The Utility companies have known since the 60's that carbon dioxide emissions were destroying the environment, they just didn't care.

Courtesy of HuffPo: 

Just a few days ago, an exhaustive report by the Energy and Policy Institute revealed that public utilities have been aware of the dangers of carbon dioxide emissions and the use of coal as an energy fuel since the 1960s. 

According to the study, in the 1970s, members of the Electric Power Research Institute, a group financed by the utility industry, testified before Congress that their own investigations have led them to believe that “the fossil fuels combustion will be essentially unacceptable, an important justification for expanding (...) solar energy options.” And by 1988, the same institute stated that, “There is growing consensus in the scientific community that the greenhouse effect is real.” 

Frustratingly, regardless of its strong awareness of what today is humanity’s most pressing challenge, this same industry years later launched a national campaign to deny the climate crisis, and undermine any national and international efforts to fight it. Several of these companies joined forces with the fossil fuel industry in a successful push for the U.S. to renounce the Kyoto Protocol in 2001. 

And today, Southern Company, the country’s third largest utility, persists on denying CO2 emissions are the main culprit in the climate crisis. Moreover, an important sector of this industry funds front groups that oppose any CO2 limits on coal-burning plants.

This kind of goes hand in glove with those discovered emails from Exxon that proved the oil giant knew full well that their product was killing the planet and then spent millions to keep that information from the public.

This shit drives me crazy, and is a strong indication of why we so desperately need the EPA.

And currently Trump's administration is in the process of dismantling it.

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. 

Army Corps of Engineers denies easement for Dakota pipeline.

Courtesy of NBC 4 Washington:

The secretary of the Army Corps of Engineers has told Standing Rock Sioux Chairman David Archambault that the current route for the Dakota Access pipeline will be denied. 

The proposed route led to a protest encampment by the Standing Rock Sioux and other activists. 

The 1,172-mile pipeline is nearly complete except for a small section beneath a Missouri River reservoir near the encampment, which is about 50 miles south of Bismarck.

Archambault cheered the decision in a statement Sunday. 

"I am thankful there were some leaders in the federal government that realized something was not right even though its legal," he said. "For the first time in history native American, they heard our voices. This is something that will go down in history and is a blessing for all indigenous people.

Well, that is great news for these protesters, who were joined today by a group of veterans. (Gee, I wonder if that had anything to do with this decision?)

However, it should be noted that if there is an appeal after Donald Trump takes office this decision can be reversed.

And don't forget Trump has an investment in this company and stands to benefit financially if the pipeline is completed.

Hillary Clinton promises "enough clean energy to power every home in America" by her second term.

Courtesy of The Hill:  

If elected president, Democrat Hillary Clinton says she can create enough green energy to power every home in America by the end of her second term. 

“By the end of my first term, we will have installed a half a billion more solar panels, and by the end of my second term, enough clean energy to power every home in America,” Clinton said at the Blue Jamboree in Charleston, S.C., on Saturday. 

The Democratic presidential front-runner said her plan to subsidize alternative sources of energy would not entail a middle-class tax hike. 

In fact, Clinton said she would reduce taxes for working-class families. 

“And people say, well, can you do that without raising taxes on the middle class? Absolutely,” she said. “That’s why I’m going to be fighting for tax cuts that help hard-working families get ahead.”

Okay look I am already supporting Hillary, and I think her path to the White House is fairly free of serious obstacle, however I am going to say right here that if she makes promises like this she sure as shit better be planning to keep them. 

Getting the country off of fossil fuels and onto renewable energy sources is a big deal to the progressive community, and if she fails to keep this promise she risks losing their support not just for herself, but for the Democratic party altogether.

Do I think it can be done?

You bet your ass I do.

And I think if Hillary is serious about making this happen, that she can do just that. So long as she recognizes that the blowback from big oil is going to be unprecedented.

And that is saying something considering what we have seen during the Obama administration.

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?

Oil company offers Iowa resident teenage prostitute in exchange for the right to build an oil pipeline on his property.

Hughie Tweedy courtesy of Blog for Iowa

Courtesy of Radio Iowa: 

A landowner from southeast Iowa today said he has recorded proof a land agent for the proposed Bakken Pipeline offered to get him an 18-year-old prostitute if he’d grant access rights to his property so the pipeline may pass through. 

