If you had the chance to talk to Big Oil directly to its big oily face, what would you want to say?

I recently had such a chance at a commercial shoot run by the American Petroleum Institute, the major lobbying and public relations front for the oil industry (ie ExxonMobil, Chevron, BP, Shell, TransCanada and just about every major oil company). Here’s what I had to say:

Through recorded audio, we got to expose API’s upcoming “Vote4Energy” campaign, which debuts January first on CNN during major political programs. Audio recordings from inside the Vote4Energy commercial shoot can be found on the Greenpeace website, and on Yahoo News. More can also be found at the Checks and Balances Project, where Deputy Director and youth climate leader Gabe Elsner has more recordings from inside the shoot.

The American Petroleum Institute (API) is building off of its “Energy Citizens” astroturf campaign, exposed in 2009 in a leaked memo from CEO Jack Gerard to the heads of major oil companies, and launching the Vote4Energy campaign to try and claim that Americans support the oil industry’s agenda. You know, the poor, poor industry that gets billions in taxpayers dollars each year even though its the most profitable industry on Earth, and has to bus oil employees to its own staged rallies.

API is currently spending millions of its $200 million annual budget to push dirty energy projects onto the American people, particularly tar sands through the proposed Keystone XL pipeline, fracking for ‘natural’ gas, and offshore drilling in the Arctic, to name a few. Anyone familiar with TransCanada’s reputation for pipeline leaks, the safety concerns and lack of oversight for gas fracking in the lower 48 states, and the implications of a BP-style offshore oil blowout in the frigid Arctic ocean recognizes the danger of the oil industry’s agenda.

Big Oil’s Christmas list does not fit with the desires of most Americans, no matter how hard they work to craft campaigns claiming otherwise. Sometimes, it is up to us to call them out face to face, and tell that story to others so they can recognize how dirty the petroleum industry really is. Tim DeChristopher is the shining example of that confrontational spirit, currently serving a two-year sentence for saving tens of thousands of acres of Utah land from oil and gas drilling by disrupting a Bush Administration auction that later proved to be illegal.

Climate change is only getting worse, and Big Oil, King Coal and other dirty interests are pulling out all the stops to squeeze every last dollar out of this planet while they still can. Their efforts are overwhelmingly funded, and often coordinated. Their business as usual has horrible implications for intensifying global warming and human rights abuses, so the idea that people like us want to spend 2012 voting in their interest is not only ridiculous, but dangerous.

Vote4Energy? More like Vote4BigOil. Don’t buy the lie, pay close attention, and vote for the future you really deserve.

Connor Gibson does research for Greenpeace. Here he is at the Tar Sands Protest back in August 2011.

VIDEO: ‘A LINK BETWEEN CLIMATE CHANGE AND JOPLIN TORNADOES? NEVER.’ | Watch and share this powerful visualization of Bill McKibben’s scathing Washington Post op-ed on our dangerously polluted world, narrated by Stephen Thomson:

Chevron was found guilty of deliberately dumping over 18 billion gallons of toxic oil waste in the Ecuadorean Amazon and ordered to pay $9 billion to clean up its mess. But the company has vowed never to pay.

That’s why I’m standing up to Chevron to demand justice in Ecuador. I’ll be attending the protest outside Chevron’s annual shareholder meeting next week, demanding accountability from the company not just in Ecuador, but also in Richmond, California; in Nigeria; in Australia; in Kazakhstan; and in countless other communities around the world that have been impacted by Chevron’s reckless pursuit of profits.

A delegation of Ecuadoreans will be coming up for the shareholder meeting so that they can take their calls for justice directly to Chevron’s shareholders, management, and board members. They’ve just issued a passionate appeal to Americans to stand in solidarity with them. Together with the folks at Amazon Watch, the Change Chevron team at Rainforest Action Network is trying to get 30,000 Americans to sign this petition, one for each of the Ecuadoreans affected by Chevron’s business operations — and we only have a week to do it! Chevron’s shareholder meeting is happening on May 25th.

