The idea that Keystone XL will improve U.S. oil supply is a documented scam being played on the American people by Big Oil and its friends in Washington DC
Editor's note: The debate over the Keystone XL pipeline is a bit outside the RoundUp's bailiwick but it serves to illustrate how the conventional media, along with powerful political and business interests, conveniently obscure information that could otherwise turn the debate (and story line) on its head.
This happens time and again with important matters at the local level, right here in Hays County – roads, development, water deals, over-the-top debt, millions and millions in consultant contracts (nearly $3 million to just one road consultant so far – Prime Strategies). Very recently, there was a flareup over two county appointments to a citizen advisory group. Not all the facts have been revealed nor reported about how an ex-convict and a man who reportedly pleaded guilty to public lewdness in 2001 came to be appointed by county commissioners to the current Hays County transportation plan citizens advisory group. The same two offenders served on a 2008 transportation advisory committee. One has mysteriously resigned from the current transportation advisory group (and been replaced) and the other remains listed on the county's website but is supposed to have resigned. While the resignations are appropriate, the two commissioners (Messrs. Conley and Jones) who made these appointments should explain why they made them in the first place. Constituents have a right to know if any ethics related policy was violated. But as in so many other cases, this matter is likely to be brushed aside as irrelevant. No need for accountability and no need to clean up the appointment process. So the story line remains the same: "The people don't think it's important, we can handle it. It is business as usual for Hays County Government."
As for Keystone, President Obama will continue to get hammered for stopping a project that big media and politicians are saying will make America more energy independent and produce thousands of jobs. Keystone's proponents will stick to their story, which big media will report. Information that disproves the two biggest assertions – energy independence and jobs – will be ignored.
Meanwhile, consumers, voters and taxpayers, the common people – we who are supposed to count the most in a democracy – are reduced to playing the blindfold and spin game Pin the Tail on the Donkey, but we certainly have the choice not to play. Is it any wonder that voters are leaving the Republican and Democratic parties in droves?
Send your comments and questions to roundup.editor@gmail.com, to Commissioners Mark Jones, mark.jones@co.hays.tx.us, and Will Conley, will.conley@co.hays.tx.us, or click on the "comments" at the bottom of the post
Keystone – The Conventional Story Line
Politico.com | By Jake Sherman Keystone XL pipeline a priority for Fred Upton (BALTIMORE Jan. 20, 2012) — House Energy and Commerce Chairman Fred Upton said on Friday he wants to jump-start the Keystone XL pipeline project on the back of legislation to extend the payroll tax holiday until the end of the year.
and Upton, foreground
“I’m there,” the Michigan congressman said at the GOP’s annual retreat, adding it’s “within the scope” of the negotiations by the joint House-Senate conference committee considering the tax-cut extension.
It’s an attempt by Republicans to continue the fight over building the pipeline after President Barack Obama announced this week that he would not allow the construction to go forward.
And as the Energy and Commerce chairman and a member of the conference committee, Upton is a key player.
Republicans obviously see the issue as a winning one for them, bringing out more than a half-dozen members to meet with the reporters about the pipeline during their annual weekend confab here at a waterside hotel.
“Bottom line is this,” Upton said. “As much as the president may want this issue to go away and come back, maybe, after the election, we’re going to do everything that we can to keep it on the front burner, keep it in front of the American people and do what we can to get this mission accomplished.”
The Unconventional, Inconvenient Facts
Switchboard staff blog – National Resources Defense Council | By Anthony Swift Keystone XL is a tar sands pipeline to export oil out of the U.S. (Dec. 20, 2011) – One of the most important facts that is missing in the national debate surrounding the proposed Keystone XL tar sands pipeline is this – Keystone XL will not bring any more oil into the United State for decades to come.
Canada doesn’t have nearly enough oil to fill existing pipelines going to the United States. However, existing Canadian oil pipelines all go to the Midwest, where the only buyer for their crude is the United States. Keystone XL would divert Canadian oil from refineries in the Midwest to the Gulf Coast where it can be refined and exported.
