It's Getting Hot In Here

Originally posted on Checks & Balances Project.

Environmental Resources Management (ERM), the consulting firm hired to perform the supplemental environmental analysis of the Keystone XL pipeline works for and has worked for fossil fuel companies with a stake in the Canadian Tar Sands. Mother Jones’ Andy Kroll exposed the conflicts of interest in an exclusive story, which included unredacted documents that show the recent work history of ERM’s consultants.

It’s no surprise that ERM painted a rosy picture of Keystone XL’s environmental impact. Their business depends on it. ERM’s major clients in the fossil fuel industry would steer clear of an environmental consulting company that determines fossil fuel projects are not environmentally responsible. ERM claimed in the report that the Keystone
XL pipeline would not lead to an increase in greenhouse gas emissions or significantly impact the environment along its route.

Last week, Steve Horn from DeSmogBlog documented major problems with another pipeline (the 1,300 mile-long Baku–Tbilisi–Ceyhan (BTC)) determined by an ERM environmental assessment to be “environmentally and socio-economically sound.” Horn wrote, “An Aug. 2008 Wikileaks cable discusses a BTC explosion in a mountainous area of eastern Turkey …which spewed 70,000 barrels of oil into the surrounding area.” The BTC
pipeline caused enormous environmental damage and failed to live up to the jobs hype created by the project developers, which included BP, State Oil Company of Azerbaijan (SOCAR), Chevron, ConocoPhillips, Eni and Total.

Horn goes on to quote Mik Minio-Paluello, co-author of The Oil Road - a new book documenting the slew of destructive impacts of BTC saying, “Supposedly an environmental consultancy, in practice ERM operated more like aPR firm representing BP and now they’re fulfilling a similar role for TransCanada.”

So why does ERM operate more like a PR firm than an environmental consultancy?

Let’s say ERM provided a review claiming a fossil fuel project was skirting safety precautions or moving too quickly to ensure quality seals on the pipeline (see Keystone XL’s faulty welding here). Would a fossil fuel company, whose financial interest is building more fossil fuel infrastructure, want to hire a consultant that results in delays and increased costs for developing that infrastructure?

Checks & Balances Project contacted ERM’s Global Head of Communications Simon Garcia multiple times over the past week without any response.  We requested comment on the following question: Has ERM ever determined that a proposed fossil fuel project was not “environmentally sound” in an assessment?

The answer is probably “no.”

On Sunday, nearly 2,000 citizens converged on the resort town of Rancho Mirage, California to confront a secretive meeting of billionaires meeting behind closed doors.  The event has generated widespread coverage in the LA Times[1], NY Times[2], Politico[3], Reuters[4] and many more.  Unfortunately, some of the reporting and opining completely omits key reasons why the organizers decided to Uncloak the Kochs.

The LA Times Editorial Board wrote an editorial saying:

The point of the rally was to decry the corrosive impact of money on American governance, but we’re not sure that the marchers were quite clear on the concepts of democracy and free speech.

Let me respond on behalf of an unprecedented coalition effort – we are quite clear on the concept of democracy and free speech.  Our problem with money in politics (and why we were protesting the Koch Brothers’ secretive billionaires retreat) is that it is drowning out the voices of ordinary citizens in the United States and elevating the interests of CEOs, bankers, polluters, and corporations.

Joel Francis, a Marine Corps veteran and student leader said it on Sunday:

We need real solutions to the jobs crisis, rising health care costs, our addiction to fossil fuels, climate change, the foreclosure crisis and other economic problems facing families across the country. We need public officials who will stand up to the private interests and take the side of America’s middle class. We need an economy that works for working families and a democracy where the people and citizens of our great nation count more than private profit.

The Supreme Court decision Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission opened the floodgates for people like Charles Koch (and other billionaires) to influence our democratic elections process through direct campaign contributions, front groups, television advertisements and more. Unfortunately, our democracy, post-Citizens United will continue to put corporate interests over people until we level the playing field.

The Wall Street Journal (owned by Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation, whose employees have been regular guests at Koch retreats) reported that:

Billionaires have political views (often strong ones) and they aren’t afraid to use their money to support them. There are activist billionaires on all points of the political spectrum, and their influence often is kept in check by each other. In the end, it is unclear what impact they really have on the country beyond funding a vast industry of think tanks, panel discussions, vanity publications and golf retreats for legislative aids.

Yes, there are billionaires on both sides of the aisle influencing public policy, but unfortunately there is no balance of power.  Billionaires are still putting their interests over the interests of working families and ordinary citizens.  Furthermore, there is a huge difference between funding a think tank or front group to promote your interests and meeting with Supreme Court Justices while they are considering a case on corporate spending in democratic elections.  Justices Scalia and Thomas both attended previous Koch retreats and as a result, Common Cause sent a letter to the Department of Justice asking for an investigation into a possible conflict of interest –  an investigation that could undermine the 5-4 Citizens United ruling.

