Coloradans Plan New Initiatives Against the Frackers In 2016

Coloradans gather for protest outside court house in Denver two weeks ago.

As the year ends Coloradans in many communities are pleased that the frackers have had to back off a bit from ruining their communities - because of the existing oil glut and banks being unwilling to lend any more $$$ for these operations. But many are by no means satisfied as the frackers continue unimpeded in many places, especially in Weld and Adams Counties.

Now in the works for next year are more actions in the form of ballot initiatives after the last ones were scrapped back in 2014 at the behest of Boulder Dem Rep. Jared Polis who had originally pushed them. Many feel he was pressured to sell out or politically threatened if he didn't cooperate. Many citizens have been stewing ever since as the frackers have made many neighborhoods almost unlivable, e.g. in Thornton where several weeks ago over 100 citizens gathered to protest what was happening to their air, surroundings and water.

As Tara Trujillo, an outraged resident of Hunters Glen in Thornton put it:

"Don't let this industrial pornography invade every neighborhood!"

In the wake of all that, a Boulder County-based citizens group opposed to fracking has filed a package of ballot initiatives that would circumvent  the "compromise" sought by Gov. John Hickenlooper and U.S. Rep. Jared Polis of Boulder. Recall that compromise was a joke. According to  Denver Post report back on Aug. 8, 2014:

"A 20 - person commission was announced Monday as part of a compromise to keep two oil and gas oriented initiatives from the fall ballot."

And what, pray tell, would  we see from this commission?

"The commission will have 6 months to make recommendations to the legislature which will then consider further legislation."

The "further legislation" was basically to do nothing and allow fracking to continue as it has been. All you need to know is that the two largest fracking companies - from Texas- cheered wildly at the news. To make a long story short, our frack-friendly Gov. Hickenlooper according to the Post,  "practiced shuttle diplomacy" until he got all the participants on board as well as PR firms   - to be able to sell this sham to the public. After all, following all the hoopla of the ballot initiatives you had to toss supporters some kind of bone when the measures were removed. (It helped of course that the state Dept. Of Natural Resources houses the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission - which is the industry 'pet' group designed to run interference on fracktivists )

In the wake of that fiasco, Karen Dike, one of the lead proponents of the (then)  fracking amendments, said of the Hickenlooper-Polis deal:

"The compromise did nothing to protect local communities."

Even Polis said after the task force report was released,

 "Unfortunately, the oil and gas industry proved they weren't interested in a compromise or solving the problem."

Now, the Coloradans Resisting Extreme Energy Development   has taken up the battle again. They submitted paperwork for 11 potential ballot questions to provide mandatory setbacks for wells from homes and schools, more local control on drilling decisions or an outright ban on the process of hydraulic fracturing.  Eight of the 11 are variations of proposals for mandatory setbacks.

Each of the constitutional amendments would need signatures from 98,492 registered Colorado voters to get on November's ballot. A review-and-comment hearing on the language of the ballot questions is set for at 1:30 p.m. Jan. 5 in Room 109 at the Capitol.  Tricia Olson, CREED's executive director, said in a statement.

"If the state will not adequately protect Coloradans and communities, then we, the people of Colorado, must do it, and that requires a change to Colorado law. Our beautiful state should not be overwhelmed by wells, pads and other industrial oil and gas operations plunked down next to neighborhoods and schools."

Of course, the front groups shilling for the oil industry in the state are nearly apoplectic at the possibility of having to fight citizens all over again. Protecting Colorado's Environment, Economy, and Energy Independence, a group that supports energy development and  any opposing ballot measures, saw the potential amendments as devastating.

Spokeswoman Karen Crummy (note the name!), said in a statement:

"These measures are so radical they would kill jobs, ignore established laws, devastate Colorado's economy and create a patchwork of rules and regulations throughout the state,"

Which, of course, is kind of hilarious given it's the state itself that has engendered patchwork opposition because of putting up absurd laws to prevent citizens anywhere from even having moratoriums on fracking (as Longmont tried a couple years back)

Then you had Dan Haley, CEO of the Colorado Oil and Gas Association, an oil and gas trade group, squawking:

"It's no surprise the ghosts of Christmas past have returned and are trying again to take the state backward,"

Well, uh yeah, Dan, if it means being able to breathe fresh air again, not have your water turn piss yellow when you turn on the tap, and your kids not break out in rashes every few days! Damn straight we want 'backward' - to health, green environs and no more looking out to see wells and pollutants all around.

This battle isn't over by a long ways and Coloradans will be following it closely over this new year, given the next frack well that gets drilled may very well be right near their own homes!