Many of these refineries are in Foreign Trade Zones where oil may be exported to international buyers without paying U.S. taxes. And that is exactly what Valero, one of the largest potential buyers of Keystone XL's oil, has told its investors it will do. The idea that Keystone XL will improve U.S. oil supply is a documented scam being played on the American people by Big Oil and its friends in Washington DC.
38 comments:
Public lewdness?
Does this involve a trench coat?
It might be noted that the “ex-convict” in question,______of Wimberley, Will Conley’s appointment to the Transportation Advisory Group, was “convicted on multiple counts of bribery, misapplication of state funds, and a single count of conspiracy to commit those unlawful acts”.
“Defendant ______was sentenced to 27 months, the minimum within the applicable range, and was fined $56,000. “
If I am not mistaken, this man spent at least 19 months in a Federal prison for these offenses.
The other appointee is a dentist who was caught on tape molesting a patient.
If I am not mistaken, this dentist is still practicing in Manchaca.
(I redacted the two men's name because everyone in this area is too polite to speak the plain truth.)
Also, this past week, Will Conley tried to skirt the issue by claiming that the ex-convict that he appointed to this group was not the same man as the one who was sent to prison for completely violating the public trust.
Only problem with Conley's assertion is, like alot of what he says, was completely false.
Doesn't anyone check people's credentials anymore?
Scandalous.
________, and his wife _______, who was also dismissed from her position at the Texas Lottery Commission during another scandal, was not unknown to Conley. They, both prominent Democrats at the state level, were among Conley's public supporters during his 2008 campaign.
Does anybody really trust this man Conley?
The name of the ex-con whom Will Conley appointed to the Citizens Advisory Group of Hays County Transportation is Michael Moeller.
Moeller's now-wife, Nora Linares Moeller, resigned after a scandal at the Texas Lottery Commission.
Will Conley uses no judgment -- just cronyism -- in his political dealings. He MUST be defeated in his re-election bid for County Commissioner, Place 3.
Anonymous says:
"The other appointee is a dentist who was caught on tape molesting a patient.
If I am not mistaken, this dentist is still practicing in Manchaca."
So if this dentist was a hateful Republican presidential candidate he could blame the "liberal media" for his sexual dysfunction and get elected by the right wing evangelicals here in Texas.
There already is a Keystone Pipeline, but it stops near Cushing, Oklahoma. The Keystone XL Pipeline would continue to the Texas Coast and would have a new route on its northern section going over the Ogallala aquifer. The XL Extension was nixed by President Obama because:
1) the EPA issued a finding that the Texas Gulf Coast has sufficient pollution and doesn't need any more. EPA is charged with preventing more pollution from being off-loaded onto an area that is already blighted with it;
2) the lack of thickness of the pipes themselves has been questioned by both engineers and environmentalists. Both worry that the propulsion of extremely hot liquid tar sands might rupture the pipeline over the huge Ogallala aquifer which serves so much of the U.S.;
3) the XL pipeline will do nothing to supplement the U.S. oil supply. That oil is headed to the Gulf Coast so that it can be exported from there to foreign countries; and,
4) there would NOT be a surge in U.S. jobs once the pipeline was built. Keystone will use refineries (and refinery workers) already in place on the Gulf Coast. They are sending the oil to Texas to be refined because Alberta, Canada is already a polluted wasteland from the tar sands development there. Keystone doesn't want the public relations horror of further devastation in Alberta.
Republicans will make sure that this issue is revisited upon us, and so be ready once again to let President Obama, your senators and representatives, EPA, and Trans-Canada know that we don't want the XL Extension.
Well, it appears that the gloves are off on speaking the plain truth, even in "polite Wimberley".
Too much goes unchallenged around her for fear of hurting somebody's feelings.
This is not a party, it is a political appointment and these cronies of Conley's are all gung-ho pro-development types who will rubber stamp any and all the unneeded and overpriced roads Conley wants to shove down our throats.
