com/gallery/renewablerevolution/3-200714191329.bmp[/quote]
       If I was a front man, they never would have let me in the door.
       Get caught playing advocate as a scientist Anthony, and the
       credibility that took decades to establish through proper
       science can go right out the door.
       [/quote]
       A nice collection of non-answers from the MKing troll
  HTML http://www.createaforum.com/gallery/renewablerevolution/3-200714191329.bmp,<br
       />as usual.
       Your NAME, you know, the one on your birth certificate, is NOT
       public until you post it HERE, just like I post mine, regardless
       of whether Surly and RE AND Eddie are in on your precious
       "Public" identity (that we "low life degree lacking plebeians"
       aren't "worthy" of knowing).
       What "facts"? You mean the Monday morning quaterbacking
       bullshit? Post the "presentation" to the Governor of N.D. HERE
       with all those "warnings" about how "things would get worse" for
       fracking in the future or STFU.
       Your "low profile" MO claim is only valid contingent on you not
       making name dropping boasts about your "presentations" to a
       state governor or your conference attendances with your "pal",
       Harold Hamm. Otherwise, not using your name publicly is a cheap
       dodge worthy of disdain.
  HTML http://www.pic4ever.com/images/www_MyEmoticons_com__burp.gif
       When you post your NAME here, not just to the ADMINS, you MIGHT
       get some credibility as one of Billionaire Fracker Harold Hamm's
       FRONT MEN. You have alluded to that from time to time as if Hamm
       was anything but a welfare queen, tax dodging, pollution
       externalizing ASS HOLE.
       Until then, I suggest you but your zero credibility boasts where
       the sun doesn't shine, Mr. fossil fuel industry propagandist.
       And as for your typical response to the following  that you have
       a degree and I don't, SO WHAT?
       There are scores of engineers and scientists BOUGHT by the
       fossil fuel and chemical industries with "advanced" degrees in
       science that lie on a daily basis.
       [center]  [img
       width=360]
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       I don't have a degree but I have forgotten more physics and
       thermodynamics than you ever learned in your pathetic efforts to
       justify fossil fuel industry profit over planet.
       People like you still think human nutrient processing oxidation
       for caloric intake is equivalent to hydrocarbon combustion
       oxidation. People like you think enzyme mediated active
       transport is something that goes on in a chemical factory.
       People like you cannot see all the pollution holes in the
       thermodynamic constants used to determine enthalpy of formation
       of hydrocarbons using Hess's Law.
       You claim, repeatedly (and erroneously), that fossil fuels are
       "cheaper" than Renewable energy harvesting technologies.
       Every time I or somebody else points out that the fossil fuel
       industry CANNOT survive without subsidies, you change the
       subject or resort to mockery and derision.
       When someone PROVES that Fracking MUST FLARE (POLLUTE
       WE-THE-PEOPLE) up to one third by volume the gases coming up a
       fracked well in order to make a profit, you puff about your
       "knowledge" and how "only ignorant people" question your
       "eminent" scientific background INSTEAD OF TALKING FACTS.
       When a post comes up PROVING you frackers MUST discharge your
       wastewater crap free of any environmental regulatory constraints
       (i.e. POLLUTE willy nilly) in order, and in addition to,
       flaring, BECAUSE OF THE COSTS of avoiding said pollution, you
       ignore the post.
       And you have, FOR YEARS, denied the FACT that over 90% of all
       well casings in fracked wells leak CRAP into the aquifers within
       five years.
       You have consistently DENIED the fact that, had Cheney not gamed
       the water quality laws to give Fracking a polluting
       free-for-all, there would BE NO FRACKING BOOM, PERIOD.
       YOU and the BASTARDS you represent made money BECAUSE, and ONLY
       BECAUSE, you could POLLUTE your way to obtaining the fossil
       fuels AND be welfare queen subsidized on top of that!
       AND ALL those posts about Fracking piggery are based on PEER
       REVIEWED scientific studies, not on my opinion.
       YET, you ALWAYS try to make this about me instead of the subject
       of the ECONOMIC STUPIDITY and environmental HARM of fossil
       fuels.
       And YOU do that because you don't have an argument.
       
       So you have a degree. SO WHAT? There are scores of engineers and
       scientists that have one that lie for money on a daily basis.
       You are one of them.
