The Trump Administration will not, repeat will not, repeal those sanctions stopping Exxon from completing that huge deal with Russian oil company.

Courtesy of CNBC:

The Trump administration will not grant special permission to U.S. companies, including Exxon Mobil, to carry out oil and gas drilling in Russia while sanctions remain intact, according to a statement from Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin on Friday.

Exxon tried to secure a waiver that would let it drill in parts of Russia currently blocked by U.S. sanctions, The Wall Street Journal reported this week. That ban was related to Moscow's 2014 annexation of Crimea and support for separatists in eastern Ukraine. 

The push came about a month after former Exxon CEO Rex Tillerson became secretary of State. 

The Treasury's decision on Friday came as the Trump administration changed its tone on Russia.

Okay to me this seems as if the investigation into collusion between the Trump campaign and the Russians has really got the administration worried.

Because I will goddamn guarantee you that if there were not so much controversy about it, and so many eyes paying attention, that these sanctions would have been lifted so fast they would have left skid marks.

In fact I think it was this deal that convinced Trump to choose Tillerson, former CEO of Exxon, for the job of Secretary of State.

Now one has to wonder how Putin feels about throwing his support behind Trump knowing that he cannot do any of the things that he wanted him to do once he was elected president?

I would not be at all surprised to see Tillerson tender his resignation in the next few months.

Especially because it appears there is a whole lot of shit, about to hit a whole lot of fans, in the very near future.

In the middle of an investigation into Russian meddling to help elect Donald Trump, his Secretary of State's former employer asks for a waiver on Russian sanctions.

Courtesy of the New York Times:  

Exxon Mobil is pursuing a waiver from Treasury Department sanctions on Russia to drill in the Black Sea in a venture with Rosneft, the Russian state oil company, a former State Department official said on Wednesday. An oil industry official confirmed the account. 

The waiver application was made under the Obama administration, the officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity, and the company has not dropped the proposal. 

The proposal is now before the Trump administration at a delicate time in Russian-American relations, with rising tensions over the war in Syria and a looming congressional inquiry into reports of Russian efforts to influence the United States presidential election.

Here is how John McCain responded to the news.

Are they crazy? @WSJ: "Exxon Seeks U.S. Waiver to Resume #Russia Oil Venture" https://t.co/CHKS3sjOa8

— John McCain (@SenJohnMcCain) April 19, 2017

Well that seems an appropriate question.

As you might remember Rachel Maddow reported on this Rosnef deal way back in January, and actually suggested it had a lot to do with why the Russians were so keen on helping Trump win the White House.

Back then she even stated that the deal was "Biggest oil deal in the history of deals. So big it was expected to change the historical trajectory of Russia."

Yesterday Maddow tweeted this in response to the Wall Street Journal's reporting.

Ka-ching! Payout time.https://t.co/fovQGP09AQ

— Rachel Maddow MSNBC (@maddow) April 19, 2017

How could this NOT be our first response to hearing Exxon make this request?

So the question to ask is whether the Trump Administration is actually arrogant enough to grant this request, and what Russia will do if they do not?

Before they started spending millions to refute the science Shell Oil company made a little film about the catastrophic dangers of global warming.

Courtesy of The Guardian:

The oil giant Shell issued a stark warning of the catastrophic risks of climate change more than a quarter of century ago in a prescient 1991 film that has been rediscovered. 

However, since then the company has invested heavily in highly polluting oil reserves and helped lobby against climate action, leading to accusations that Shell knew the grave risks of global warming but did not act accordingly. 

Shell’s 28-minute film, called Climate of Concern, was made for public viewing, particularly in schools and universities. It warned of extreme weather, floods, famines and climate refugees as fossil fuel burning warmed the world. The serious warning was “endorsed by a uniquely broad consensus of scientists in their report to the United Nations at the end of 1990”, the film noted. 

“If the weather machine were to be wound up to such new levels of energy, no country would remain unaffected,” it says. “Global warming is not yet certain, but many think that to wait for final proof would be irresponsible. Action now is seen as the only safe insurance.” 

A separate 1986 report, marked “confidential” and also seen by the Guardian, notes the large uncertainties in climate science at the time but nonetheless states: “The changes may be the greatest in recorded history.” 

The predictions in the 1991 film for temperature and sea level rises and their impacts were remarkably accurate, according to scientists, and Shell was one of the first major oil companies to accept the reality and dangers of climate change.

Of course after this very accurate film was produced for public consumption Shell then apparently had a change of heart and spent millions essentially fighting back against the facts shared in the video, undermining renewable energy policies, and spending billions to conduct tar sand drilling.

It should also be noted that uncovered emails, going back as far as 1981, demonstrated that oil giant Exxon was also well aware that Climate Change was a real danger and that it was man made.