See also:

http://brane-space.blogspot.com/2015/10/pro-frack-pr-letter-writer-joni-inman.html

Colorado To Accept Syrian Refugees - Never Mind the Howling Monkey GOOPs

As the GOP candidate field blusters and fulminates over allowing war torn Syrian refugees into this country, several points need to be borne in mind as also elucidated by CT Governor Dannell Malloy on Chris Hayes "All In' last night:

1- The vetting process to screen entrants is the most rigorous in the world, taking up to 18-24 months to complete and is performed by the National Counterterrorism Center and the FBI Terrorist Screening Center. . As an example, Malloy cited the stats of 23,000 Syrian refugees who had originally applied some four years ago, 7,000 were subsequently accepted and 2,300 have only now been settled  in states across the nation, including FLA, GA, AL

2- Three fourths of the refugees are women and children.  Barely 2 percent of those finally allowed entrance are young males.

3. Many of the refugees had actually assisted the U.S. in gathering intelligence (humint) and now would be slaughtered by ISIS if left behind.

4. It is nuts and absurd to fret about the odd chance of some radical getting through the exhaustive screening process and getting a Kalashnikov when at the same time the GOP and NRA is adamantly opposed to universal background checks.

In respect to (4) as Gov. Malloy pointed out last night:

"From 2004 through 2014 according to the GAO report, we sold 2,042 guns to people who are on the terrorism watch list. Why? Because the NRA  has refused to allow people who are on the watch list as ineligible to buy guns in the United States. It doesn't make a whole lot of sense."

Indeed, and as Malloy added,

"in the next year 30,000 Americans are going to die from gun violence and those same governors that came out today to say they wouldn't take refugees are the same governors who oppose common sense gun control laws in America. Why don't we have universal background checks?"

Good question! And yet the same Repuke guvs are going to cry and whine about a possible Syrian baby being strapped with an explosive device - while letting 30,000 ordinary Americans get slaughtered from the lack of adequate gun regulation, because they don't want to upset the NRA.

In fact, those 2,000 -odd Syrian refugees have been living in this country for the past year or so even as more than 200 people - innocents - have been slaughtered in mass murder gun incidents because the GOP wants to protect its cash flows, contributions from the NRA.

If you're going to preach about "being safe, not sorry" you at least need to make sure you're being consistent and that includes gun regulation. Incredibly the GOOP brigade won't even allow the sale of smart guns (which can only fire if the proper owner is ID'd) because their NRA overlords don't want them around.

All this is background to why the sane citizen ought to turn a deaf ear to all the screeching and howling  erupting from the GOP presidential candidate field - and also the 30-odd Repuke gubernators who now have also said they won't accept these refugees.

Fortunately, not all states are so blinkered and devoid of humanity. As reported in yesterday's Denver Post (p. 9A, 'Colorado Will Accept Refugees') Colorado will not join the states whose governors are asking to block the White House from sending in Syrian refugees. (DO any of these halfwits even know how many hundreds may already be residing in their states?)

Of course, it's all huff and puff because the White House has no intention of blocking refugee processing - given the length of time it takes - and how our nation takes fewer than any other country in the world. (The GOP idiots, like Ted Cruz, are also off in saying no Muslim nations take them in. Well, Lebanon has nearly 1.2 million among its 4 million population, and Turkey has almost 2 million. But what would you expect from an ignorant demagogue like Canuck Ted?)

As Gov. John Hickenlooper put it, quoted in the piece:

"Our first priority remains the safety of our residents. We will work with the federal government and Homeland Security to ensure the national verification process for refugees is as stringent as possible. We can protect our security and provide a place where the world's most vulnerable can rebuild their lives."

Meanwhile, the Denver Post editorial in the same edition, decried the reaction of the Republican fear mongers - all out to get the panties of their base wet out of trepidation that "Obummer" will let "bad guys" in when they are much more likely to get shot by an American who bought an AR-15 via a straw purchase or at a gun show.  Thanks to their precious NRA militating again sane gun regulations.

The Post editorial ('A Panic Attack on Syrian Refugees') observed:

"The idea that this nation of more than 300 million people can't find a home for 10,000 refugees that the Obama administration has pledged to accept - and do a thorough job of screening them - is difficult to accept. How about starting with families with children?"


The Post went on to commend Gov. Hickenlooper for his acceptance while also pointing out:

"The U.S. refugee process is nothing like the seemingly helter skelter dash for the borders that the world has witnessed in Europe in recent months."

The Post also tweaked the noses of the Reich wing critics by noting that several of the terrorists in Paris were French nationals, not outsiders at all. Also, the mastermind of the Paris attacks, Abdelhamid Abaaoud,  was a Belgian national and evidently - according to news this a.m. - was captured in the Paris suburb of Saint Denis last night in a gun battle lasting 90 minutes.

 As the Post's editorial  accurately noted:

"Life will never be risk free and terrorism is a possibility so long as radical Islam remains a potent force."

This is also why the new bill Paul Ryan and Co. are proposing, which would mandate any screening done "certify the refugee is not a security threat" is total bollocks. It is as daft in its own way as a gun dealer certifying under some (existing) state law that the purchaser of a mint AK-47 would never use it in a mass murder. You simply cannot legislate risks to zero and the GOP's clowns know that -showing it's a basic political play - which, of course, they deny.