       #Post#: 5112--------------------------------------------------
       Re: Fossil Fuels: Degraded Democracy and Profit Over Planet Poll
       ution
       By: AGelbert Date: May 18, 2016, 6:43 pm
       ---------------------------------------------------------
       Agelbert NOTE: This article is a little over two monts old. But
       the information is instructive in showing HOW the crude oil
       "supply" is gamed DOWN to engineer
  HTML http://www.createaforum.com/gallery/renewablerevolution/3-200714191329.bmp<br
       />a higher price based on, "Fundamentals" of demand. So, when yo
       u
       look at those EIA numbers MKing likes to trot out to defend
       "fundamentals" of supply and demand, take a grain of salt to the
       "prudent case for future fossil fuel industry recovery through
       higher prices" BULLSHIT.
       [center]The Curious Case Of The 550 Million Missing Barrels Of
       Crude Oil  ;)[/center]
       Submitted by Tyler Durden on 03/09/2016
       SNIPPET 1:
       [quote]As Reuters reports, crude oil production exceeded
       consumption by an average of 0.9 million barrels per day in 2014
       and 2.0 million bpd in 2015. Of this 1 billion barrels which the
       IEA believes was produced but not consumer, some 420 million are
       said to be stored on land in OECD member countries and another
       75 million can be found stored at sea or in transit by tanker
       somewhere from the oil fields to the refineries. This means that
       as of this moment, about 550 million "missing barrels" are
       unaccounted for "apparently produced but not consumed and not
       visible in the inventory statistics."
       As John Kemp writes, like most "plugs", the missing barrels are
       recorded in the "miscellaneous to balance" line of the IEA's
       monthly Oil Market Report as the difference between production,
       consumption and reported stock changes. The miscellaneous item
       reflects errors in data from OECD countries, errors in the
       agency's estimates for supply and demand in non-OECD countries,
       and stockpile changes outside the OECD that go unrecorded.
       The current IEA data reveals that there is a miscellaneous to
       balance item of 0.5 million barrels per day in 2014 and 1.0
       million barrels per day in 2015.
       This is not new: missing barrels have been a feature of IEA
       statistics since the 1970s, and as Reuters adds over time,
       errors have occurred in both directions  ;), and have ranged up
       to 1 million or even 2 million barrels per day.
       [/quote]
       SNIPPET 2:
       [quote]And as Reuters adds, while most of the time, the oil
       market ignores the miscellaneous to balance item, but it tends
       to become controversial when it becomes very large, either
       positive or negative. [size=12pt]Such as now. Furthermore, the
       situation is additionally compounded by the massive documented
       inventory glut not only in the US but around the globe, and
       certainly in China which, as reported yesterday, reported a
       record amount of oil in January even as demand is said to have
       been declining.
       This is what happened the last time there was an implied glut on
       par with the current one:
       [/size]
       The last time the miscellaneous to balance item was this large
       and positive (implying an oversupplied market) was in 1997/98
       when the issue triggered fierce criticism of the IEA's
       statistics. [/I]
       Critics accused the IEA of over-estimating supply,
       under-estimating demand, contributing to perception of a glut,
       depressing prices, and causing unnecessary hardship to the oil
       industry. Senator Pete Domenici, chairman of the U.S. Senate
       Budget Committee, asked the General Accounting Office to
       investigate the IEA's statistics and the question of missing
       barrels. In a report published in May 1999, GAO concluded
       "missing barrels are not a new condition, and the amount and
       direction of missing barrels have fluctuated over time".
       [/quote]
       Agelbert NOTE: Yeah, right. any time the fossil fuel welfare
       queens have issues with low prices, all of a sudden their bought
       and paid for sacred IEA is accused of fibbing to hurt the poor
       little fossil fuel industry.
  HTML http://www.pic4ever.com/images/165fs373950.gif
       But when the
       REVERSE is going on, the fossil fuelers like MKing worship at
       the "EIA is Gospel truth" altar.  [img
       width=80]
  HTML http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_9HT4xZyDmh4/TOHhxzA0wLI/AAAAAAAAEUk/oeHDS2cfxWQ/s200/Smiley_Angel_Wings_Halo.jpg[/img]
       [quote]
       "At any point in time, the historical oil supply and demand as
       well as the stock data reported by IEA could be overstated or
       understated [i]by an unknown magnitude." The GAO concluded then
       that it was[size=12pt] not possible to "quantify how much of the
       missing barrels are due to statistical limitations and how much
       are the result of physical oil storage in unreported stocks".
  HTML http://www.pic4ever.com/images/ugly004.gif
       Some other comparisons:[/size]
       In 1997/98, the market was oversupplied by 2.1 million barrels
       per day compared with total demand of around 74 million barrels
       per day, according to the IEA.
       In 2015, the oil market was also oversupplied by 2.0 million
       barrels per day but consumption was running at more than 94
       million barrels per day, around 25 percent higher.