Stop Conley in his drive as CAMPO's new chair to saddle Wimberley with roads it neither needs nor wants so that he can keep his road cronies in TxDot contracts.
CAMPO is no friend of Hays County, they are simply a conduit for public money to end up in private hands.
The Keystone XL pipeline could ruin groundwater sources for millions of Texans.
This is a bad way to squeeze the last, tarry, sand-laden drop of oil from the ground when this kind of money would be better utilized building alternative energy generation facilities.
Oil is bad enough, but tar sands oil is the worst kind.
Is maintaining the oil industry's bottom line worth our water, our national security and our health?
Not to mention the destruction of Canadian forests.
Great accurate explanation of this crony oil industry scam on the American public, Barbara.
One BIG reason the Canadians want to build the Keystone pipeline down through the US is because the route west from Alberta to British Columbia was voted down by the Canadians in the western provinces.
The Canucks didn't want the pipeline to screw up their pristine environment.
Duh! America.
Someone might ask, "Why will Trans-Canada export the tars sands oil to countries beyond the Texas Gulf? Why don't they sell the oil in the U.S.?"
The answer is money, of course. Even though gasoline prices have risen considerably in the U.S., we still are paying much less than Trans-Canada can charge for Keystone pipeline oil in other countries. People in Europe have been paying over $5 a gallon for gasoline for over 20 years. That's why public transportation is heavily used there.
It doesn't matter how you feel about the XL Pipeline. Two Canadian companies will be sending their oil to Texas using pre-existing pipelines and adding to them. That way, states will approve the pipelines and NOT the Federal Government. It's called "an end run" and it will work. So, all you liberal environmental freaks can sit on it.
"People in Europe have been paying over $5 a gallon for gasoline for over 20 years. That's why public transportation is heavily used there."
And that is the goal of you no-growth so-called green liberals, isn't it? Just follow your president's lead in preventing the pipeline ostensibly to protect the environment really to run gas prices through the roof then turn us in to a European Socialist State where you will be as successful or unsuccessful as the next Joe or Joan. We will all be alike, no rich, no poor. Too bad you didn't study American History or you would know how bad that really is. What a pitiful lot you neo-socialist are.
To Texas Oilman:
Give a source for your information.
If a foreign country (in this case, Canada) is expanding or beginning a pipeline into the U.S., both the EPA and the Secretary of State have to issue opinions on whether the proposed activity is beneficial or detrimental to the U.S. It won't be a matter of what a State will allow.
That's why -- so far -- Texas oilmen such as you haven't been able to get the XL pipeline approved. May you continue to fail.
To Anon 12:58 PM --
You are looking for something to foam at the mouth about.
I have no wish -- secret or otherwise -- to see gasoline prices go "through the roof."
To the person who said this:
"And that is the goal of you no-growth so-called green liberals, isn't it? Just follow your president's lead in preventing the pipeline ostensibly to protect the environment really to run gas prices through the roof then turn us in to a European Socialist State where you will be as successful or unsuccessful as the next Joe or Joan. We will all be alike, no rich, no poor. Too bad you didn't study American History or you would know how bad that really is. What a pitiful lot you neo-socialist are."
This is the saddest excuse for logic or political discourse I have seen in a long, long time.
What a way to lump everything you fear (and misunderstand) into one big smear against your neighbors who would like to see our environment stay a little cleaner.
Liberals = environmentalists = socialists = no-growth proponents = Europeans = Democrats = people who want gas prices to soar = Green.
Did I leave anything out?
Yeah, right.
Liberals like to pay more for gas so you have to ride the bus and be just as unsuccessful as Joe/Joan and they are all socialists. And Europeans.
Oh, and if I knew more about American history I would understand this, right?
Did you come up with this theory by yourself?
You mean all I have to do to turn America into a socialist state is raise gas prices?
Well, that was easier than I thought.