Check out the “Open letter to America” video below, and sign the petition. The Ecuadorean delegation will be delivering this petition with all its signatures to Chevron’s management at the shareholder meeting.

We can only hold Chevron accountable if we all stand up together. Please sign the petition so the Ecuadorean delegation can deliver your call for justice directly to Chevron on May 25th. And if you’re in the Bay Area, come to the protest outside Chevron’s annual shareholder meeting.

In this example, the UK Youth Climate Coalition have summarised the COP16 Cancun talks in this short clip. Surprisingly and depressingly accurate.

You can see more photos, video and news coverage of the Climate Elephant in the room here.

Senate staffers expecting a typical morning commute were in for a surprise yesterday when they stepped out of Union Station and into a Big Oil Carnival.

While our literal Big Oil Carnival — complete with oil-themed midway games, Tony Hayward clowns, and an enthusiastic, stilt walking Uncle Sam — may have been out of the ordinary, it should have felt familiar for anyone who works on Capitol Hill.

The unfortunate reality is that every single day in the U.S. Senate is a carnival of Big Oil.

At every opportunity, a minority of Senators who are in the pocket of America’s largest polluters choose political games and obstruction over working together to solve America’s energy and climate crisis. As a result of their actions, the big polluters will continue to reap record profits at the expense of Americans.

Even before a BP oil well started gushing millions of gallons into the Gulf, a comprehensive climate and energy bill which breaks America’s oil addiction and curbs carbon pollution was a common sense and critically necessary policy.

Now, as we witness the worst industry-caused environmental catastrophe in our history, the deadliest coal mining disaster in 40 years, and sweat through the hottest first 6 months of any year on record, it should be a no-brainer.

It’s time to end the CarnivOIL in Congress. The Senate can no longer play games with our clean energy future.

Today, Big Oil can continue to celebrate their victory over clean energy. However, Senators should know that as long as they fail to act, America’s energy crisis won’t just go away…and neither will the generation of young people fighting for a clean energy future.

Uncle Sam MCs at CarnivOIL

Tony Hayward Knocks Out a Crab

See more photos from CarnivOIL

Thanks to the actions of the Commonwealth Challenge participants and the courageous efforts of the Leadership Campaign, yesterday afternoon Chairman John Binienda indicated that he would have the conversations necessary to move our bill out of the Rules Committee in the House of Representatives. This is a critical step that would allow the bill to get a full hearing.

Earlier in the day, I was privileged to announce (dressed in Colonial brown) the accomplishments of the Commonwealth Challenge at the “Climate Courage Awards” in the Massachusetts State House:

“Hello. I am Paul Revere. 235 years ago in April, I rode across the Massachusetts countryside to mobilize patriots against an impending threat. Today, there is a threat even more daunting. Facing the worst unemployment since 1976 and a climate crisis threatening to wipe out countless species and millions of lives around the world, the people of Massachusetts have taken matters into their own hands.

In the last 48 days 40 volunteers have donated more than 100 hours to the Commonwealth Challenge. As of this morning, 350 patriots of the Commonwealth have taken the Challenge to audit and retrofit their homes to save energy. They have taken the first step toward 100% clean power in Massachusetts within 10 years and have sent us here with a message.

Today, on this 40th anniversary of Earth Day, we the people of Massachusetts set forth a challenge to the Massachusetts State Legislature to re-power the Commonwealth with 100% clean electricity by 2020. This action is needed to stem the tide of climate change before its forces become too great. But it is also an action that will produce positive results.

By retrofitting their homes, 350 Massachusetts residents will collectively save about $100,000 per year on their energy bills, remove 120 tons per year of carbon pollution from the atmosphere, and create 2 full-time green careers for local workers. The Commonwealth Challenge represents only the beginning of what we can accomplish from a transition to clean power. We urge you, our elected officials, to help us re-power Massachusetts.”

There are so many people that have helped to make this campaign possible. First among them, are the 32 partners who have dedicated their time and resources to make this dream a reality.

It’s time to celebrate what we’ve achieved. Take a look at this video from our friends at Green For All, who helped organize the April 10th Green Jobs Rally and Block Walk.