THE QUICKIE: KEYSTONE XL HELL

IN TWEET: THERE’S A TON OF ANTI-KEYSTONE XL STUFF OUT THERE BUT, THIS NEW TV SPOT FROM THE ALL RISK/NO REWARD COALITION NAILS IT LIKE NOTHING I’VE SEEN.

The recent tar sands oil spill in Mayflower, AR is still a disaster in progress. In fact, the damage to the pipeline appears to be much worse than originally thought, according state Attorney General Dustin McDaniel (D-AR). The spill has also cast new doubts on the safety and viability of the Keystone XL pipeline extension.

Though proponents of the project correctly note that this is new, state of the art construction, the pipeline itself bisects the United States. It crosses wetlands, farmland and neighboring residential areas. It will also become part of an interconnected network of oil pipelines with a woeful track record of safety issues, accidents and shoddy maintenance.

I’ve seen a ton of anti-Keystone advertising and activism but few efforts are as pointed, common sense and effective as a TV spot just released by a new player in the mix: the ALL RISK/NO REWARD COALITION. Made up of various local, state and national organizations, the coalition makes the strongest case yet for saying “NO” to Keystone XL. Check it out:

NOTE: YOU SHOULD BE ABLE TO VIEW THIS VIDEO FROM ANY DESKTOP OR LAPTOP BROWSER. SOME MOBILE BROWSERS, HOWEVER, DO NOT SUPPORT VIDEO PLUG-INS. IF THAT IS THE CASE, CLICK HERE FOR A LINK TO THE VIDEO AND OPEN IN YOUR YOU TUBE APP.

Click on the image at the top of the post to visit the ALL RISK/NO REWARD COLATION site.

CLICK HERE for more topical RONTHINK coverage including a takedown of petroleum industry PR tactics and coverage of the Mayflower, AR spill. Includes new video along with updates on some dubious and aggressive moves by pipeline owner Exxon to mitigate the fallout from the disaster. Think ERIN BROCKOVICH, with the oil giant filling the PG&E role.

OPINION: OILY OIL PR PORN

IN TWEET: A PETROLEUM INDUSTRY ADVERTISING CAMPAIGN FRONTED BY FEMBOT IN PANT SUIT IS PURE PR RUBBISH.

NOTE: INCLUDES UPDATES ADDED ON APRIL 12, 2013. THESE UPDATES APPEAR AFTER THE ORIGINAL POST CONTENT.

Does the AMERICAN PETROLEUM INSTITUTE really think people are going get the warm and fuzzies from a propaganda campaign that looks like it came from the same folks who created the parody ads in ROBOCOP? Apparently so because the oil and gas industry is running this ridiculous spot in heavy rotation right now, often in commercial breaks on news networks during coverage of the Arkansas oil spill.

NOTE: YOU SHOULD BE ABLE TO VIEW THIS VIDEO FROM ANY DESKTOP OR LAPTOP BROWSER. SOME MOBILE BROWSERS, HOWEVER, DO NOT SUPPORT VIDEO PLUG-INS. IF THAT IS THE CASE, CLICK HERE FOR A LINK TO THE HOST SITE.

First problem: who cast the Fembot in the black Sears pantsuit? Does her wooden delivery inspire anything other than sarcasm and derision? Seriously, is someone holding her hostage in a green screen hell forcing her to deliver propaganda under duress? It sure looks like it.

Even worse, given the headlines in the first three months of 2013 alone, the “triumphs” of the oil biz featured in the spot are especially offensive.

Let’s start with a fun visit to one of those “advanced refineries” Lady Robot tells us about. Behold! This stunning vista comes courtesy of the Chevron refinery in Richmond, CA:

Where’s that “advanced refinery” I mentioned? It’s on fire, after a series of massive explosions rocked the facility in January. Before the next stop on our journey, let’s pause for a moment to stare in slack jawed wonder at all that thick, black smoke spewing into the atmosphere. Ahhhh…gorgeous!

Next up, how about a peek at one of those “billions of investments in America” that Mandy Mannequin assures us is “safely providing” the fossil fuels that feed our oil addiction. We’ve arrived at the Chukchi Sea, along a pristine stretch of Alaska coastline. Get out your cameras, the views are stunning:

 

What’s that metaly looking floaty thing in both pictures? Glad you asked. That’s the Kulluk, a massive drilling platform owned by Shell. It ran aground on New Years Eve and was trapped in this environmentally sensitive area for weeks. This was the second drilling platform owned by Shell to be involved in a major scandal recently. The other rig, Noble Discoverer, is now the subject of a Justice Department investigation after the Coast Guard found 16 major violations in a post-drilling season inspection.

The final stop on our tour is Mayflower, AR. It’s the perfect spot to get up close and personal with one segment of the more than 170,000 miles of “secure pipelines” that Patty Pantsuit notes “many of us never see.”