A spokeswoman for the pipeline developers issued a written response this afternoon. 

“We are aware of allegations that have been made concerning the conduct of an employee of one of our contractors,” said Vicki Anderson Granado, media relations coordinator for Energy Transfer Partners. “We take these types of matters very seriously and are investigating further.” 

Hughie Tweedy of Montrose said he recorded two of his conversations with the land agent. 

“On these recordings you will hear evidence of my senior pipeline representative offering me not once, not twice, but three times the sexual services of a woman,” Tweedy said, “the last time being a $1200 teenage prostitute.”

This is my favorite part:  

“If an old junkyard dog like me was offered the sexual services of little girls to get my hackles down, I wonder what was offered to the powerbrokers of this state to gain their support for silence,” Tweedy said. “Shame, shame, shame.”

I wish I could be surprised by this, but after living through the seventies and eighties up here in Alaska, when oil companies were throwing money around like confetti, I have seen a number of deals that were signed with one or more of the participant's pants down around their ankles.

This Tweedy guy is a pretty tough cookie. He refers to the oil companies as the "pipeline mafia" and claims they treated him like a hick and a fool.

Apparently he was not quite the fool they were hoping for.

Texas is passing a bill to ban cities from banning fracking. So they're banning banning?

Courtesy of The New York Times:  

Lawmakers moved Monday to prohibit Texas cities from banning hydraulic fracturing and other potentially environmentally harmful oil and natural gas drilling activities within their boundaries, a major victory for industry groups and top conservatives. The state scrambled to limit local energy exploration prohibitions after Denton, a university town near Dallas, passed an ordinance in November against fracking, trying to keep encroaching drilling outside their community. The measure by Representative Drew Darby, a San Angelo Republican, allows communities to regulate things above ground such as noise, traffic and lighting associated with oil and gas activities, but forbids most limits on activity below the surface. The bill passed the Senate on Monday and was sent to Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican, who is expected to sign it.

Boy leave it to Texas to ban their citizen's right to protect themselves against suffering through a dramatically increased number of earthquakes and having their groundwater poisoned by oil companies.

Personally I just wish that Texas would stop doing stupid things so that we could talk about other states for a change.

Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski gets bill passed in the Senate that would allow the selling of public lands. Still working for the oil companies aren't you Lisa?

Courtesy of Think Progress:  

The new chair of the powerful Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee secured a vote Thursday afternoon in the U.S. Senate on a controversial proposal to sell off America’s national forests and other public lands. 

U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski’s (R-AK) amendment, which passed by a vote of 51 to 49, is now part of the Senate’s nonbinding budget resolution. The proposal would support and fund state efforts — which many argue are unconstitutional — to seize and sell America’s public lands. These include all national forests, wildlife refuges, wilderness areas, historic sites, and national monuments. 

Murkowski’s amendment, which would need further legislation to become law, follows a similar proposal from House Natural Resources Committee Chair Rob Bishop (R-UT) to spend $50 million of taxpayer dollars to fund the sale or transfer of U.S. public lands to states. 

The land grab proposals in Congress this year appear to echo the calls of outlaw rancher Cliven Bundy, best known for his armed standoff with federal officials last year, who has infamously refused to recognize the authority of the federal government, including over public lands.

You know just when you think that perhaps Lisa Murkowski is one of the better Republicans she does something like this to remind you that there ARE no better Republicans.

The reasoning Murkowski is using to push this vote is that the government could sell the public lands to pay down the deficit. A deficit by the way that the President has already reduced by approximately two thirds without selling any of our national forests to do so.

No if you know Lisa Murkowski, and sadly I do, she is only thinking of those sweet oil company profits and how nice a portion of them will look inside her campaign coffers the next time she runs for office.

She is, after all, her father's daughter.

Leading climate change denying scientist has been paid in excess of 1.2 million by fossil fuel companies over the last decade. Can you say "conflict of interest?"

Courtesy of the New York Times:  

For years, politicians wanting to block legislation on climate change have bolstered their arguments by pointing to the work of a handful of scientists who claim that greenhouse gases pose little risk to humanity. 