I'd just add that the loss of future lives in these United States is much more likely to come from unregulated guns in the hands of the wrong people,  as opposed to Syrian refugee babies strapped with IEDs as the GOOPrs fear.

Never mind, Ryan and his howling monkey chorus of stooges will likely try to shut down the government if they can't get their way.

Gov. Hick's "Climate Plan" - A Joke Like He Is

"Democracy is not an outgrowth of free markets. Democracy and capitalism are antagonistic entities. Democracy...is based not on personal gain, but on self-sacrifice. A functioning democracy must often defy the economic interests of elites on behalf of citizens, but this is not happening."  -  Chris Hedges, Empire of Illusion (p. 185):

The Denver Post account (Oct. 8, p. 6A)  of Gov. John Hickenlooper's newly released "Climate Plan" shows it's a joke just like "Hick" is. Recall this is the same clown who- after the recent spill of  million gallons of toxic effluent (full of cadmium, mercury,  manganese, copper, zinc, arsenic ) into the Animas River, actually went to a side stream and drank a glass of it:

http://brane-space.blogspot.com/2015/08/gov-hick-drinks-from-toxic-polluted.html

Recall also, this was the same conniving rat who in 2014 helped engineer a major giveaway to the frackers by getting a Colorado anti-fracking Rep  to vacate two ballot measures to put restrictions on oil and gas drilling.  (Hick's Neoliberal treachery actually traces back to 2012 when he filed a lawsuit against Longmont for voting in fracking regulations which he claimed were "against state law")

So it's not really surprising now that Hick's climate plan is hollow through and through.  This is sad given that - as the Post observed- Colorado once stood  in the national forefront in its approach to climate change after voters approved a renewable energy mandate in 2004. Then in 2008, Gov. Bill Ritter advanced a Climate Change Action plan that set a goal to cut greenhouse gas emissions 20 percent by 2020. A very reasonable goal, so it was more then surprising to many that the plan that finally emerged was tepid, and "not aggressive enough" in the words of Rep. Mike Foote, a Democrat who co-sponsored the bill.

In his words (ibid.):

"I think it does a good job of identifying the problem. I don't think it does a good job in identifying ways to prevent the problem. I'd like to see Colorado be a leader in carbon reduction but it seems like we slipped."

Gary Wockner, an environmental activist is even more blunt (ibid.):

"Climate change is one of the - if not the - most serious issues that our state, our nation, is facing and our planet is facing. The governor and his team have dropped the ball and let it slip through."

How or why did we "let it slip"? Well, once Hickenlooper was elected, replacing Ritter, many of us suspected the original Climate Action Plan would be gutted or severely diluted.  One only needed to have examined Hick's oil geologist background and oil and gas industry connections to foresee what was in store for us, and sure enough, fracking exploded in the state with ever more outcries against the despoliation of the landscape, soil, water  and air. Hence, the Post's findings (May 5, 2014) that:

"There’s about one gallon of toxic liquid penetrating soil every eight minutes.”

In addition:  

“drillers churn up 135 to 500 tons of dirt with every new well, some of it soaked with hydrocarbons and laced with potentially toxic minerals and salts.”

So, it was incredible to many of - in the wake of these findings - that Hickenlooper's former chief lobbyist and energy adviser - Tracee Bentley- actually had the nerve to "express disappointment that the (climate) report didn't highlight the benefits of oil and gas fracking".

Seriously? Well, maybe it was because Hickenlooper's current advisers realized that any such mention would be an even greater insult to Coloradans' intelligence.

The final evidence that Hick's plan is useless resides in the admission that it is not prescriptive and wasn't intended to be.  It is purely cosmetic, designed to make Coloradans think Hick and his bunch are really doing something when they aren't doing diddly. Colorado's current climate change manager, Taryn Finnessey, quoted in the recent Post piece acknowledged "the report doesn't set new goals or outline any action plan aimed at the state's polluters and energy consumers".

In other words, same ol' same ol'.  It is "not telling industry what they should be doing" but letting them decide for themselves.

Hence, the original valid action plan of Gov. Ritter has mutated into a cosmetic abomination and mockery under Hick.

But why be surprised when this sort of treachery  - environmental and political  - is a hallmark of Neoliberal governance and economics?  Again, it was Hick who two months ago "noted his administration developed rules to try to reduce methane emissions with as little regulation as possible" And as we've learned, that reduction amounts to roughly zero.  Meanwhile, frackers - thanks to his "Colorado Oil and Gas Association" are having their way at every level.

Yeah, I admit I voted for Hick instead of Repub Bob Beauprez in the last gubernatorial election. Only because I sanely recognized that dealing with dysentery (politically) is preferable to Ebola.

That doesn't mean "dysentery" is tolerable or even acceptable!

English County Puts Kibosh on Fracking - What Are WE in the U.S. Doing About It?