-Karl Marx
The Republicans are back with the Keystone XL issue. Today Rep. Speaker of the House John Boehner said Repubs would attach the XL issue to some piece of legislation that Obama "can't" veto.
"Today Rep. Speaker of the House John Boehner said Repubs would attach the XL issue to some piece of legislation that Obama "can't" veto."
The House must get it past the Senate before it goes to the President.
What do you think?
Why is attaching bills to unrelated bills even LEGAL?
Why not debate the actual issue of whether the Keystone XL pipeline is a good thing or not.
In Nebraska, conservatives are fighting this pipeline because this is most importantly about water and the destruction of farmland.
Just because some lawmakers promised some business people they would cram this pipeline right up the middle of America doesn't mean it should be allowed to happen.
To Charles,
I think the U.S. Senate -- being fewer in number -- is even more likely to approve the Keystone XL pipeline than is the U.S. House. Fewer people to convince (i.e., pay off), dontcha know. Both our U.S. Senators (Cornyn and Hutchison) are definitely in favor of XL.
President Obama needs to announce, in advance, that he will veto any bill to which a Keystone XL "rider" is attached. Then he needs to stick to his guns and do so. He can point out that he told the GOP he would veto such a bill, but they attached it to necessary legislation anyway. The blame will rightly fall on Republican heads.
Charles,
I checked into whether Rocky's comment was true when he said above:
"One BIG reason the Canadians want to build the Keystone pipeline down through the US is because the route west from Alberta to British Columbia was voted down by the Canadians in the western provinces.
The Canucks didn't want the pipeline to screw up their pristine environment."
Apparently it is true. The voters of British Columbia said NO to the pipeline (under a different name).
Wow! If the Canadians thought jobs and money wasn't worth the risk and the degradation of their land, why in hell would Americans want it?
No wonder people are disappointed with public schools. They are producing some pretty dumb American voters with no common sense.
To Fossil Fuel:
I agree that our public schools are turning out kids who know less than graduates of former years. I almost have to agree with some consipiracy theorists that that outcome has been by design -- critical thinkers are not wanted by the controlling oligarchy.
What eventually may make the oligarchs turn around in their thinking about education is that the poor quality of our high school graduates will make for a work force that is not desired by businesses that might otherwise locate in Texas. There will be fewer and fewer jobs which can be filled by dummies -- those jobs will go to ACTUAL robots!
I read an article which said that citizens of British Columbia, Canada would not approve a pipeline to be built from Alberta to their ports partly because an oil tanker needs MILES to come to a full stop.
British Columbia ports are relatively small and enclosed, and voters there feared that if a tanker spotted trouble ahead, it very likely would be unable to stop before a catastrophic collision and probable oil spill occurred.
Yeah, TransCanada wanted the Keystone XL pipeline to come to the Texas Coast instead of going to British Columbia. The Canadians saw how little British Petroleum was punished by the U.S. when BP polluted the Gulf. TransCanada would rather get away Scot free with possibly polluting the Gulf instead of riling fellow Canadians by a spill off British Columbia.
If there is to be an oil spill anywhere, let it be the Texas Gulf Coast since it is proven to replenish itself in record time. The BP Spill was supposed to be the end of the world according to the liberals and it is now all but forgotten thanks to the oil eating bacteria that have now multiplied into great colonies. The Liberals had us scared last time, not anymore. Bring the pipeline to Texas feed the bacteria and provide jobs!
How about NO OIL SPILLS?
Not in Texas, not along the Gulf Coast and not in Canada.
Anonymous of 1:30 pm today has got to be one of the most easily brainwashed and gullible people alive if he/she thinks the Gulf Coast has recovered from the BP et al incompetence.
Only mindless believers of BP's propaganda advertisements thinks all is well.
Again, another failure of the public school systems?
To Former Teacher who says:
"I almost have to agree with some consipiracy theorists that that outcome has been by design -- critical thinkers are not wanted by the controlling oligarchy."
Trust yourself and know that there really is an elitist (mostly right wing) attempt to dumb down and even dismantle public education.