Finally, Sunday was NOT about liberals versus conservatives.  Sunday was about We the People.  It was about rebuilding a democracy of We the People – a country where you don’t need to have millions of dollars to have your voice heard.  Where the government is small, but it protects the public health from polluters, protects our economy from bankers and speculators, and protects our national security even when the oil companies don’t want to invest in homegrown American energy.

Posted on behalf of Joel Francis, a Marine Corps veteran and leader with the California Student Sustainability Coalition:

On Sunday a secretive network of corporate CEOs, bankers, and far-right operatives convened in the desert to develop strategies for using their corporate wealth to enact polluter-friendly policies.

They did everything possible to keep their gathering out of the public eye, but there was one thing they didn’t count on: we were there too.
Check out Joel’s speech and a video by the California Student Sustainability Coalition:

Over 1,000 of us mobilized in the California desert to expose the Koch Brothers and their band of billionaires. The protest generated headlines across the country, and the Kochs are scrambling for PR cover to protect their tarnished image.

They shouldn’t have been surprised. Joel Francis, a leader with the California Student Sustainability Coalition, has taken on the Koch Brothers before and was a featured speaker at the rally. Joel made a video and wrote a letter to all of you:

I’ve been doing a lot of reflection over the weekend on our movement, our democracy, and our country one year after the Citizens United ruling and how we move forward.

Join us in Palm Springs to expose the Koch Brothers and other corporate billionaires planning a takeover of our democracy. RSVP and Reserve your spot on one of the buses.

–

President Obama gave his State of the Union last night and set out a clear vision for our country. I agree that we need to win the future – and we can begin by investing locally in clean energy technology, reinvigorating our manufacturing sector, and leading the world to a sustainable 21st century economy. We need to invest in our young people and expand educational opportunities across the country.

Unfortunately, the President was not completely honest with the American people on the true state of our union. Families are in crisis – people are losing their homes and cannot find work. Their health is being threatened every day by our addiction to dirty and dangerous fossil fuels. Halliburton (among others) continue to undermine water supplies for millions of Americans through hydraulic fracturing – a dangerous method of extracting natural gas. We continue to spend $6 billion per month on the War in Afghanistan. And our country spends 59% of its budget on the military – while states and cities are being forced to cut education funding, enlarge class sizes, eliminate mental health programs, and squeeze budgets across the board.

The President did not acknowledge that hundreds of millions of dollars poured into campaign coffers from undisclosed sources and large corporations. He did not highlight that the Supreme Court in its’ Citizens United ruling – gave corporations the rights of people under our constitution – allowing unrestricted corporate spending in our elections.

Continue reading ‘Let’s replace We the Corporations with We the People’

Young voters celebrated a decisive victory against Big Oil by defeating a deceptive ballot measure, Prop 23. The initiative, funded with millions of dollars from oil corporations sought to wreck California’s clean energy economy and effectively repeal the state’s landmark clean air and clean energy laws.

The California Student Sustainability Coalition’s Power Vote Campaign united thousands of young Californians behind a creative grassroots campaign that exposed Big Oil’s dirty ploy, and mobilized thousands of voters to defeat it. The campaign partnered with student networks across the state to turn out the youth vote, worked with a community coalition to launch the Clean Energy Tour, a music tour merging arts and activism, and directly confronted oil interests bank-rolling the initiative, like the Koch Brothers. Joel Francis, a student leader at Cal State, Los Angeles brought national attention to this issue when he challenged oilman Charles Koch to a public debate on his bank-rolling of Proposition 23. His debate challenge drew national coverage from New York Times, BusinessWeek, Forbes, and Huffington Post.
Continue reading ‘Young voters lead decisive victory against Big Oil’s Prop 23′

Yesterday, I accompanied Joel Francis to Koch Industries’ headquarters to deliver his debate challenge in person to CEO Charles Koch.  Last week, Joel delivered his challenge through a highly publicized online video (NYTimes / Forbes /Business Week / Huff Post / LA Weekly).  Here is our video update from Wichita – Please share with everyone you know!

Because Koch did not respond to the video challenge, Francis traveled to Wichita to deliver the debate challenge letter in person. Francis was prevented from entering the building after requesting to see Koch in person. He handed the debate challenge letter to Larry Moorman, Director of Corporate Security, who assured Francis that Mr. Koch would receive the letter. Before leaving, Francis called Koch Industries’ and was connected to Kay, Mr Koch’s secretary.  Kay said that Charles Koch was unavailable and then took Joel’s name and phone number and assured him that Charles would get back to him.

Regardless, Charles made it clear that he heard about the challenge and responded by posting the “Director of Corporate Security” and a dozen security guards in front of the multi-billionaire dollar company.

Joel and Gabe speak with Larry Moorman, Director of Corporate Security 

Mr. Francis has remained friendly while pushing Charles Koch to debate the Dirty Energy Proposition – Prop 23 – in public before Election Day.  As a graduating college student, Joel is about to enter a tough job market, and that is why he is working to safeguard the bright spot in California’s economy.

It seems that Mr. Koch does not have the courage to respond to a college student and U.S. Marine Corps veteran worried about the negative impact Prop 23 would have on our state.