Anti-Fracking protestors in Preston, England, after the local government rejected fracking applications from Caudrilla Resources

What a great and noble thing it is to have control of whether despoliation of one's environment can occur via the use of local control of fracking! We almost had it here in Colo. back in 2014 except that Jared Polis (who tendered two different referenda on it) punked out at the last minute - no doubt coerced by the oil and gas and lobby. As well as kowtowing to empty promises by Gov. John Hickenlooper, aka "Hick", who once drank a large glass full of fracked water to try and show it was harmless. (Rumors later circulated that he had diarrhea for three days after, but we can't verify this.)

We know New York at least got the message and banned fracking last year, but most state government haven't given they're so in control by outside interest e.g.

http://brane-space.blogspot.tw/2015/05/fracking-state-governments-determined.html

Now, we also know an English county government on Monday rejected application from Caudrilla Resources for the first onshore hydraulic fracturing in Western Europe since 2011, according to a Wall Street Journal report ('Fracking Suffers Setback In England', p. B3, June 30).  Thus, as the piece observed, "the industry suffered another blow to develop a shale gas industry outside of the U.S."

Well, let it suffer! We don't want or need no stinkin' fracked air, soil and water!

And as for the bollocks pumped out by the industry's PR tanks, i.e. that it "provides energy independence" do not believe that codswallop for one second! All it is doing, as Jim Hightower also observed in his latest column, is being shipped outside the U.S., e.g.

"In shale fields across the country, you'll see fracking rigs festooned with Old Glory, and they even paint some of their rigs red, white and blue. This ostentatious, patriotic pose is part and parcel of the industry's cynical public-relations campaign to convince you and me that its assault on our health, water, air and economic future should be mindlessly saluted, rather than questioned.

ENERGY INDEPENDENCE! is their deafening cry — this shale gas boom, they exclaim, most certainly will free America from dependence on foreign producers.

"Oh say can you see [through the frackers' big lie?]"

He goes on to pointedly note:

"Far from independence, we're going to get the pollution and other problems, but foreigners will get the energy, for the gas extracted from our fractured land is destined for the export market.

How do we know that? First, because the industry and its government enablers admit it in their internal communications. But, secondly, guess who's paying for the fracking of America?"

Bloomberg News,  indeed, reports that China has pumped over $5 billion into the U.S. drilling "boom" — not only so it can export the energy back to their people, but especially so the Chinese can "redeploy the best U.S. practices and technologies" back to China. Japan has done the same and India has plowed in $3.5 billion to grab our fracked oil and gas.

 Other Asian nations will reap the benefits of this cheap, degraded energy for their own development - once the TPP is finally passed (if it is). Then every signee nation from Vietnam to the Philippines will be able to demand untold fracked shale oil from us and we shall have to comply.  So we are being asked - nay expected- to allow our own nations in the West to be fucked over as far as water, air quality and depredation of the environment - to provide cheap energy to others!

And the insidious effects on resources - especially water - are such that we MUST reject the efforts to blind us to what this dastardly methodology is doing.

The latest news, according to a comprehensive new analysis from the U.S. Geological Survey: fracking is using up much MORE water than originally assumed -  as much as 9.6 million gallons per well.  To give you some point of comparison, an Olympic-sized swimming pool, for comparison, hold just about 660,000 gallons. Thus one single frack well can consume more than 14. 5 Olympc -sized swimming pools.

On average, the study calculated that gas wells are using 5.1 million gallons of water each. Not only is that a lot, it’s more than 28 times the amount of water they were using just 15 years ago.  The greatest atrocity? Many of those operations, as Climate Central notes, are located in regions that recently saw severe droughts — Texas, the Rocky Mountains, the Great Plains – and which can expect to confront even more water shortages as global warming progresses:

It's estimated that fracking now consumes up to 30 percent more ground water than previously believed. At this rate, and with new water data showing an ever diminishing resource base, there won't be any left for future generations.  Kids today who grow up in water-ravaged drought states - or even in many other places- will have to rely on toilet to tap water, or else.... go without.

In the case of the UK vote, while supporters inflated the "economic benefits"  - most sane people weren't biting, noting the host of toxic chemicals used during fracking, most of which got into the ground water. In their rational reckoning, there was no issue of dubious "cost benefit" calculations, there simply was too much cost and very little benefit to them - the cost including devastating health issues and devaluation of property. Because NO one wants to buy a home in a frack area. So the elites can tout this shit all they want, but they can afford to live in their little rich enclaves which won't tolerate it!

Meanwhile, in the UK Scotland has also banned fracking and Wales is considering a similar measure. It is also banned in France and on hold in Germany where my friend Reinhardt has vowed he will fight "tooth and nail" to keep it out since he's seen what it's done here in the U.S.  He agreed that letting it get started would be almost as bad as "allowing the Nazis to regain control of the country."

Indeed, and this is largely why the frack craze - while it's unleashed an oil and gas boom in the U.S. - has proven politically toxic in the more advanced European nations whose citizens take care not to elect frack -crazy political whores. Instead,  blocking it at every turn because of its calamitous health and environmental damage.