One of the names they invoke most often is Wei-Hock Soon, known as Willie, a scientist at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics who claims that variations in the sun’s energy can largely explain recent global warming. He has often appeared on conservative news programs, testified before Congress and in state capitals, and starred at conferences of people who deny the risks of global warming. 

But newly released documents show the extent to which Dr. Soon’s work has been tied to funding he received from corporate interests. 

He has accepted more than $1.2 million in money from the fossil-fuel industry over the last decade while failing to disclose that conflict of interest in most of his scientific papers. At least 11 papers he has published since 2008 omitted such a disclosure, and in at least eight of those cases, he appears to have violated ethical guidelines of the journals that published his work. 

The documents show that Dr. Soon, in correspondence with his corporate funders, described many of his scientific papers as “deliverables” that he completed in exchange for their money. He used the same term to describe testimony he prepared for Congress. 

Though Dr. Soon did not respond to questions about the documents, he has long stated that his corporate funding has not influenced his scientific findings.

Well of course they didn't. Why would we think otherwise?

Apparently this guy's "work" has been cited by climate change denying politicians as well: 

Politicians who repeatedly cite Soon’s work include Republican Sen. James M. Inhofe of Oklahama, who in a Senate debate in January pointed to photos of scientists who doubt climate change. One of them was Soon. 

“These are scientists that cannot be challenged,” Inhofe said.

Yeah I'm going to disagree with that last statement. 

This is why it is always important to take notice of the consensus reached by the majority of scientists in any given field.

Because you can always find some unethical scientist to deny the facts of evolution, or suggest that vaccinations cause Autism, or claim that man is not responsible for climate change.

But when that person stands alone, or has only handful that agree with them, more often than not somebody is stuffing their pockets full of cash and pulling their strings to get them to say whatever the hell they want them to say.

In my opinion this guy is a traitor to his profession, and should excommunicated from the brotherhood of scientists.

Have you wondered why so many Senators are still pushing to build the Keystone Pipeline? Well wonder no more.

Courtesy of International Business Times: 

The oil and gas industry gave nearly $250,000 to each of the 62 senators who voted in favor of the controversial Keystone XL pipeline project late last month, according to MapLight, a nonpartisan research organization that tracks the influence of money in politics. The revelations come as the House of Representatives is set to vote on and expected to pass the Senate legislation Wednesday that would approve the pipeline and start transferring oil in western Canada to refineries on the Gulf Coast. President Barack Obama has threatened to veto the project on a number of grounds, including environmental concerns. 

The oil and gas industry, which stands to benefit from the Keystone XL pipeline, gave $236,544 on average to the senators who voted yes on Keystone, or about 10 times more than the senators who voted no. The 36 senators against the pipeline received about $22,882 apiece in campaign contributions from the oil and gas industry. There was no data on contributions to House members. 

Sen. John Hoeven, R-N.D., the sponsor of the Keystone Senate bill, received about $275,000 from the industry, according to MapLight, but he wasn’t the biggest beneficiary of oil and gas industry money in the Senate. That distinction goes to Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, who has received more than $1 million from the industry, which is important to Texas. The Democratic co-sponsor of the Keystone bill, Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia, received about $200,000 from the industry -- the biggest beneficiary of oil and gas money among Democrats. But there were 24 Republicans who got larger contributions from the industry than him.

You see it doesn't matter that building the pipeline will do NOTHING to help America with its energy independence, or that it will only create about 35 permanent jobs, the important thing is that these politicians are getting fat and happy off of energy company largesse. And as long as that continues efforts to build this monstrosity will continue with only President Obama to stand in its way.

Hmm, now I'm beginning to wonder which other folks have been paid off by big oil. Such as radio talk show hosts, Fox News contributors, and former politicians turned reality show failures?

The future of car manufacturing is just around the corner.

Courtesy of BBC News:  

Japanese carmaker Toyota has said it is looking to start commercial sales of fuel cell-powered cars by 2015. 

Toyota set the target as it unveiled a concept fuel cell powered car, called the FCV, at the Tokyo Motor Show. 

Its cells can be recharged within minutes and it can cover about 500km (300 miles) on a single charge, according to the firm. 

Earlier this week, rival Hyundai said it plans to start mass production of such cars as early as next year. 

The South Korean company has announced plans to start commercial sales of a fuel cell-powered version of its sports utility vehicle, the Tucson, in the US market. 