“As a senior, I’m worried that the dirty energy initiative Mr. Koch is funding would jeopardize $10 billion of private investment in the state’s clean economy and ruin the fastest growing sector of Californian economy. Many of us who are getting ready to enter the workforce are looking to the clean technology sector as a strong employment option,” Francis said. “If Mr. Koch is going to come into our state with his money, a lot of people would like to hear directly from him why he is trying to wreak our economy’s development.”

Over the next week, the California Student Sustainability Coalition will continue mobilizing thousands of young people to ensure our generation votes on Tuesday, November 2 and defeats Prop 23.

Please help spread the word about Joel’s challenge to the billionaire CEO funding trying to ruin our clean energy future.

Pledge to vote NO on Prop 23 at www.powervote.ca !

**Coming Soon: Video update of our experience at Koch Industries’ Headquarters! Check back in a few hours!**

This afternoon, I accompanied Joel Francis to Koch Industries’ headquarters to deliver his debate challenge in person to CEO Charles Koch.  Last week, Joel delivered his challenge through a highly publicized online video (NYTimes / Forbes / Business Week / Huff Post / LA Weekly).

From Left: Joel Francis, Michelle Oyewole, Natalie Gaber, Dina Cervantes, Gabriel Elsner

Because Koch did not respond to the video challenge, Francis traveled to Wichita to deliver the debate challenge letter in person. Francis was prevented from entering the building after requesting to see Koch in person. He handed the debate challenge letter to Larry Moorman, Director of Corporate Security, who assured Francis that Mr. Koch would receive the letter today. Before leaving, Francis called Koch Industries’ and was connected to Kay, Mr Koch’s secretary.  Kay said that Charles Koch was unavailable and then took Joel’s name and phone number and assured him that Charles would get back to him. Continue reading ‘Charles Koch Refuses to Accept Debate Challenge In-Person, Responds with Security Team’

A press release announcing the debate challenge here.

This election we face a major attack on California’s clean energy and global warming policy – Big Oil is pushing Proposition 23, a ballot measure to gut California’s landmark Global Warming Solutions Act. The California Student Sustainability Coalition, and young people across the state are mobilizing behind Power Vote California to defeat Prop 23. We think with our people power we can stop Big Oil from ruining our drive to a clean energy economy.

Today I joined a meeting with City College of San Francisco’s environmental group, Green Corps. Over the weekend they had trained 20 people on the Power Vote California Campaign, and today they were finalizing their plan to mobilze thousands of their peers to vote on November 2nd. Green Corps is one of dozens of groups across the state building campus campaigns to turn out the youth vote and make sure the dirty energy proposition goes down in flames. With only 35 days until the election, this sort of work is critical. This coming weekend the CSSC is hosting trainings in San Diego and Los Angeles to make sure our entire network is ready to rock the vote over the next month.

We’re also excited to team up with Communities United, a coalition of grassroots, community and environmental justic groups to host a six-city “Clean Energy Tour.” Through art, activism and music, we’ll expose the dirty antics of Big Oil and plug people into fighting for the green economy. You can check out the tour dates at CleanEnergyTour.com and attend the concerts for free just by pledging to vote.

Continue reading ‘Power Vote California takes on Big Oil’

Cross posted from The Skywriter – 1Sky’s Blog:

Senator Lisa Murkowski, working on behalf of oil companies, large utilities, and coal companies, will force a vote on the Dirty Air Act on June 10. If passed, the “disapproval resolution” would gut the Clean Air Act and stop the first meaningful regulations of greenhouse gasses from vehicles and big polluters, like coal plants. Initially, the Senator planned on forcing a vote this week, but grassroots pressure has pushed the vote until after Memorial Day recess.

Currently, the Dirty Air Act has 41 votes in the Senate. But with your help, we can stop Senator Murkowski and her fossil fuel cronies. So far this year, she raised more than $500,000 from the dirty energy interests to fund her reelection campaign.

Thanks to the hard work of activists across the country this spring, we stopped Senator Murkowski from bringing the Dirty Air Act to the floor. However, the Senate will vote in two weeks on protecting our health and our clean air or letting the dirty energy industry continue polluting our communities.

In other words, we only have 16 days to stop the dirty energy industry from crippling the Clean Air Act.

The next few weeks are critical for our clean energy future. The “disapproval resolution” would put public health at risk, jeopardize long-overdue action to hold the biggest polluters accountable, and stall our transition to a clean energy economy. (See this letter from the EPA Administrator (.pdf) under President Nixon and Ford.)

More importantly, this vote on the Dirty Air Act will set the stage for the broader fight to kick our reliance on dirty fossil fuels. With the cost of our dependence on oil visible in the Gulf, senators should be working on cleaning up these dirty industries, not bailing them out. Instead of protecting the fossil-fueled status quo, senators need to get to work protecting our clean air, and rebuilding our economy with clean renewable energy by passing strong climate and energy legislation that builds on the Clean Air Act instead of blocking it.

Take action by sending a message and making a phone call to save the Clean Air Act that has protected our health and our environment for 40 years and will lead us to a clean energy future.