We need to start mounting unabated pressure on our political cretins....errrr....creatures...now, to halt this crap. Our future and our kids future depends upon it!

Can Colorado Prevent Newcomers Settling Here - Because of a Water Shortage?

This question came to mind as one processed Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper's recent 'State of the State' speech in which he said (Denver Post, Jan. 30, p. 2A):

"Population growth in Colorado has to figure out a way to use a lot less water or the growth will stop.It's pretty much, I mean, black and white. We find a way to use a lot less water per person or we don't have more people coming here. There is no magic."

This was part of Hick's push for a comprehensive Colorado Water Plan given the dreary current projection that the state faces a 163 billion gallon projected water shortfall by 2050. This is based on the projection that Colorado's current population of 5.3 million will grow to 10 million by then. Along with expansion of "industry" (he doesn't mention fracking by name - but that's definitely one culprit as I will show) this will "leave 2.5 million people parched."

So "preventing people" coming here could manifest in a number of ways. For example, they may already arrive and settle but find - as the forlorn folks coming to the Banning Lewis Ranch subdivision (in El Paso Country)learned too late - there's no water to shower with or wash their dishes. Worse, water "taxes" could be levied on top of utility bills (some proposals have reached $2,700 per household per year).

Why so many coming to Colorado? Many reasons! Many come as retirees as an alternative to a hot, humid place like Florida. Many are mountain lovers and this state boasts the highest average altitude in the nation. Others arrive because of the state's legalization of pot - opting to live in a state where they won't be hounded for their pot habits.  Many other families are moving here because the state's MJ oil business (the oil cannabidiol-  known as "Charlotte's Web" e.g.

http://brane-space.blogspot.com/2014/12/colorado-promised-land-for-marijuana.html

provides one of the last chances for their afflicted children - suffering from Dravet syndrome - a rare form of epilepsy which completely disables a child's language and social skills.

Whatever the reason, it means the state will either have to develop expensive new water delivery systems - which will have to be paid for by higher utility bills - or find other means of enhancing efficient water use. A 344- page draft released in December lists potential delivery projects costing $18-20 billion. It also mentions the possibility of innovations such as "toilet to tap" systems whereby sewer water can be re-used, e.g.

http://brane-space.blogspot.com/2014/11/thanks-to-frackers-well-soon-be.html

This would conform with the Colorado Water Plan's  mandate that Colorado residents must "re -use all available waste water as a pre-condition before state officials accept new trans-mountain projects".

The major obstacles to this innovation according the draft, include:

 

- The huge costs of water cleaning using multiple filter cleaning systems

 

- The legal obligations in Colorado to deliver water downstream

 

- The disposal of the contaminants purged from waste water - mainly thousands of gallons a day of super -concentrated salty mixes that must then be injected into deep wells or buried. The mixture is so toxic it can destroy skin on contact.

 

 - Safety and monitoring: This entails installing water monitoring and testing systems sensitive enough to track a wide array of pathogens (including E. Coli. cryptosporidium etc), suspended particles and hard to remove specialty chemicals (i.e. tossed out contraceptives, diet pills, laxatives, anti-depressants

-The "Ick" factor - i.e.  when consumers know the water ingested was only recently used to flush the effluent of another's bowels.

 

But arguably none of these extreme measures - including water rationing - would be needed if fracking wasn't out of control in Colorado.

 

Nowhere has our Neoliberal guv,  in any of his speeches, accepted any responsibility for allowing frackers to run amuck - drilling up to 50,000 frack wells across the state with each one consuming up to 5 million gallons each. The projected total water lost to fracking by 2050 actually will  exceed the shortfall noted earlier by nearly 37 billion gallons! (Using a 4 million gallon per well average consumption for each well and replacement well.)

 

In other words, by banning fracking - like New York has (and New York isn't even an arid state like Colorado)-  the state could immediately reduce its water burden and water loss. It would then enable those newcomers to live here without suffering from draconian measures..

 

Alas, this is unlikely to happen because the tentacles of the oil and gas industry extend throughout our state's political system. Oil and gas fracking lobbyists influence even the so-called environmental oversight groups by creating  pretenders like the "Environmental Policy Alliance".  (Which has been used in advertisements to dun anti-fracker activists as "flat Earthers".)

 

If you plan to come to Colorado to live, for any reason, be sure you're aware of our water limitations, many of which are directly linked to water-intensive fracking that places profits and business above human resources.

 

Inside Look At How Frackers Target Environmentalists - And Why We're in Big Trouble

The map shown, from Food and Water Watch, tracks the ongoing movement against fracking. The map tracks local measures against hydraulic fracturing, as well as statewide efforts to stop or restrict it. It designates exactly where shale gas plays are located throughout the nation and which communities have been successful in taking action to protect their water and their environment by passing resolutions, ordinances or bills against fracking.