Honda Motor is also expected to unveil its latest concept version of a fuel cell-powered vehicle later this week. 

Many carmakers have been looking to develop the fuel cell technology further and bring it to mass production. 

One of the main reasons is that it is emission-free. 

The technology uses hydrogen to generate electricity to power the engine and the waste products are heat and harmless water. 

At the same time, fuel cells charge much faster and travel a longer distance after being charged, compared with battery-operated electric cars.

I have to admit that I have been waiting for some real movement on this front for quite some time now.  As a matter of fact I have been keeping my Durango tuned up and in good repair hoping that it will last long enough for me to move to a non-fossil fuel powered car with my next purchase.

I had some hopes of going electric, but this actually sounds much more promising. IF they can work out the issue of getting enough hydrogen filling stations built to meet demand.

Oh well, here's hoping that the oil companies don't do everything in their power to destroy our chances of moving to this new technology like they once did in response to the electric car.

By the way this is one of the few topics these days on which my daughter and I are in complete agreement.

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.

Fox News attempts to explain the gap between Germany's highly successful solar energy industry, as opposed to America's lackluster one, on the fact that Germany is sunnier than the US. I kid you not.

Courtesy of Slate:

Thanks to Fox News and its expert commentators, millions of Americans now understand the real, hidden reason why Germany's solar-energy industry is so much further along than ours. Turns out it has nothing to do with the fact that Germany's government has long supported the industry far more generously, with policies like feed-in tariffs that stimulate investment in green technologies. No, the real reason is much simpler, explained a trio of journalists on Fox & Friends: It's always sunny in Germany! 

"The industry's future looks dim," intoned host Gretchen Carlson at the beginning of the segment, which was preserved for posterity by the liberal blog Media Matters for America. She and her co-host went on to ridicule Obama's "failed" solar subsidies, adding, "The United States simply hasn't figured out how to do solar cheaply and effectively. You look at the country of Germany, it's working out great for them." Near the end of the segment, it occurred to Carlson to ask her expert guest, Fox Business reporter Shibani Joshi, why it might be that Germany's solar-power sector is doing so much better. "What was Germany doing correct? Are they just a smaller country, and that made it more feasible?" Carlson asked. 

Joshi's jaw-dropping response: "They're a smaller country, and they've got lots of sun. Right? They've got a lot more sun than we do." In case that wasn't clear enough for some viewers, Joshi went on: "The problem is it's a cloudy day and it's raining, you're not gonna have it." Sure, California might get sun now and then, Joshi conceded, "but here on the East Coast, it's just not going to work." 

Wouldn't you think that some scientist, somewhere, would have noticed that the East Coast is far less sunny than Central Europe and therefore incapable of producing solar power on the same scale? 

You would—if it were true. As Media Matters' Max Greenberg notes, it isn't. Not even remotely. According to maps put out by the U.S. Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory, virtually the entirety of the continental United States gets more sun than even the sunniest part of Germany. In fact, NREL senior scientist Sarah Kurtz said via email, "Germany's solar resource is akin to Alaska's," the U.S. state with by far the lowest annual average of direct solar energy.

As we have reported earlier this week, there are fewer and fewer people who trust Fox News these days, but that is not the only place that puts out this kind of anti-green energy propaganda.

There are also many Republican members of Congress and the Senate whose campaigns were largely funded by energy companies, and their supporters, for the sole purpose of fighting the inevitable move toward solar energy and renewable energy sources which is really what's at the heart of our sluggishness in moving that direction.

Of course the energy companies have far more insidious methods for fighting the move away from fossil fuels as well.

If you happened to watch the documentary Jesus Camp you probably saw this scene where the mom was homeschooling her son and teaching him that global warming was a fraud and only used as a political tactic. You KNOW that is something that the oil companies paid to have put in those books in order to indoctrinate children into believing that green energy is an unnecessary waste of money, just like those folks in the Fox and Friends clip above would also have you believe.

By the way. my daughter is a HUGE proponent of green energy, and would like all of you to know that many people in Alaska DO have solar panels in their homes that work quite well.

“We’re Awake and We’re Standing Up” Meet Ta’Kaiya Blaney the eleven year old Canadian who is scaring the crap out of certain energy company executives.

