Tag Archives: Keystone XL

10/27 News Roundup, Numbers, and Open Thread

The Progressive Wing Posted on by

Along the Keystone XL Pipeline, Hoping for a Miracle

The pipeline, expected to be operational in 2023, would transmit 830,000 barrels of crude oil a day from Alberta’s tar sands to refineries on the Gulf of Mexico, crossing through the US Midwest. Environmentalists believe that should the pipeline succeed, it will commit North America to continued investment in fossil fuels, dooming any realistic effort to curb climate change.

“The reality of the footprint is so much beyond what the pipeline itself is just doing. [There are] spills and leaks and those kinds of risks, but folks living there are already experiencing increased truck traffic and risks of Covid,” said Gabby Brown, the senior press secretary of the environmental organization Sierra Club.

The US Army Corps of Engineers has attempted to push through construction under Permit 12—a fast-track water crossing permit. But a federal judge, in response to a lawsuit filed in July of last year by members of the Northern Plains Resource Council and other environmental groups, prohibited the Corps from using this permit. Plaintiffs claim that the Corps violates the Clean Water Act and challenges the Endangered Species Act and the National Environmental Policy Act. “The idea that a foreign country could impose imminent domain and violate the sovereignty of another country with the support of our so-called leaders is unbelievable…. What is the benefit? A few short-term jobs and longtime destruction?” Dena Hoff, a plaintiff and member of the Northern Plains Resource Council, said to me this month.

To add to the destructive legacy of the Trump Administration:

More news, tweets, videos, etc in the comments. Sure Happy It’s Tuesday.

Water Protector & Pipeline News – Red Terry Comes Down From Her Tree, Louisiana Court Declares Bayou Bridge Pipeline Permit Illegal & More

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Louisiana State Court Declares Bayou Bridge Pipeline Permit Illegal A Louisiana judge recently ruled that the state regulators violated guidelines when it issued Energy Transfer Partners’ controversial Bayou Bridge pipeline a coastal use permit. The permit was issued for the last 18-mile stretch of the fracked oil pipeline that would have run through the riverside town of St. James Parish, where dozens of refineries and industrial facilities are already fueling a public health crisis in the mostly African-American community. The proposed 162-mile Bayou Bridge pipeline would connect the contentious Dakota Access Pipeline to the Gulf of Mexico. As noted by … Continue reading →

Water Protector & Pipeline News – Supplies Cut Off To Mountain Valley Protestors; Judge Allows Case Against TigerSwan To Continue & More

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Judge Won’t Dismiss Complaint Against Pipeline Security Firm A state judge is refusing to throw out a complaint that a North Carolina-based private security firm operated illegally in North Dakota during protests against the Dakota Access oil pipeline. Judge John Grinsteiner also is declining for now to restrict evidence during TigerSwan’s upcoming civil trial or to dismiss company founder and President James Reese as a defendant. He ruled there are enough questions about the company’s actions and that Reese “is legally accountable for conduct performed by TigerSwan.” North Dakota’s Private Investigative and Security Board sued TigerSwan and Reese last June, … Continue reading →

Water Protector & Pipeline News – Northam: Tree Sitters’ pipeline protest is ‘unlawful’; TransCanada acquiring land in Nebraska for Keystone XL & More

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Va. governor says tree sitters’ pipeline protest is ‘unlawful,’ cites health concern Gov. Ralph Northam said Wednesday that it’s unlawful for a mother and daughter to sit in trees and block a natural gas pipeline across their property outside Roanoke, and that he’s particularly worried about the older woman’s health. But Northam (D) stopped short of saying he would order state police to do anything to resolve the standoff. Theresa “Red” Terry, 61 and daughter Theresa Minor Terry, 30 have been on wooden platforms in trees on Bent Mountain since April 2, preventing workers for the Mountain Valley Pipeline from … Continue reading →

12/20 News Roundup – Sanders: “Tax Bill A Victory For Corporate Campaign Donors” & More

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Sanders: Passage of GOP tax bill a ‘victory’ for Koch brothers, campaign donors, corporations

Sen. Bernie SandersBernard (Bernie) SandersSchumer: Franken should resignFranken resignation could upend Minnesota racesAvalanche of Democratic senators say Franken should resignMORE (I-Vt.), on Tuesday, blasted the GOP tax overhaul bill, arguing that its expected passage is a “victory” for the Koch brothers, Republican campaign donors, large corporations and even some lawmakers.

“Today marks a great day for the Koch brothers and other billionaire, Republican campaign contributors who will see huge tax breaks for themselves while driving up the deficit by almost $1.5 trillion,” Sanders said in a video posted on Twitter.

“Today is also a victory for the largest and most-profitable corporations in this country like Apple, Microsoft, Pfizer and General Electric, who, despite record-breaking profits, will now see hundreds of billions of dollars in tax breaks,” he added.

Sanders also indicated that some of his own colleagues had a personal financial interest in passing the bill, pointing to lawmakers who have real estate investments and will benefit under the new plan.

“Today is also a victory for a number of members of the United States Congress who have significant investments in real estate who, with this vote, will substantially lower the taxes that they pay and will further enrich themselves,” he said.

More news/video/tweets/etc. in the comments.