Other maps at  different sites (e.g. FracTracker) show the encroachment of fracking into water supplies across the nation,  e.g. http://maps.fractracker.org/latest/?webmap=b26c43968bf8435388cbd4b33f2c4b3d

something that bears close attention given the increasingly adverse effects on our water supplies. See e.g. http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2013/06/15/2163531/fracking-is-already-straining-us-water-supplies/

But as anti-fracking activism rises to meet the challenge the frackers and especially the oil and gas lobby, have not been idle. Indeed, as a recent Bloomberg news story has revealed, one of their top lobbyists - Rick Berman - is teaching the fossil fuel companies how to fight back against green activism. Berman himself was featured on a '60 Minutes' piece which noted how he had to "play hardball"  vs. 'Mothers Against Drunk Driving'. Evidently, it wasn't enough that drunks kill thousands of innocents on the roads each year, Berman had to find a way to fight against one of the primary groups battling drunken driving. So hell, why not fight for the rights of the assholes who want to poison our air, water and soil too - to grab a few extra gigatons of oil (kerogen) from the Earth?

The Bloomberg piece noted a private confab held at the elite Broadmoor Hotel in Colorado Springs not long ago, in which arch-lobbyist Berman confronted the oil and gas honchos and basically told them that if they wanted to keep all their operations going they had to learn to "fight dirty". As he told the gathered planetary exploiters (and please understand the whole world is now being fracked): "You can either fight dirty or lose pretty".

Uh, how about not fighting at all? How about doing what Japan is now doing and make a sweeping move toward green energy - putting tens of thousands to work and limiting CO2 effects on the atmosphere? (E.g. 'Japan Sees Green Boom, Glut', Denver Post, Nov. 2, p. 4K) Of course, in Japan, the influx of solar, wind, geothermal etc. projects is crucial given that all 48 of their nuclear reactors are now idled and they must import nearly all other energy sources (oil, gas). So it becomes critical to cut that dependence. In the U.S., meanwhile, the finding of kerogen stores as well as natural gas beneath our feet has led to the frenzied drive to grab it - but at the cost of our health.

Anyway, back to Berman and the tactics he imparted to the gathered oil-heads. And let us bear in mind here, the Repukes' win wasn't all about dumb turnout but also oil money ($95.5m worth) funding the campaigns of pro-fracking whores in congress. Still, despite the vast money influx, the oil bunch is worried about the anti-fracking movement.  Hence, Berman's call to use "fear and anger" as part of any campaign to advance the fracking cause. As he put it:

"You have to get people fearful about what is on the table, and you have to get people angry that they are being misled"

But the problem is that it's precisely the opposite: people are in fact being misled about the "benefits" of fracking. I detailed much of this earlier in connection with two articles published in the Mensa Bulletin, e.g.
http://brane-space.blogspot.com/2014/06/mensa-bulletin-looks-at-two-sides-of.html

One of the primary strategies advocated by Berman entails using opposition researchers to dig into the finances of board members serving on environmental groups such as the Sierra Club and the National Resources Defense Council (NRDC). Since these are public groups the information is publicly available. The extracted material is then used to prepare agitprop for both online and billboard ads.  (For example, one particular billboard ad cited refers to Yoko Ono - a top anti-fracking activist and says: "Would you take energy advice from the woman who broke up the Beatles?"- playing on people's stupidity and/or short memories)

Environmentalists were initially worried about such attacks, but ultimately found they "didn't gain much traction with the public or press" - showing that the oil & gas fiends had radically underestimated the intelligence of the American people.

Failing that, the lobbyists and companies blew $2m to use "humor"- based ads to try to get the message across. Throughout Colorado in August, one then beheld a 60-second ad, sponsored by an industry front group called "the Environmental Policy Alliance" that  opened with a picture of a house and a sign outside that read 'Anti-fracking Meeting Tonight'.   A narrator then does a voice over: 'Wonder who's driving the conversation about fracking in Colorado?' The scene then shifts to four people sitting at a table, including one holding a sock puppet and another munching on spray cheese and cheese balls.

The man holding the gavel then says: "Last week's meeting on whether the Moon is really made of green cheese was very enlightening."

 Despite all the money, the ad basically misfired - the idiots who prepared it failing to realize it  wouldn't work in a state which ranked second in the nation in the number of people (per capita) holding college degrees.  So, instead of  the populace perceiving anti-frackers as space cadets, they saw the ad proponents painting THEM that way!

Indeed, polls showed that two initiatives put forward by Jared Polis for local control, garnered way more signatures than needed to be on the ballot and also that a majority of Colorado citizens wanted them. The ads didn't make a dent so, in desperation, Governor Hickenlooper had to call an emergency back door meeting with Polis and oil-gas execs to try to get them off the ballot. After lots of cajoling, wheeling and dealing, Polis removed them and  agreed to a "compromise". This included setting up a 20-person commission which  would take six months to make "recommendations" and then the state legislature would have its say in making new laws.