       To be sure, episodes of massive imbalance usually even out  ;),
       and following the 1997/98 episode, the missing barrels that
       accumulated in unreported non-OECD storage were drawn down in
       1999, according to the IEA ("Oil Market Report", IEA, Dec 1999).
       In December 1999, the IEA wrote: "The weight of (the) evidence
       is that the missing barrels did exist and that they have now
       returned to the market."
       What helped the 1998 glut was that by the end of 1999, the oil
       market was seeing excess demand and prices were rising. But the
       rapid recovery depended on very strong economic growth in North
       America and Asia (after the East Asian financial crisis in
       1997/98).
       Another critical factor was the substantial production cuts by
       OPEC in conjunction with production restraint from non-OPEC
       countries. And it was both heralded and caused by a shift in the
       forward price curve from contango to a state of backwardation.
       As Reuters concludes, the events of 1999 illustrate the factors
       needed to clear an inherited glut of oil (strong demand,
       production restraint and a shift in the shape of the forward
       price curve).
       There are two major problems: this time around demand is
       declining - especially in trade-dependent distillate demand  -
       while debt across the entire world is at record highs,  and
       makes a fiscal stimulus improbable. Worse, following the
       November 2014 OPEC fiasco, the cartel effectively no longer
       exists. Furthermore, major oil exporting countries have not so
       far agreed to cut production, unlike 1998/99, and in fact Saudi
       Arabia has openly rejected the idea.  And finally, futures
       prices remain resolutely in contango, which is both a symptom of
       excess stockpiles and creates a financial incentive to continue
       holding them. As Reuters observes, there is no sign of the
       market moving into backwardation yet, which would indicate the
       supply-demand balance was shifting and would also create a
       financial incentive to release oil from storage.
       Kemp's conclusion:
       Several key OPEC and non-OPEC producers have announced a
       provisional production freeze which could speed up the
       rebalancing, assuming it is implemented.
       But it might not be enough to eliminate the glut quickly;
       outright production cuts may be needed to accelerate the
       process, depending on what happens to demand and production from
       other countries.
       This is also why Goldman yesterday released its latest bearish
       report on oil, in which it said the "commodity rally is not
       sustainable" and worse, "the force of their reversal has created
       a new trend in market positioning that could run further.
       However, the longer they run, the more destabilizing they become
       to the nascent rebalancing they are trying to price."
       In other words, the sharp, brief rebound in prices, means that a
       long-term sustainable rebound in prices becomes that much less
       probable.
       The bottom line is that the IEA's calculations are likely
       correct, and end markets are merely misreporting due to
       commercial interests:
  HTML http://www.createaforum.com/gallery/renewablerevolution/3-200714191329.bmp<br
       />"In 1997/98 episode, the IEA concluded most of the missing
       barrels went into non-OECD storage and uncounted OECD
       inventories . In the current episode, it is also very likely
       some of the 550 million barrels unaccounted for in 2014/15 have
       gone into unreported storage outside the OECD." [/I] [img
       width=40]
  HTML http://www.createaforum.com/gallery/renewablerevolution/3-311013200859.png[/img][/quote]
  HTML http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-03-09/curious-case-550-million-missing-barrels-crude-oil
  HTML http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-03-09/curious-case-550-million-missing-barrels-crude-oil
       [move][font=courier][I]"Hitting peak oil will come faster than
       any of us think. But don't blame dwindling supply — it's all
       about disappearing demand" Amory Lovins[/font][/move]
       #Post#: 5140--------------------------------------------------
       Re: Fossil Fuels: Degraded Democracy and Profit Over Planet Poll
       ution
       By: AGelbert Date: May 23, 2016, 9:54 pm
       ---------------------------------------------------------
       [center]Exxon Developed Low Emissions Technology, Lobbied
       Against It [img
       width=40]
  HTML http://www.createaforum.com/gallery/renewablerevolution/3-311013200859.png[/img][/center]
       The precursors of ExxonMobil have been patenting technologies
       for electric cars and low emissions vehicles since as early as
       1963 while fighting against government funding for the same
       research.
       Newly discovered records show that the oil giants like Esso had
       as many as 18 patents, including a process to produce
       electricity in a fuel cell and engine technology to reduce
       emissions and increase fuel efficiency.
       At the same time, the main oil lobby, the American Petroleum
       Institute, opposed government funding, saying they took
       “exception to the basic assumption”   ;)
  HTML http://www.createaforum.com/gallery/renewablerevolution/3-200714191329.bmp<br
       />that clean air is possible only through an alternative to
       oil-burning vehicles.