Essentially this just demonstrates that these oil companies have known for decades that Climate Change is caused by their own activities as fossil fuel companies and that they have aggressively worked to keep that knowledge out of the hands of the public while continuing to negatively impact our environment.

Donald Trump chooses the freaking CEO of Exxon Mobil to be his Secretary of State. Gee, no way we will get into a war over oil now, right?

Seriously? He picked me? Get out of here.

Courtesy of The Daily Beast:

President-elect Donald Trump has chosen Exxon Mobil CEO Rex Tillerson as secretary of state, according to NBC News. The report cited two sources close to the situation as saying Tillerson had been confirmed as Trump’s pick after earlier being floated as a top choice. It was also reportedly “very likely” that Tillerson, who has no experience in government, would be paired with former U.N. ambassador John Bolton as deputy secretary of state, NBC News reported. Tillerson has strong ties to Moscow, having secured a 2011 deal with the Kremlin to access Arctic resources in Russia. That deal was blocked, however, when U.S. sanctions against Russia came into effect for its occupation of Crimea and aggression in eastern Ukraine. Tillerson was outspoken in his criticism of the sanctions for the “broad collateral damage” they resulted in.

Great a pro-Russian anti-environmentalist, sounds like the perfect guy to help completely screw up this country's future.  

And with freaking John "I hate the UN" Bolton as his deputy secretary it appears that Trump didn't even bother to try and leave any illusion that he was really ever interested in "draining the swamp."

An interesting factoid, Tillerson has NEVER worked anywhere except Exxon, where he was first hired in 1975.

So you can see that he is simply brimming over with a lack of experience.

I can't believe I am saying this out loud, but I actually cannot imagine that giving Sarah Palin this position could have really been any worse.

Either way you are getting a tragically unqualified person, who hates the planet earth, and thinks constantly raping it is a sign of affection. 

New York prosecutor considers suing not only Exxon but also other oil companies who helped to obscure facts about climate science.

Courtesy of All Gov: 

Other oil companies might soon find themselves in prosecutors’ crosshairs just as Exxon Mobil is being investigated about whether it hid information about climate change. 

Exxon Mobil is now being scrutinized by the New York attorney general about its record on climate change. Other companies, such as BP, Shell and Texaco, which is now part of Chevron, were also among those that questioned climate science and joined organizations that fought policies designed to tackle the problem. According to energy industry experts, those companies could also be investigated to determine whether their public stance on the issue coincided with their internal discussions. 

“Exxon Mobil is not alone,” Stephen Zamora, a professor at the University of Houston Law Center, told The New York Times. “This is not likely to be an isolated matter.” 

“There was a concerted effort by multiple American oil companies to obscure the emerging climate science consensus throughout the 1990s,” Paul Bledsoe, a former White House aide to President Bill Clinton on climate issues, told the Times. “This group may be vulnerable to legal challenge.”

Okay I am not only crossing my fingers in the hopes that New York DOES sue these oil companies, but also that other states follow their example and do the same.

I also agree with Congressmen Ted Lieu and Mark DeSaulnier that the federal government needs to launch an investigation as well. Which I hope would end with ALL of the oil companies facing serious charges of endangering the lives and well being of the American citizens in federal court.

These assholes put our lives, our children's lives, and even the future of this planet in jeopardy, all in the name of making a profit.

Personally I think being sued for billions of dollars is too good for them.

Do you think we could being back the firing squad?

Hillary Clinton also calls for an investigation of Exxon in response to evidence that they knew about global warming as far back as 1981 and suppressed the evidence.

Courtesy of TPM:  

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton has joined the ranks of politicians and environmentalists calling for a federal investigation of ExxonMobil. 

At a town hall event in New Hampshire on Thursday, local community organizer Jordan Cichon asked Clinton whether she would call on the Department of Justice to investigate the fossil fuel giant of engaging in a cover-up to mislead the public about the risks of human-caused climate change. 

“Yes, yes, they should,” Clinton responded. “There’s a lot of evidence that they misled.”

Holy shit! You just know that caused certain heads to explode over at Exxon. 

This is all in response to those e-mails that were discovered showing that scientists at Exxon knew that they were helping to destroy the environment and then sent out misinformation to refute talk of climate change. 

In all fairness it should be noted that Hillary is a little late to this, as Bernie Sanders has already requested an investigation.

However I am not in the mood to nitpick. The facts are that the two top contenders for the Democratic nomination are calling for an investigation, and THAT is a very good thing.

Bernie Sanders wants to launch investigation into fact that Exxon knew that fossil fuels were causing climate change back in 1977 and lied about that and worked to suppress the evidence.

Courtesy of Think Progress: 

Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) wants ExxonMobil investigated by the Department of Justice. 

In a letter to Attorney General Loretta Lynch on Tuesday, Sanders charged the oil giant of engaging in a cover-up to intentionally mislead the public about the reality of human-caused climate change, and by extension the risks of its carbon-intensive product. 