It is not a conspiracy theory.
Look at the right wing states and their coordinated efforts to demonize teacher unions and teacher salaries - as if some multimillionaire CEO of a failing company is worth more to society than an educator.
Look at the right wing state legislators all across the nation who want to budgetarily "starve the public education beast" so they can privatize education for the benefit of their crony private education investors/campaign pacs.
Waiting in the wings are the right wing "voucher system" proponents who want to redirect public education dollars to private religious or elitist schools so they can brainwash the students to "Honor Thy Father" - the "father" of course being an evangelical right wing mindset of submission to the almighty free markets and mindless indebted consumerisn.
All one has to do is look at how the forest is burning. Don't look at how each individual tree is being covered by wetworms.
The right wing wants you to believe that our governments control the business world.
The real truth is that big power brokers of American business controls our governments - whether it is 1) developers at the local level or 2) big business lobby money Super-Pacs at the state and federal level.
The new credo of the Republican Party and more and more in the corporate owned Democratic Party who slyly go along with the elitist right wingers is "an uneducated American is a compliant voter and a mindless consumer of poorly made or even unregulated and unsafe products.
Believe me, Former Teacher, it is NOT a conspiracy theory.
Yes, if you have friends along the Gulf Coast, except some of the luckier parts like Pensacola, ask THEM if they feel like everything is just fine.
Ask the shrimpers, the fishermen, the people who live in and near the marshes....and anyone who has actually seen the bottom of the ocean.
Anon 1:36 PM,
You apparently think "liberals" are the cause of every single thing that is wrong in the world.
You even try to accuse them of being alarmists about the BP spill in the Gulf.
Believe it or not, people of ALL political persuasions were concerned about that unfortunate incident -- liberals, conservatives, Tea Partiers. You do yourself no favor by blindly lashing out at "liberals" as the source of anything you dislike or fear. Grow up!
I swear Eric Cantor would be a Nazi if he weren't a Jew.
I need to make a statement about the hate speech that seems to be becoming more prevalent in not only the roundup but in other blogs.
The disturbing tendency lately of some bloggers to call other people and institutions "Nazis" or compare them to the Soviet Union is wrong. This is a form of bigotry.
This can not be ignored. "Only one enemy is worse than despair: indifference." Elie Wiesel, Nobel Laureate.
If these people are unable to recognize the pain that these statements can cause to other people in our community. These innocent people who have suffered the loss of family in concentration camps, gulag's and prisoner of war camps. Then we, as responsible adults, need to tell these bigoted bloggers to stop. Do we want the next generation to think that calling someone a Nazi or comparing them to the "old Soviet Union" is OK!
These bloggers are wrong and I am asking the blog administrators to not post any of the offensive statements and to take down any that are currently up.
We have the freedom to say what we want but with that comes the responsibility to not cause needless pain to innocent people.
These postings are not right they are cruel and the people posting them are wrong.
Do not keep quiet in the face of bigotry. If you do the next person they come for just may be YOU!
Patricia M, or should I say Merry,
Hate speech is like any other speech it is free speech! This is a forum for ideas or thoughts. You and your lot, being the thought police want postings with which you disagree taken down, are much like the book burners of Nazi Germany or the Bolsheviks of Russia. Sanctimonious gibberish is not indicative of a caring person but is more akin to an elitist. How's the weather up there in the clouds?
Thank you for your response Richard! At least we know who is posting.
Hate speech is not covered by the law. Check with your Legal Zoom attorney and he will tell you it is a federal crime.
BTW my name is Patricia. At least that is what my mother named me.
Gary Cutler's 2 sons will face felony drug charges this month. From the article in today's Austin newspaper, it sounds as if they could face breaking-and-entering or burglary charges as well.
Gary Cutler is Hays County Sheriff. Do we want a sheriff who can't even police his own sons?
Although I have no love for Cutler, those sons are adults.
Does your Daddy still police YOU?
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