Courtesy of Yes! Magazine: If we keep waiting for change, it's never going to come," Ta'Kaiya tells the people gathered for and Idle No More event in Courtenay, British Columbia. 

At 11 years old, Ta'Kaiya has become something of an icon for the Canadian movement for environmental justice on First Nations lands. 

In July 2011,she attempted to deliver a letter outlining the community's concerns to Enbridge, the company that is planning to build the proposed Northern Gateway tar sands pipeline. She was escorted off the company’s property by security guards. 

"I don’t know what they find so scary about me,” she said. “I just want them to hear what I have to say.” 

Now Ta'Kaiya stands among the hundreds protesting Canda's C-45 bill, which many say jeopardizes the land rights of First Nations people.

This young environmentalist is rapidly become the face of the anti-tar sands movement, not to mention an articulate representative of the First nations people, and the the energy companies have every right to find her "scary" because she is just brimming with talent.

Here check out her song "Shallow Waters."

I know right? This young lady is going to be a huge public relations nightmare for these Canadian energy companies.

And I love it!

Rachel Maddow's report on the stranded oil rig in Alaska.

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Damn she always does SUCH a good job!

By the way apparently the weather has cleared today and a salvage team was able to board her and do an assessment.  So far they have been tight lipped as to what they found.

That does not seem like a good sign.

The Kulluk, Shell Oil's antiquated old drilling ship, was ripped from its tow lines by high winds and has become grounded near Kodiak Island. Chances of a diesel fuel leak very high.

Courtesy of the Guardian:  

A large drill ship belonging to the oil company Shell has run aground off Alaska after drifting in stormy weather, company and government officials said.

The ship, the Kulluk, broke away from one of its tow lines on Monday afternoon and was driven, within hours, on to rocks just off Kodiak Island, where it grounded at about 9pm Alaska time, officials said. 

The 18-member crew had been evacuated by the coastguard late on Saturday because of risks from the ongoing storm. 

There was no known spill and no reports of damage, but the Kulluk had about 155,000 gallons of fuel on board, said coastguard commander Shane Montoya, the leader of the incident command team. 

With winds reported as reaching 60 miles an hour and Gulf of Alaska seas of up to 12 metres, responders were unable to keep the ship from grounding, he told a news conference late on Monday night in Anchorage. 

"We are now entering into the salvage and possible spill-response phase of this event."

I received a phone call on this from one of my sources a few hours ago, and from what I understand Shell was essentially warned NOT to go through with putting his drill ship out into these waters. they were told the ship was not prepared for the type of seas it would encounter and that it was literally an accident waiting for  place to happen.

Well now it has happened, and my sources tell me that the expectations are very high that there already substantial leaks, though nothing has officially been confirmed as of yet.

Stay tuned, this is still unfolding.

Germany guides the way in the field of renewable energy.

Courtesy of the Guardian:  

Germany has reduced its greenhouse gas emissions significantly in recent years as it has pushed forward a renewable agenda leading Europe into an age of wind and solar power. 

In the past year, the country's CO2 emissions fell by 2.4% compared with 2010, according to figures released by Germany's Federal Environment Agency (UBA). The decrease, say experts, has largely come through a push towards renewable energy that has accelerated since the country began its move away from nuclear power. 

In the first six months of 2012, the amount of electricity produced using renewable energy rose from 20% to 25%, bringing the country closer to its targets of 35% by 2020 and 80% by 2050. 

"We are on a good track in regard to the increase in the share of renewables," said Brigitte Knopf, deputy head of research at the sustainable solutions project at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (Pik). "This is a story of success, though some challenges are still ahead."

Obviously if Germany is capable of such a significant move away from fossil fuels and nuclear energies so is America. But then why are we so far behind?


Well I think since we know that many of our politicians are addicted to oil money, that answer is probably obvious.

However it is worth noting that the presidential candidate most favored by big oil was Mitt Romney, and he lost. So perhaps we are at the precipice of a major change in our country's energy philosophy.

Let's hope so.

The Obama campaign's response to lies and attack ads is both appropriate and about damn time!

Clearly the Obama campaign has decided to take these attempts to misrepresent the President's record, and lie to the American people, head on and shove them right back down the Romney campaigns throat.