“It appears that Exxon knew its product was causing harm to the public, and spent millions of dollars to obfuscate the facts in the public discourse,” Sanders wrote. “The information that has come to light about Exxon’s past activities raises potentially serious concerns that should be investigated.” 

The information Sanders cited was a recent investigation by Inside Climate News, which found that the ExxonMobil conducted research as far back as 1977 affirming that climate change is caused by carbon emissions from fossil fuels. At the same time, the oil giant gave millions of dollars to politicians and organizations that promote climate science denial, and spent millions more lobbying to prevent regulations to limit carbon emissions.

Now see THIS is the kind of thing we should be spending taxpayer money to investigate instead of Hillary's e-mail server.

Damn Bernie is really working to seduce me again. And I have to admit I am falling for it.

This is EXACTLY the kind of hard charging leadership we need running this country.

P.S. By the way some of you may remember that IM covered this information about Exxon back in July. Nice to see that somebody is finally going to do something with it. 

E-mail proves Exxon knew about man made climate change back in 1981 yet still spent millions to promote denial of that truth.

Courtesy of The Guardian:  

ExxonMobil, the world’s biggest oil company, knew as early as 1981 of climate change – seven years before it became a public issue, according to a newly discovered email from one of the firm’s own scientists. Despite this the firm spent millions over the next 27 years to promote climate denial. 

The email from Exxon’s in-house climate expert provides evidence the company was aware of the connection between fossil fuels and climate change, and the potential for carbon-cutting regulations that could hurt its bottom line, over a generation ago – factoring that knowledge into its decision about an enormous gas field in south-east Asia. The field, off the coast of Indonesia, would have been the single largest source of global warming pollution at the time. 

“Exxon first got interested in climate change in 1981 because it was seeking to develop the Natuna gas field off Indonesia,” Lenny Bernstein, a 30-year industry veteran and Exxon’s former in-house climate expert, wrote in the email. “This is an immense reserve of natural gas, but it is 70% CO2,” or carbon dioxide, the main driver of climate change. 

However, Exxon’s public position was marked by continued refusal to acknowledge the dangers of climate change, even in response to appeals from the Rockefellers, its founding family, and its continued financial support for climate denial. Over the years, Exxon spent more than $30m on thinktanks and researchers that promoted climate denial, according to Greenpeace.

It should be noted that recently Exxon stated that they no longer fund climate change denial, which of course would be more impressive if it did not come 27 years too late.

There are of course other fossil fuel companies still spending millions to undermine the scientific findings, and I think we can all assume that they know the truth just like Exxon did way back in 1981.

They are murdering our planet in the name of profits, and we are still allowing it to happen.

Activists obtain footage from Mayflower, Arkansas that Exxon is desperate that you never see.

Courtesy of Leak Source:  

Yesterday, activist indy news team JNL RadikalMedia did what the mainstream media won’t or can’t do, providing exclusive video from the scene of Exxon’s oil pipeline spill in Mayflower, Arkansas. The video shows what can only be described as a lake of oil. 

Allegedly Exxon has been pumping the spill into this area. Exxon’s absorbent pads aka paper towels can also be seen scattered across the ground.

Here is the video that they shot.

From all reports Exxon has essentially established a police state, keeping journalists out and even maintaining a no fly zone over the area. 

I am angry that Exxon still has this much power in this country, and I think it is well past time for them to be treated like exactly what they are, environmental criminals!

You can see more gut wrenching pictures here.

The video the Exxon oil company, and the Republican party, DON'T want you to see. Update!

Courtesy of Raw Story: 

An Exxon-Mobil oil pipeline ruptured Friday afternoon in the town of Mayflower, Arkansas, forcing the evacuation of 20 homes and shutting down sections of interstate highway. According to Little Rock’s KATV, a hazardous materials team from the Office of Emergency Management has contained the spill and is currently attempting a cleanup. 

The burst pipe is part of the Pegasus pipeline network, which connects tar sands along the Gulf coast to refineries in Houston. Thousands of gallons of crude oil erupted from the breach around 3:00 p.m. on Friday, spilling through a housing subdivision and into the town’s storm drainage system, fouling drainage ditches and shutting down Highway 365 and Interstate 40. 

Residents were evacuated to avoid health hazards from crude oil fumes and to keep stray sparks from igniting the standing oil. Emergency workers contained the spill by hastily constructing earthen dams.

According to the YouTube link over 84,000 gallons have spilled into the town so far.

You know it is bad enough to have an oil pipeline burst in a remote parts of Alaska but so much worse when the spill is right next door and forces the evacuation of your entire neighborhood.

Perhaps THIS will be enough to get certain politicians to reconsider the idea of building the Keystone XL project.

What am I saying? After all you can bet the pipeline won't be built next to any of the homes of powerful Republican Senators now will it?

Update: This is somebody's backyard in Mayflower, Arkansas.

That is NOT water.