Category Archives: Issues

Megaload Cyclist Expects to Take Plea Deal Down to an Infraction, Selway Corporation Transport Passage, & Port of Lewiston Spends Much of Its Megaload Revenue on Security

Posted on by
Reply

Co-defendants Zach Johnson and Aaron Malgren, arrested on October 6 while participating in the Bikes Not Bitumen! critical mass bike ride during ExxonMobil/Imperial Oil tar sands shipments through Moscow, describe developments in their court case against police and prosecutors who imposed wrongful charges of obstructing and resisting officers and held their bikes for evidence over two months.  Probably due to the implausibility of prosecutors’ arguments, Aaron and Zach were offered three plea bargain choices of infractions to replace their misdemeanor charges.  This broadcast also covers the two movements of a huge Selway Corporation Y-shaped pipe westbound on Highway 12 between the Montana border and Lewiston on Friday night and, on Monday evening, onward to Highway 195 and Snoqualmie Falls, Washington.  Additionally, the Port of Lewiston spent 80 percent of its revenue from yard storage of ExxonMobil modules on security officers during its July 2010 to June 2011 fiscal year.  Listen to more news about Megaload Cyclist Expects to Take Plea Deal Down to an Infraction, Selway Corporation transport passage, and Port of Lewiston Spends Much of Its Megaload Revenue on Security between 16:11 and 5:43 on the Monday, December 19, KRFP Radio Free Moscow Evening Report, Bike Plea Bargain.

Tar Sands Oil with Helen Yost

Posted on by
1

Transports through Idaho of megaloads of industrial equipment that expand regionally destructive Alberta tar sands mining operations hasten global climate change and subsequent worldwide ecological chaos. Nathan Foster animated this interview at a protest of Moscow activist Helen Yost for a University of Idaho class project.

(Link provided by Nathan Foster)

Lewiston Port Details Revenue from Megaloads

Posted on by
Reply

The Port of Lewiston netted more than $500,000 from Imperial Oil megaloads in its most recent fiscal year.

The $500,772 figure was released in a recent audit of the port and was pointed out by David Doeringsfeld, the port’s manager.

The number doesn’t include another $396,233 in expenses the port had for the modules of a processing plant under construction in the Kearl Oil Sands of Alberta, Canada. Continue reading →

Feds Link Water Contamination to Fracking for the First Time

Posted on by
Reply

In a first, federal environment officials today scientifically linked underground water pollution with hydraulic fracturing, concluding that contaminants found in central Wyoming were likely caused by the gas drilling process.

The findings by the Environmental Protection Agency come partway through a separate national study by the agency to determine whether fracking presents a risk to water resources.

In the 121-page draft report released today, EPA officials said that the contamination near the town of Pavillion, Wyo., had most likely seeped up from gas wells and contained at least 10 compounds known to be used in frack fluids.

Access the entire story with graphics, video, photos, and links at:

Feds Link Water Contamination to Fracking for the First Time

(By Abrahm Lustgarten and Nicholas Kusnetz, ProPublica)

EPA Connects ‘Fracking’ to Water Contamination

Posted on by
Reply

For the first time, a government study has tied contamination in drinking water to an advanced drilling technique commonly known as “fracking.”

The Environmental Protection Agency released a draft study Thursday tying the technique, formally called hydraulic fracturing, to high levels of chemicals found in ground water in the small town of Pavillion, Wyoming.  EPA scientists found high levels of benzene, a known carcinogen, and synthetic glycol and alcohol, commonly found in hydraulic fracturing fluid.

Read/listen to more: EPA Connects ‘Fracking’ to Water Contamination

(By Elizabeth Shogren, National Public Radio)

MegaStructures: Ultimate Oil Sands Mine

Posted on by
Reply

Created by Powderhouse Productions in 2005 for the National Geographic Channel’s MegaStructures series, this 48-minute reasonably neutral documentary reveals an intimate view of on-site tar sands extraction and transportation, facilities construction, and bitumen production processes at Syncrude’s vast mine near Fort McMurray in northeastern Alberta, Canada.  Many of the structures visible during development of a competing Shell Oil upgrader plant reflect Korean-made ExxonMobil/Imperial Oil components currently moving as megaloads through the U.S. Northwest.

(Link provided by Ethan Nilsson)

Coal Export Threatens the Northwest

Posted on by
Reply

This compelling four-minute video produced by our Portland allies highlights plans to export dirty U.S. coal to Asia.  Local voices from Longview, Bellingham, Hood River, and Portland share how coal trains and terminals could harm their communities.  Footage captures the filth of coal and the spirit of people who know we can do better.

Capitalism vs. the Climate

Posted on by
Reply

There is a question from a gentleman in the fourth row.

He introduces himself as Richard Rothschild. He tells the crowd that he ran for county commissioner in Maryland’s Carroll County because he had come to the conclusion that policies to combat global warming were actually “an attack on middle-class American capitalism.” His question for the panelists, gathered in a Washington, DC, Marriott Hotel in late June, is this: “To what extent is this entire movement simply a green Trojan horse, whose belly is full with red Marxist socioeconomic doctrine?”

Here at the Heartland Institute’s Sixth International Conference on Climate Change, the premier gathering for those dedicated to denying the overwhelming scientific consensus that human activity is warming the planet, this qualifies as a rhetorical question. Like asking a meeting of German central bankers if Greeks are untrustworthy. Still, the panelists aren’t going to pass up an opportunity to tell the questioner just how right he is.

Read more: Capitalism vs. the Climate

(By Naomi Klein, The Nation)

(Link provided by Rob Briggs)

Tar Sands Myth Busters: Jobs

Posted on by
Reply

We don’t need the pipelines, megaloads, or tar sands to give us more jobs.

1) “Across a range of clean energy projects, including renewable energy, transportation, and energy efficiency, for every million dollars spent, 16.7 green jobs are created.  That is over three times the 5.3 jobs per million dollars that are created from the same spending on fossil-fuel industries.”

Searching for Green Jobs for the Coalfields

2) “Despite generating $546 billion in profits between 2005 and 2010, ExxonMobil, Chevron, Shell, and BP together reduced their U.S. workforce by 11,200 employees during that time.”

Big Oil Companies Make Huge Profits with Taxpayer Support but Cut Jobs Anyway

3) Researchers at Cornell University put a lot of time and energy into examining the subject of jobs and the Keystone XL pipeline.  Share their findings by downloading a free pdf document from this page:

Cornell University Economists Debunk Keystone XL Economic Claims

(Information compiled by Sharon Cousins.)

Tar Sands Myth Busters: Oil

Posted on by
Reply

We don’t need the tar sands oil to give us “enough” oil or to free us from oil connections in the Middle East.

1) We have so much oil that the USA is exporting oil.  If we need more, we can export less.

U.S. Awash in Oil and Lies, Report Charges

For more in-depth information, click on “new report” to download a detailed pdf document.

2) We may not need dirty oil from the ground at all pretty soon.  We can pull excess carbon dioxide out of thin air and recycle it into carbon neutral fuel.

Enzyme Holds the Key to Renewable Hydrocarbons

3) We can also have ethanol without starving Africa or triggering frenzied corn speculation.  Many plants that can grow on land not suitable for major food crops can be used to make ethanol.  Agave is just one of them.

Mexico & Agaves: Moving from Tequila to Ethanol

4) Hemp offers many possibilities for cleaner and sustainable fuels.

Hemp Fuel

(Information compiled by Sharon Cousins.)