Energy Archive

The House Energy and Commerce Committee has approved legislation that would reverse President Obama’s rejection of the Keystone XL pipeline. Politicians and pundits alike have been promoting the pipeline because there is a lot of profit to be made. However, in order for the project to be approved they have to convince the American people of all of the hollow benefits that the pipeline would provide. Every single one of those benefits is a deception. Let’s take a closer look.

The House Energy and Commerce Committee has approved legislation that would reverse President Obama’s rejection of the Keystone XL pipeline. Politicians and pundits alike have been promoting the pipeline because there is a lot of profit to be made. However, in order for the project to be approved they have to convince the American people of all of the hollow benefits that the pipeline would provide. Every single one of those benefits is a deception. Let’s take a closer look.

Semper Fidelis-often shortened to Semper Fi-is a Latin phrase meaning "always faithful." It's most commonly known as the motto for the United States Marine Corps. The phrase has taken on a new meaning for me as details about the poisoning of Marines and Marine Corps families who lived at Camp Lejeune, the United States' largest Marine base, have come to light. For decades, the Marine Corps dumped toxic waste in Lejeune which leached into the groundwater, affecting as many as one million Marines and their families.

For me, this story is more than an abstraction. I was born at Lejeune in the 1980s. My father joined the Marines to help pay for college, and he served for four years as an officer before returning to Harvard to get a second (and eventually a third) degree. My dad was stationed in Lejeune in 1989, and I was born on July 4th of that year--a fitting start for a Quaker peace activist. When I first read about this story in The Washington Post, it hit me right in the gut. Is this me? Could I be sick? How could this happen?

The House Energy and Commerce Committee has approved legislation that would reverse President Obama’s rejection of the Keystone XL pipeline. Politicians and pundits alike have been promoting the pipeline because there is a lot of profit to be made. However, in order for the project to be approved they have to convince the American people of all of the hollow benefits that the pipeline would provide. Every single one of those benefits is a deception. Let’s take a closer look.

Surging gas prices, a ballooning deficit, and record profits for the oil industry have renewed interest in subsidies on Capital Hill. In response law-makers are rushing to hold hearings, and propose legislation on this politically sensitive issue.

The relationship between high gas prices and record paydays for the oil industry is fairly straight forward. As world crude-oil prices increase (which is determined on the international market and by some speculative trading), profit margins grow, while production prices stay relatively flat. Companies such as BP, Exxon, Shell, Chevron and ConocoPhillips, are able to pass these increased prices on to the costumer at little expense to operations.

Surging gas prices, a ballooning deficit, and record profits for the oil industry have renewed interest in subsidies on Capital Hill. In response law-makers are rushing to hold hearings, and propose legislation on this politically sensitive issue.

The relationship between high gas prices and record paydays for the oil industry is fairly straight forward. As world crude-oil prices increase (which is determined on the international market and by some speculative trading), profit margins grow, while production prices stay relatively flat. Companies such as BP, Exxon, Shell, Chevron and ConocoPhillips, are able to pass these increased prices on to the costumer at little expense to operations.

Yesterday, the Senate voted on four anti-EPA amendments, none of which received the required 60 votes. The four amendments to the Small Business Bill (S. 493) would have stripped the EPA of the authority to regulate greenhouse gasses. All 100 Senators voted on all four amendments, indicating the importance of the issue. Three of the four amendments were defeated by wide margins, while one amendment was split down the middle 50-50.

It was expected to be a very close vote and it was. Nonetheless it is a significant victory for the EPA and everyone who is concerned about greenhouse gas emissions, and public health. To everyone who emailed, called or wrote to your Senator, thank you. You made a difference.

One of the most gratifying aspects of working at FCNL is the constant communication and relationship building with friends and supporters around the country. I am always amazed at how engaged and passionate our supporters are on so many different issues. This has been evident throughout the process of FCNL’s work this year to protect the EPA’s ability to regulate greenhouse gas emissions.

With an important Senate vote this week on four amendments that would restrict the EPA’s ability to regulate harmful emissions, we at FCNL, went to the phones to call constituents around the country to voice their support for the EPA and the Clean Air Act. We spoke with people in Michigan, Minnesota, Pennsylvania, Ohio and Montana, asking them to contact their Senators in support of the EPA. The conversations we had were overwhelmingly positive, and everyone was more than willing to take the time to contact their representatives.

Today, I am cleaning up my emails, waiting for the Senate to vote on a gaggle of amendments that would restrict EPA’s authority to control greenhouse gases. They are supposed to vote today or tomorrow.

We have been lobbying hard for months against all anti-EPA bills, riders and amendments. This issue has moved so breathtakingly fast I am not sure I even have all the relevant amendments. Yesterday, someone asked me if I had a vote count. I am still tracking down amendments introduced in the last hour; it is impossible to know the views of swing Senators well enough to guess how they will react to these last minute proposals. The Senate in making sausages right now and it is beyond my powers to predict the size, shape and flavor of the resulting product.

Sometimes a crisis ignites a deep seeded sense of conviction, morality and emotion that can motivate us to change the way we think and act. Yet more commonly we as humans have a unique ability to rationalize an event to the point where we convince ourselves to endure the status quo. The ability to rationalize allows us to remove ourselves or differentiate from the original deterministic explanation, of the behavior, event, or action in question. This mechanism can be very useful in avoiding uncomfortable situations or true explanations, but it also creates subconscious barriers against feelings of guilt, inaction, or needed change.

The idea of ‘rationalizing’ was on my mind this week as I thought about the nuclear crisis in Japan and the response from US officials. What I’ve seen and heard is a lack of acknowledgment for the safety risks poised by nuclear power in the United States. Even as the Japanese struggle to regain control of three nuclear reactors, and deal with increased levels of radiation in water and food, many in this country seem less than concerned about the 104 operating nuclear power plants in the US.