Which by the way is exactly how I would respond to this bullshit if I were running the Obama campaign.

These SuperPACs are going to throw truckloads of money at destroying Obama's reputation, and obfuscating the truth, so the best tactic for dealing with them is to aggressively fight back with the truth.

Part propaganda, part lame game show ripoff, all bullshit, Fox's "Paying at the Pump" with Sarah Palin and Eric Bolling is "must not see TV."

I actually told myself not to watch this.

I said "Gryphen you have watched enough of this lunatic, take a break. Isn't there one of those shows where people pretend to fall down or drive their golf carts into a lake to win money that you can watch?'

But somehow as I was channel surfing I accidentally landed on Fox News.  Before I could hit the button and save myself I saw this.

WTF? I know right?

I actually saw some of the show before they introduced Glenn Beck's old chalkboard and brought out one of the suitcases from "Deal or No Deal" to introduce an unworkable solution to high gas prices. (Which by the way Bolling's guest, and ex-"Die Hard" villain, CFTC Chairman Bart Chilton rejected as unfair to the average traders.)

In the earlier part Bolling and Palin, doing their best Frank Luntz impersonations, quizzed an audience packed to the brim with representatives from giant energy lobbyists like the American Petroleum Institute and the Koch brother's Americans for Prosperity. There was nothing even remotely subtle in the fact that the show was a giant advertisement for oil exploration and an attack on any green policy which would negatively impact the fossil fuel industry. Things got so animated at one point I thought they might bring out an effigy of Obama to burn right there in the studio.

Palin seemed completely ill at ease (Even though it was clear that she had a teleprompter feeding her her "off the cuff" responses), and for all the world looked like an old used up game show hostess on her last low budget television gig before she ends up turning tricks for pocket change and food stamps.

She NEVER seemed to really understand the conversation, despite her much trumpeted "energy expert" credentials, and spent much of the program trying to make sure the camera only caught her "good side." (Not to Palin: Sorry sweetie, NONE of them are "good sides" anymore.)

All in all I could not figure out if I should laugh, cry, or cup my hands over my ears to keep my brain cells from dying of stupidity. (That last option might have been the best.)

Clearly Palin is working her virtually non existent ass off to impress the Fox News folks that she can headline a show.  Whether they take the bait or not is anybody's guess (after all the bar IS pretty low), but if this were an audition for most any other network, and if she were not once a Republican VP candidate, there is NO WAY we would be seeing her on our televisions ever again.

(H/T to Mediaite.)

Tiny Alaskan village sues energy companies for conspiring to cover up their responsibility for climate change.

Courtesy of the Alaska Dispatch:

The battle between some of the world's most powerful energy companies and an Alaska village that's losing ground to climate change heads to federal appeals court on Monday. 

Nine Kivalina residents, having survived the recent mega-storm that walloped western Alaska, will be at the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco to watch their lawyers argue that ExxonMobil Corp., BP, ConocoPhillips and other corporate Goliaths owe the village at least $95 million in damages. 

A key Kivalina argument charges that the energy companies are engaged in a conspiracy to cover up the link between their emissions and the earth's warming temperatures. A similar argument proved pivotal decades ago in helping smokers prevail in court against tobacco giants. 

The Northwest Alaska village lost the first round of its lawsuit in 2009, when a U.S. District Court dismissed it, saying climate-change pollution needs to be regulated by Congress and the administration, not courts. The village lacked standing, the court said, because it could not show the companies' emissions caused the erosion threatening the village. 

But Kivalina is optimistic this time around. 

"What we have going for us is the science is changing by the day," and the causal connection between greenhouse-gas emissions and the climate is clarifying, said Heather Kendall-Miller, an attorney for Kivalina and head of the Alaska office of the Native American Rights Fund. 

Alaska spokespeople for ConocoPhillips and BP, and a ConocoPhillips attorney named in the case, would not comment about the companies' arguments.

There are few places on earth that have felt the impact of climate change as acutely as those living in these remote Alaskan villages.

It seems very appropriate for them to be the ones mounting the legal battle that will finally force these energy companies to admit that they have been working for decades to hide the truth about their responsibility, and spending millions of dollars refuting the science that dares to say otherwise.

Now THESE are Alaskans that we can all feel proud to have living in our great state.

Goliath, meet David.