True that! We don’t see them. In fact, most people in Mayflower they didn’t even know their homes sat right on top of this oil delivery superhighway. That all changed when the “secure” pipeline became not so secure:

 

That black river in the top picture and the swamp in the bottom image are actually what happens when a “secure” underground pipeline bursts. Whatever business, wetland or neighborhood is unfortunate enough to sit on top of said broken pipe becomes a sea of gunk. In this case, it’s Canadian tar sand oil, the stuff that’s so heavy it sinks in water. It’s the same crap that would be pumped through the Keystone XL pipeline.

So, the next time you see blatant propaganda from an oil company or hear chuckle heads like Sarah Palin getting horny for fossil fuels, think back to this post and question everything that comes out of the mouth of whatever hapless actor is chosen to parrot the lies that define the petroleum industry. 

CLICK HERE for first-rate coverage of the Mayflower, AR disaster from Desmogblog.com.

To give you a little something to laugh about, check out this great YouTube compilation of the ROBOCOP parody ads I referenced in the opening. The similarities to the API spot are eerie.

NOTE: YOU SHOULD BE ABLE TO VIEW THIS VIDEO FROM ANY DESKTOP OR LAPTOP BROWSER. SOME MOBILE BROWSERS, HOWEVER, DO NOT SUPPORT VIDEO PLUG-INS. IF THAT IS THE CASE, CLICK HERE FOR A LINK TO THE VIDEO AND OPEN IN YOUR YOU TUBE APP.

UPDATES: APRIL 12, 2013

CLICK HERE to read how Exxon is attempting to win over the people of Mayflower, AR in a bold and aggressive move to limit the financial and legal fallout from the spill there. From Reuters.

CLICK HERE to check out the "Arctic Ready" website, a brilliant parody of the Arctic-specific area of Shell's real corporate site. Launched last year, the Greenpeace/Yes Men project continues to dog Shell.

CLICK HERE for an update on the Arkansas spill from THE RACHEL MADDOW SHOW. It includes more background info on the Shell spoof site as well as an in-depth look at the Reuters piece.

Finally, here is the full video of the hilarious Exxon parody ad excerpted in the MADDOW segment.

NOTE: YOU SHOULD BE ABLE TO VIEW THIS VIDEO FROM ANY DESKTOP OR LAPTOP BROWSER. SOME MOBILE BROWSERS, HOWEVER, DO NOT SUPPORT VIDEO PLUG-INS. IF THAT IS THE CASE, CLICK HERE FOR A LINK TO THE VIDEO AND OPEN IN YOUR YOU TUBE APP.

LEGACY: HUGO CHAVEZ

Hugo Chavez, the flamboyant and controversial leftist President of Venezuela, died Tuesday after a long battle with cancer. He was 58.

Hated outside the confines of the country he led with a passion almost equal to the devotion shown to him by legions of followers in Venezuela, Chavez remains as much of an enigma now as he was when he first assumed power in 1999. An outspoken champion of the poor and downtrodden, he also had a habit of being his own worst enemy. Chavez opted for inflammatory rhetoric far too often to curry favor with the United States. At the same time, he didn’t seem to give a rat’s patootie. This made him even more  fascinating to anyone trying to figure out on which side of the good guy/bad guy fence Chavez belonged.

Ultimately, that mindset would prove hopelessly simplistic and ill-suited for gaining real insight into such a complex man. Perhaps, like so many leaders before him, Chavez would prove impossible to pigeonhole.  In the end, as someone who has never set foot in Venezuela, it’s not my place to judge. Instead, I’d like to offer a different take on Hugo Chavez and one, I think, that makes a fitting epitaph.

Citizens Energy, founded by by former U.S. representative Joseph P. Kennedy II (D-MA), is a Massachusetts-based non-profit. Among it’s many pursuits is the Citizens Energy Oil Heat Program (CEOHP) which delivers discounted heating oil to the poor and elderly in 25 states and on Native American tribal lands in nine additional states. The program itself is a partnership with CITGO, a wholly owned subsidiary of the national oil company of Venezuela.

When Kennedy approached the petroleum industry regarding a collaboration that would eventually become the CEOHP, only CITGO offered to help (see PSA video below). While critics of Chavez derided the effort as a propaganda campaign against the Bush Administration, the program has been an unqualified success. Since starting work together in 20o5, Chavez and the people of Venezuela have donated more than 200 million gallons of home heating oil to the poorest of Americans through the CEOHP. Most of the recipients would have gone without heat during the coldest months of the year, dooming many to not surviving the winter.

Propaganda? Social activism? Humanitarian outreach? Where Chavez is concerned, his part in the CEOHP is probably a combination of all three. Though the number of critics has dwindled since 2005, some still look at the collaboration as a bad thing. I prefer to view it as a success and a blueprint for ways businesses, governments and non-profit organizations can work together across borders and political divides. Certainly other major oil companies had an opportunity to step up. None of them did and none of them have jumped on the bandwagon since. If Chavez did score propaganda points back home, so be it. The lives of poor and elderly Americans helped by the donations from CITGO through the CEOHP seem more than worth the price.

CITIZENS ENERGY OIL HEAT PROGRAM PSA