Is Houston a Tar Sands “Sacrifice Zone”?
This is a guest post by Caroline Selle Much of the debate around the Keystone XL pipeline has focused on the dangers of extracting and transporting the tar sands. Left out, however, are those in the United States who are guaranteed to feel the impacts of increased tar sands usage. Spill or no spill, anyone […]
IRS Sleuths Were on the Right Track: Big Tobacco Created Tea Party in 1994
This is a guest post by Pam Martens, cross-posted with permission from Wall Street On Parade. On February 25, 2013, James Hepburn, writing at Daily Kos, made the emphatic assertion in a headline that “Big Tobacco Had Nothing to Do With Tea Party Formation.” That is likely to be the one headline that will haunt […]
Harper Government Keeps Details Of $16.5M Oil Industry Ad Campaign Under Wraps
This week, under questioning from opposition MPs, Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver confirmed that his department intends to spend up to 16.5 million dollars on advertising in the upcoming year. Further details on how this taxpayer-funded PR campaign for Canada’s natural resources will be run were lacking. Mike De Souza writes for Canada.com, that Oliver […]
Exxon Knew of Dangerous Contamination from Arkansas Spill, Yet Claimed Area “Oil Free”
This is a guest blog by Jesse Coleman, cross-posted from Greenpeace blog The Witness On March 29 ExxonMobil, the most profitable company in the world, spilled at least 210,000 gallons of tar sands crude oil from an underground pipeline in Mayflower, Arkansas. The pipeline was carrying tar sands oil from Canada, which flooded family residences in […]
FOIA Facts 3 – More Plagiarism – Get Grants Or Claim Credit
As a byproduct of FOIA Facts 1 and FOIA Facts 2, Ed Wegman or Yasmin Said are now alleged to have included plagiarism or falsification in 9 papers or talks associated with funding from the Army Research Organization (ARO grants 0447 or 0059) or the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA grant 5876), […]
Frackalypse Now: Mark Fiore Spoofs Oil Industry's PSYOPS Campaign To Derail Fracking "Insurgency"
DeSmogBlog partnered with Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist Mark Fiore to produce this spoof video in the vein of Francis Ford Coppola’s “Apocalypse Now.” Making its debut today in honor of Gasland 2, which features the details of the gas industry’s psychological warfare scandal, here is “Frackalypse Now”: Read below the fold for further context… As we originally […]
"Gasland 2" Grassroots Premiere in Illinois Highlights Industry PSYOPS and Ongoing Fracking Fights
“Gasland 2” screened yesterday in Normal, IL and DeSmogBlog was there to gain a sneak peak of the documentary set for a July 8 HBO national premiere. Josh Fox’s documentary played at the Normal Theater, the second-ever screening since the film officially premiered on April 21 at the Tribeca Film Festival in New York City. The movie builds on […]
Greenwashing the Tar Sands, Part 3: Wherein money trumps fact every time
This is last installment of a three-part series on greenwashing and the tar sands. Be sure to read Part 1, A Short History of Greenwashing the Tar Sands, and Part 2, Do As I Say, Not As I Do. Recently, Canadian Oil Sands Chief Executive Officer Marcel Coutu explained to Bloomberg why he and other […]
FOIA Facts 2 – No Pro Bono – Federal Funds Mis-Used For Wegman Report And Much More
As begun in FOIA Facts 1, Ed Wegman and Rep. Joe Barton repeatedly called the Wegman Report “pro bono”* but Wegman and Said later claimed it as work done for existing Federal grants paid quarterly. In response to Dan Vergano FOIA request Wegman and Said each said the work was pro bono, years after claiming […]
Obama Admin. Approves ALEC Model Bill for Fracking Chemical Fluid Disclosure on Public Lands
On May 16, the Obama Interior Department announced its long-awaited rules governing hydraulic fracturing (“fracking”) on federal lands. As part of its 171-page document of rules, the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM), part of the U.S. Dept. of Interior (DOI), revealed it will adopt the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) model bill written by ExxonMobil for fracking […]