       Alan Jeffers, an Exxon spokesman, refused to comment on the
       documents. (Guardian, Gizmodo, MSNBC)
  HTML https://www.theguardian.com/business/2016/may/20/oil-company-records-exxon-co2-emission-reduction-patents
       [center]
       [img
       width=640]
  HTML http://quotes.lifehack.org/media/quotes/quote-John-D.-Rockefeller-competition-is-a-sin-42310.png[/img][/center]
       #Post#: 5146--------------------------------------------------
       Re: Fossil Fuels: Degraded Democracy and Profit Over Planet Poll
       ution
       By: AGelbert Date: May 24, 2016, 6:19 pm
       ---------------------------------------------------------
       Big Oil Could Have Put A Dent In CO2 Emissions In 1970s - But
       Did Nothing
       According to new documents from the Center for International
       Environmental Law, the industry chose to prioritize costs over
       the planet.
  HTML http://www.pic4ever.com/images/acigar.gif<br
       />
  HTML http://www.pic4ever.com/images/2z6in9g.gif
       The new documents show oil companies chose to invest in climate
       denying instead of on technologies to reduce emissions.
       Between the 1950s and 1970s, the industry also financed studies
       into how petroleum products could be used to control the
       climate.  [img
       width=50]
  HTML http://www.createaforum.com/gallery/renewablerevolution/3-311013200859.png[/img]
       The research included burning oil to clear areas of fog and
       smog, and constructing massive "artificial heat mountains" out
       of asphalt to increase rainfall.
       [center]
  HTML http://www.pic4ever.com/images/p8.gif
       
  HTML http://www.pic4ever.com/images/126fs2277341.gif[/center]
       As early as the 1980s, oil companies were beginning to invest in
       taller oil rigs that could withstand rising sea levels.
       Tom Sanzillo, finance director at the Cleveland-based Institute
       for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis, told Vice there is
       a clear potential, perhaps even likelihood, that these documents
       will result in litigation against oil companies.
       Sanzillo said, "This looks like it's pretty serious, and it just
       seems to get worse."
       -Thom
  HTML http://www.thomhartmann.com/blog/2016/05/big-oil-could-have-put-dent-co2-emissions-1970s-%E2%80%94-did-nothing
       #Post#: 5152--------------------------------------------------
       Re: Fossil Fuels: Degraded Democracy and Profit Over Planet Poll
       ution
       By: AGelbert Date: May 25, 2016, 5:19 pm
       ---------------------------------------------------------
       [center][img
       width=640]
  HTML https://www.cleanenergywire.org/sites/default/files/styles/lightbox_image/public/images/article/2016/05/coal-financing.png?itok=mg3zd4fD[/img][/center]
       [center]
       Germany urged to end coal financing / 'Save the Energiewende'
       protests[/center]
       Reuters
       [center]Campaigners urge Germany to stop financing coal projects
       abroad[/center]
       Environmental groups urged G7 nations led by Japan and Germany
       to stop financing coal projects abroad, reports Alister Doyle
       for Reuters.
       The study, released before the G7 summit in Japan this week by
       groups including the U.S. Natural Resources Defense Council
       (NRDC), WWF and Oil Change International, said Germany provided
       nine billion euros between 2007 and 2015, second behind Japan
       with 22 billion.
       Read the Reuters article in English  here.
  HTML http://www.reuters.com/article/us-g7-coal-idUSKCN0YF1PD
       [center]SWEPT UNDER THE RUG: How G7 Nations Conceal Public
       Financing for Coal Around the World
  HTML https://www.nrdc.org/sites/default/files/swept-under-rug-coal-financing-report.pdf[/center]
       [font=times new roman]pv magazine[/font]
       [center]“Moment of warning: five minutes to midnight”[/center]
       Associations for renewable energies have joined forces with the
       Industrial Union of Metalworkers (IG Metall) to organise a
       “moment of warning” as part of the campaign “Save the
       Energiewende”, reports pv magazine.
       Protesters wanted to gather today in numerous locations across
       Germany to demonstrate against current government plans to slow
       down renewables development.
       The organisers say that the development has advanced too much
       “to be stopped without collateral damage” and call for a “solid
       regulatory framework for a renewable energy system”
  HTML http://www.pic4ever.com/images/301.gif
       
  HTML http://www.desismileys.com/smileys/desismileys_0293.gif,
       writes
       pv magazine.
       Find more information in CLEW's factsheets EEG reform 2016 –
       switching to auctions for renewables
  HTML https://www.cleanenergywire.org/factsheets/eeg-reform-2016-switching-auctions-renewables<br
       /> and Defining features of the Renewable Energy Act.
  HTML https://www.cleanenergywire.org/factsheets/defining-features-renewable-energy-act-eeg
  HTML https://www.cleanenergywire.org/news/germany-urged-end-coal-financing-save-energiewende-protests
       *****************************************************
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