11/28 News Roundup – Sanders Hits The Trail To Fight The GOP Tax Bill, Keystone XL Operators Push For Preferred Path & More

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Bernie Sanders hits the trail again, this time to fight GOP tax bill

Sen. Bernie Sanders is traveling to Kentucky, Ohio and Pennsylvania this weekend to rally against the Republican tax bill, his office told NBC News, keeping up a brisk pace of political activity since leaving the presidential race last year and ahead of a potential second one in 2020.

Sanders, who held a similar series of rallies across the country this year to oppose the repeal of the Affordable Care Act, is using his “Protecting Working Families Tour” to pressure on-the-fence GOP senators before a vote on the tax bill, President Donald Trump’s top legislative priority.

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In addition to condemning the bill for reducing taxes on the wealthy, Sanders is hoping to use the tour to argue the tax plan would pave the way for cuts to Social Security and Medicare, which have proved politically deadly for Republicans in the past.

The bill is expected to raise the deficit by $1.4 trillion, which the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office recently say could trigger an obscure budget rule that Democrats warn could force Medicare cuts.

“This legislation goes well beyond taxes,” Sanders wrote in an email that will be sent to supporters Monday. “Mark my words. If passed, the Republicans will then rediscover the ‘deficit crisis,’ and push aggressively for massive cuts in Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, education — higher education in particular — nutrition, affordable housing and more.”

“That is why I am going on the road this week to talk directly to working people,” Sanders added.

More news/video/tweets/etc. in the comments, including:

*Bernie Sanders, Ben Jealous to hold Medicare-for-all rally in Baltimore
*New Study Shows How Taxing Rich Saves Lives, While Trump’s Tax Plan… Kills
*Meet the Socialist Marine & Anti-Police Brutality Protester Who Won Democratic Seats in November
*Protesters Slam Trump Attempt to ‘Vaporize’ CFPB as Agency Power Struggle Begins
*Pipeline updates, Water Protector news & more

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11/21 News Roundup – A Dysfunctional ‘PIG’ Is Leading To Environmental Disasters, Single Payer As ‘A Line In The Sand’ Issue & More

The Progressive Wing Posted on by

Will You ‘Promise to Protect’? Coalition Urges New Wave of Resistance to Stop KXL

Shortly following the Nebraska Public Service Commission’s “shortsighted and dangerous” vote to green-light TransCanada’s Keystone XL (KXL) pipeline, a coalition comprised of Indigenous peoples, farmers, and ranchers living along the oil project’s proposed route published a letter on Monday urging the public to join them in protecting sacred land from corporate exploitation.

Endorsed by Native tribes, green groups, and high-profile environmentalists, the “Promise to Protect” call to action argues that making “a concerted stand” against TransCanada’s $8 billion dirty energy project “will make other fossil fuel companies think that much harder about their own expansion plans.”

“Together we’ve stopped them for many years, and we are going to keep stopping them,” the letter reads. “But we need everyone’s help. We need you to take a stand no matter what land you live or work on. The struggle to save Mother Earth begins with you.”

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The letter goes on to make several requests of those who wish to participate in the “creative resistance” against KXL that is expected to take shape in the coming months, including:

*Commitment to entirely peaceful acts of protest, even in the face of “the pain caused by TransCanada’s aggression”;
*Respect for “the leadership of Indigenous peoples, farmers, and ranchers in the action, and the plans and strategies of the front lines and their allies who have made promises to protect the land, water, and climate”;
*Preparation in advance of the demonstrations, including training sessions with organizers, so that “you’re able to find the place you’re most needed on any given day.”

The fossil fuel industry “believes that with the inauguration of Mr. Trump, the obstacles in their path had disappeared,” the letter concludes. “They are unaware of the rising tide of indigenous unity and the strong alliances with ranchers, farmers and the climate justice movement which grew stronger at Standing Rock. When the president approved the federal permits for KXL last winter, he asked TransCanada executives when construction would start: Our job is to make sure the answer is, no time soon.”

Meanwhile, ‘The Rational National’ covers a potential cause of the uptick in pipeline spills (spoiler: it involves corporate greed & corruption):

More News/video/tweets/etc. in the comments, including:

*Bernie Sanders Is Now Backing Randy Bryce—Which Could Be Very Bad News for Paul Ryan
*Whitefish energy company halts work to restore Puerto Rico’s power over unpaid bill
*De Blasio heads to Iowa in hopes of defining a national role
*The Trump Administration Revokes Legal Status for More Than 50,000 Haitian Immigrants
*Pipeline News, Water Protector Updates & More

11/20 News Roundup – Sanders Discusses The GOP Tax Plan, Nebraska Regulators Rule on Keystone XL Pipeline & More

The Progressive Wing Posted on by

Bernie on CNN Sunday:

More news/video/tweets/etc. in the in the comments, including:

*Opioid Addiction: Sanders, AG talk with students in emotional high school assembly
*Meet Billings’ Democratic Socialist city council member
*New PACs are emerging on the left and the right to get women elected in 2018
*A civil rights ’emergency’: justice, clean water and air in the age of Trump
*If you tax the rich, they won’t leave: US data contradicts millionaires’ threats
*Pipeline news, Water Protector updates & more