A Denver Post report on the incident observed how representatives  from the two largest fracking companies - from Texas- cheered wildly at the news.

Why are we in big trouble? Because -  while the pro -frackers use their nefarious research teams to dig out board members of Sierra Club, NRDC etc. and mock them, THEY themselves are protected by the rules of dark money donations. Which, according to Berman "are run through organizations that are insulated from having to disclose donors".

Neat! But not for the rest of us - who face the fact this dark money influx enables the vermin (like Berman)  to fuck us all as well as the planet, to a far-thee -well.

Watch the flick "Interstellar" this weekend if you get the chance. Because the dustbowl Earth depicted therein is exactly what we are headed for if the Climate denialists and frackers get their way.

How the Frackers Prevailed in Colorado

Thanks to an extended report, we now know how Gov. John Hickenlooper, his Neoliberal Dem cronies and the fracker brigade managed to prevail in Colorado. By "prevail" I mean that they managed to finagle a closed doors, or back door deal - presented as a compromise  - that resulted in Dem rep Jared Polis removing his two local fracking initiatives from the November Ballot.  As the Post put it in its report ('Hickenlooper's Deal', p. 1A, Aug. 24):

"Nearly every person interviewed by the Denver Post doubted that anyone but Hickenlooper, a former geologist who has allies in the energy community and environmental communities,  could have pulled off a compromise."

But the problem is that it's no real compromise, only a puny token sham that managed to scrap actual potential for action. According to the Denver Post report back on Aug. 8:

"A 20 - person commission was announced Monday as part of a compromise to keep two oil and gas oriented initiatives from the fall ballot."

And what, pray tell, would  we see from this commission?

"The commission will have 6 months to make recommendations to the legislature which will then consider further legislation."

Oh, terrific! Six months to make "recommendations" and then the (bought out) legislature will have its say in making new laws. All you need to know is that the two largest fracking companies - from Texas- cheered wildly at the news. Can you figure it out now? Because never mind the legislature, the 6 month span will allow the drillers to put down 5,000 more frack wells, threatening our air, soil and ground water, see e.g.

http://brane-space.blogspot.com/2014/05/now-fracking-pollutes-soil-as-well-as.html


Anyway, Hick and his compadres were propelled to act to get a deal - any deal - after learning from Brian Lawrence (who founded Yorktown Partners - a company that invests in energy) that while the firm had planned to invest $1 billion in Colorado energy companies they were unable to proceed while any fracking control items were on the ballot. Thus the impetus for Hick to come up with any kind of bogus deal he could.

The breakthrough came when U.S. Rep Ed Perlmutter organized a dinner at a downtown Denver steakhouse to discuss the ongoing fracking debate and try to come to a resolution. No members of the fracktivists were allowed to attend, only the inside pols and their lackeys. Oh ...and the oil and gas representatives.  According to the Post (p21 A, ibid.):

"To Chris Castilian, director of government affairs for Andarko Petroleum and deputy chief of staff for former Republican governor Bill Owens, the dinner was a watershed moment."

Oh, I am sure it was as the weasels - in their secluded meetings-  found concordance on how to craft a deal to screw the public out of an opportunity to vote for local control of frack operations. Now, they're at the mercy of "commissions" and an industry-driven "task force".

To make a long story short, Hickenlooper according to the Post,  "practiced shuttle diplomacy" until he got all the participants on board as well as PR firms   - to be able to sell this sham to the public. After all, following all the hoopla of the ballot initiatives you had to toss them a rag when the measures were removed. (It helped of course that the state Dept. Of Natural Resources houses the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission - which is the industry 'pet' group designed to run interference on fracktivists )

As Hickenlooper beheld the "hangman's noose", i.e. the date of Aug. 4 approaching with all the signed petitions that would enable the two local fracking control initiatives, he and his minions pushed into overdrive to secure the bogus deal. The break point came when Polis caved under the pressure and dropped all additional demands concerning the composition of the task force designated to oversee the issues via the commission set up for the compromise. The road was then free and clear to bamboozle the public. (Polis was told if he really wanted to have local fracking control he could run for a special state office.)

So we can then plausibly conclude that Polis has likely been playing us all, or at least only exploited the initiative drive to get more press for himself.. Sadly, with the initiatives pulled, it means all those 100,000+ who've signed them will likely not be tricked into doing so again  - for another sham cover by a lying politico only seeking to protect his own hide. Meanwhile, the Neoliberal Dem Governor Hickenlooper has again resorted to his usual codswallop, once describing  the push for the local control initiatives and the action by five municipalities to place bans on moratoriums for drilling as "a rebellion". Obviously showing he has no clue what a REAL one looks like, making me wish I could transport him back in time to Yorktown  or Lexington in 1777, oh,  in a Redcoat uniform.

And in his most recent Post remarks:

"There are still a bunch of critics who say we're kicking the can down the road. But if those critics had their way we would be in the middle of a ballot war right now. "

You have that one right, sonny.  And we'd have had a full throated expression of the people's will which you and your imps have now prevented by a back room deal.

