Profiteers of Tar Sands Oil

Thu Mar 20, 2014 at 12:24 PM PDT

Guess who's the major stakeholder in Canada's oil sands? Of course, it's the Kochs

by Joan McCarterFollow

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Like perfect movie villains, the Koch brothers have their fingers in everything, but secretly. Or not so secretly, anymore.

You might expect the biggest lease owner in Canada's oil sands, or tar sands, to be one of the international oil giants, like Exxon Mobil or Royal Dutch Shell. But that isn't the case. The biggest lease holder in the northern Alberta oil sands is a subsidiary of Koch Industries, the privately-owned cornerstone of the fortune of conservative Koch brothers Charles and David. The Koch Industries subsidiary holds leases on 1.1 million acres -- an area nearly the size of Delaware -- in the oil sands region of Alberta, Canada, according to an activist group that studied Alberta provincial records. The Post confirmed the group’s findings with Alberta Energy, the provincial government’s ministry of energy. Separately, industry sources familiar with oil sands leases said Koch’s lease holdings could be closer to two million acres.The company with the next biggest collection of oil sands leases is Conoco Phillips.

While the Kochs aren't the primary beneficiaries—they haven't reserved space in the potential pipeline and are not partnering with TransCanada—they would benefit handsomely from the infrastructure put in place by the pipeline. So says the activist group, the International Forum on Globalization, which is publicizing the Kochs' tar sands holding. They contend that the pipeline will "create competition among rail and other pipelines and lower transportation costs for all oil sands producers, bolstering profit margins and making additional reserves economically viable." 

 Exploiting their extensive tar sands holdings would only be made easier—and more profitable!— IFG says, if Keystone XL is approved.That could certainly help explain the Republican obsession with the Keystone XL pipeline approval, beyond their base love for fossil fuels and environmental degradation.

Originally posted to Joan McCarter on Thu Mar 20, 2014 at 12:24 PM PDT.

Also republished by Daily Kos.

Dogs Are NOT Dinner!

Please sign this petition to stop the slaughter of dogs for human consumption and support the Chinese activists who believe that animals, particularly dogs, are to be treated with care and given a good safe life.

 

 

 

 Chinese activists recently stood up to dog meat traders and rescued 900 dogs bound for slaughter for human consumption. Many of the dogs were clearly stolen family pets, even wearing tags and collars: Huskies, German Shepherds, Poodles and the like, many extremely ill and dying from the slave ship like conditions of the truck and cages. One woman found her lost Golden Retriever on the truck, but was told she could not take him home unless she paid off the trader. The activists were beaten and after a 50 hour standoff finally rescued all of the dogs. However, by that time some dogs had died and the activists were forced to bury them at the scene.

For the entire story including updates, please see://www.dogheirs.com/lucybrucey/posts/2886-animal-rights-activisits-in-china-are-fighting-for-the-lives-of-927-dogs

And see also video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=5cgg-8HynRU

The world has watched these pictures and videos in astonishment that in this day and age people could be so fiendish and barbaric. Everyday dogs and cats are dying in the smashed cages on the trucks, denied food and water for days, then skinned alive in front of the other dogs to increase terror and suffering. Some of the dogs give birth while in the cages and many pups die because of crushing, filthy conditions or simply falling out of the cages. Workers throw the cages to the ground when unloading the trucks, breaking the bones of the dogs. A recent undercover operation showed the skinned animals actually able to still lift their heads after being thrown into a pile of other dogs.

The fact that China has absolutely no laws for the care and humane treatment of animals is outrageous. We ask you, President Xi Jinping, to put animal cruelty laws in place now and to ban all aspects of the dog meat and dog and cat fur trades. The world is watching. We stand with the brave activists who saved the 900 dogs in Anwen town. (Text is sourced from the petition below)

Please SIGN THE PETITION to support the Chinese activists without fail at: https://www.change.org/petitions/stop-horrific-dog-meat-trade-demand-china-make-animal-cruelty-laws

Thank you!

Fracking Our National Parks & Forests

Oh, the places they'll frack! The Obama administration is about to make a decision about fracking in national forests and near national parks and critical drinking water sources for millions of Americans. 



Share this now to help stop fracking in our national forests & public lands! http://bit.ly/1i17b3G ‪#‎ohtheplacestheyllfrack‬




It's reprehensible and irresponsible for an organization educating the public to include a board member who spends tens of millions of dollars misinforming the American public with anti-science climate rhetoric.

Sign the petition to WGBH—Remove David Koch from the Board of Trustees and Science Visiting Council: http://wefb.it/31B374

Who STILL Tests on Animals