Some things never change, but the people of Colorado won't forget. You can make book on it!

100 - Year Flood Hits Colorado - Boulder in a Mess!

Scene in Boulder, as Boulder Creek rose 6' and surged through the downtown area. A result of over 7 inches in 24 hrs.

A 100 year flood has now hit our state after the ferocious fires that launched this dismal summer. Blame it all on global warming? Maybe! The point is we know that global warming is projected to make the West drier, and hotter - paving the way for fires. Combine that with the ravages of the mountain pine beetle, turning trees into tinder, and you can see why we're worried about regular fiery summers.

We also know that in a greenhouse world, the warmer temperatures lead to much higher levels of precipitation as clouds become laden with moisture. This effect was forecast as long ago as the late 1970s.  If global warming is responsible, we can expect to see storms like the one in Colorado more and more frequently, oh - and storms like 'Sandy' too!

Meanwhile, no one expected the floods like we've seen the past two days, with rain pouring down at a rate typically not seen unless one is in a hurricane - such as the several I've been through, from Hurricane Cleo striking Miami in 1965, to Hurricane Betsy striking New Orleans - when I attended Loyola, to Hurricane Allen pounding Barbados.

But the scenes coming out of Boulder - shown on Rachel Maddow's  show last night- didn't lie. People running for their lives as the city's beloved creek - normally a quiet stream passing near the city's public library- overran its banks. Meanwhile, the University of Colorado closed as students were told to seek higher ground. Other students had to help bail out dorms, flooded mercilessly.

Meanwhile, Obama has approved disaster relief for Boulder and other areas, such as Aurora, parts of Denver, Lyons.

Here in the Springs, there are areas of high risk, mainly near Fountain Creek to the south of where we are. Regular bulletins are posted, such as at 6:30 this morning, informing Springs residents of the danger zones.  In our own area, the main effect has been a sodden lawn - with the nuisance dandelions finally getting drowned, hopefully permanently.

I went out this a.m. for my normal one mile speed walk, and saw little or nothing to fret over, and there was just a steady drizzle. People in danger areas are, however, at major risk, since as Gov. Hickenlooper noted this morning if you happen to find yourself facing a wave of water bearing debris it will be "like being hit with a wall of wet cement".

People in danger areas are advised to stay home.

If you are interested in helping the people of Colorado in this new crisis, please go to:


www.helpcolorado.org

Mass Evacuations Ordered In Northern Colo. Springs - Will We Be Next?

The failure to contain the Black Forest Fire along with horrific dry conditions, high winds and high temperatures, has expanded the fire southward forcing mass evacuations from the Springs. Will we be next (despite the fact wifey is now ill with severe bronchitis)? We don't know - but we are starting to assemble an emergency departure kit, including: all insurance policies, all papers to do with Social Security and Medicare, all recent bank-asset  statements, tax files for past 10 years - for B'dos and U.S., all IDs including important personal proof papers not already in the bank safety deposit box, enough clothes, meds, shoes etc. to get by in a shelter - if it comes to that, and of course, a box containing our most precious memories including photos, DVDs of holidays, and written diaries dating back to 1969-70. Another box is to be filled with a limited set of "best books", best movie DVDS, and favorite music CDs - oh, along with Janice's Ipad, our Ipods, and at least one laptop.

Added to the existing havoc are weather conditions producing dry thunderstorms and accompanying lightning strikes the last thing this community needs right now.

Some brief updates up to now (4. 15 p.m. MDT)

3.30 p.m.: Gov. John Hickenlooper appoints Air National Guard Brig. Gen. Peter J. Byrne to head the wildfire reponse and relief support efforts in Colorado. He will work with existing fire incident commanders to seek containment of the beast - which has now destroyed 360 homes and is at 8, 700 acres.

3.37 p.m. Heavy smoke and ash blowing on the northwestern edge of the blaze.

3.45 p.m. Penrose -St. Francis Hospital in northern Springs reports treating people for smoke inhalation in the emergency room.

3.55 p.m. Firefighters report fierce winds driving the Black Forest Fire. Reporter Garrison Wells at Pikes Peak Community College reports wind gusts hitting hard.

4 p.m.  Some citizens report rain drops near Palmer Lake.

Above all, what we need is a heavy rain along with the winds to die down to make progress. As one official put it this a.m. even before the day's battles began:

"Even all the firefighters in the world with all the equipment can't stop a fire driven by winds, high temperatures and low humidity. We will need help from Mother Nature."

Update: 6:15 p.m. We may be getting that assist from Mother Nature. According to latest reports, the winds are dying down and dew points increasing as we approach the 'golden hours' for fire fighting. On the negative side, wifey and I did smell smoke on a return junket from the store with some supplies: gatorade, chips, oranges, soup etc.

Also: The Black Forest Fire is 5% contained.
We will see what happens overnight, and hopefully we get some rain to help out!