environmentalists

We are in the grip of the greatest economic downturn since the Great Depression of the 1930’s…which by the way folks, was a largely Democratic creation. If that sounds familiar it’s because many of the same power grabs that contributed to it then are in motion now. Here on the left coast, in once sunny California, even some of our 20 million ILLEGAL aliens have given up to move back home to Mexico and go to work for the great growth industry down there…drug cartels. Meanwhile, in the second biggest Fantasyland in the nation, Sacramento, the Democratically dominated State Assembly, along with that ever acquiescent RINO Arnold Schwarzenegger, have taken the State with the tenth largest economy in the world and destroyed it as a viable economic entity. If you think I’m exaggerating, wrap your ponytail and Birkenstocks around this: Our Great Central San Joaquin Valley, virtually BY ITSELF, could feed the world…or could before the gutless California politicians allowed the environmentalists so much sway (for a price) that a Federal judge was able to take water away from California ranches and farms, for the sake of a lousy 2″ trash fish…the Delta Smelt. Supposedly because they were getting trapped in the pumping stations of the main irrigation canals, thereby depriving the salmon of this delectable hors d’oeuvre. Um…seems like salmon all over the world thrive without a single visit to our delta…fancy that. There are dozens of examples of this abject environmental stupidity all affecting California business and investment, even education and infrastructure. Although I’ve researched most I can’t go into them…we’d be here all week. One thing you can be sure of, wherever the ENVIRONAZIS are in this state, there will be a politician nearby waiting to have his palm crossed with silver…our silver. I imagine it’s much the same in the other States as well. This, and the invariably higher taxes, both personal and business that go hand-in-hand with increasingly repressive regulation, have resulted in the MASS exodus of business and jobs from this State, once one of the most prosperous stand-alone economies in the world. Now our ever-sleazy State Legislature, probably jealous of  Nancy (Bugeyes) Pelosi’s one-sided attempt to railroad the country into Marxist servitude and unable to con the voters of California into saying yes to a handful of doublespeak hidden tax bond measures, have resorted to complete and total NO FRILLS (meaning no voters, no election, no governor) TAXATION WITHOUT REPRESENTATION. Illegal and unconstitutional as hell…blatant spit-in-your-eye we’re-going-to-do-it-anyway taxation, in the form of a 10% additional withholding from pay checks. This in a state with 12.5 to 17% unemployment, depending on which set of depressing statistics you’d care to peruse. The aforementioned San Joaquin Valley has closer to 40% unemployed and invaluable farm land being destroyed by neglect and disuse. Supposedly, this additional ‘loan’ will be deducted from State income taxes at the end of the tax year…where are those Madoff investments? We’ll make a killing. I know I can speak for a whole lot of people in this State when I say there’s not a damn thing anyone in that Statehouse does to represent me! Even the Kool-Aid crowd has begun to figure out that gay sexual indoctrination of our helpless children is of a higher priority for these creeps than anything approaching responsible governance. We’ve put Congress and the White House on notice. The spin machine is working overtime, but the truth is the Democrats back there are scared peeless. NOW it’s time to take the Conservative Revolution to the California Statehouse!!

Semper Vigilans, Semper Fidelis

© Skip MacLure 2009

Well, Well, Well Hollywood couldn’t have written a more ironic twist to the potential outcome of global warming. While Man-made global warming alarmists are cowering in retreat from the recent rash of scientists and data(pdf) disputing and disproving their positions (like the fact that sea levels have been declining, not rising, for the last two years), an unintended yet very welcome circumstance has presented itself.

For many years Oil companies, geologists and surveyors have speculated that the Arctic contained vast amounts of energy resources… Now, thanks to natural cyclical warming and melting in the arctic it’s not only possible to begin exploring The United States Geological Survey said Wednesday that The Arctic may contain as much as a fifth of the world’s yet to-be-discovered oil and natural gas reserves. For a podcast interview about the USGS Circum-Arctic Resource Appraisal Click Here

The area north of the Arctic Circle has an estimated 90 billion barrels of undiscovered, technically recoverable oil, 1,670 trillion cubic feet of technically recoverable natural gas, and 44 billion barrels of technically recoverable natural gas liquids in 25 geologically defined areas thought to have potential for petroleum.

The U.S. Geological Survey assessment released today is the first publicly available petroleum resource estimate of the entire area north of the Arctic Circle.

These resources account for about 22 percent of the undiscovered, technically recoverable resources in the world. The Arctic accounts for about 13 percent of the undiscovered oil, 30 percent of the undiscovered natural gas, and 20 percent of the undiscovered natural gas liquids in the world. About 84 percent of the estimated resources are expected to occur offshore.

“Before we can make decisions about our future use of oil and gas and related decisions about protecting endangered species, native communities and the health of our planet, we need to know what’s out there,” said USGS Director Mark Myers. “With this assessment, we’re providing the same information to everyone in the world so that the global community can make those difficult decisions.”

Of the estimated totals, more than half of the undiscovered oil resources are estimated to occur in just three geologic provinces - Arctic Alaska, the Amerasia Basin, and the East Greenland Rift Basins. On an oil-equivalency basis, undiscovered natural gas is estimated to be three times more abundant than oil in the Arctic. More than 70 percent of the undiscovered natural gas is estimated to occur in three provinces - the West Siberian Basin, the East Barents Basins, and Arctic Alaska.

So once again these alarmists are proven wrong and to boot, it turns out that the natural, cyclical, Arctic melting has resulted in more oil and natural gas. That sure didn’t turn out the way AlGore expected it to, now did it?

Let me be perfectly clear - I’m all for conservation and preserving our planet as long as we’re not making ridiculous laws and taxes out of unproven theories backed by unmeasurable science. Self responsibility and green awareness should continue to be taught and encouraged. Also the U.S. needs to move from a petroleum based economy to a cleaner one, preferably a hydrogen based economy, but the process has to happen naturally… we should not, and will not, be scared or bullied into adopting technologies and polices that are underdeveloped and economically unfeasible!

Environmentalist Groups Reach Unprecedented Greenmail Extortion Deal to Limit PXP's Production

This is perhaps one of the most under-the-radar stories in the news.  While the story has actually been out since April, I only heard about it when Brit Hume announced it on Special Report on Thursday evening, June 26, 2008.   Bloomberg and Reuters are the only other two news outlets I could find who did simple press releases on this back in April.  Other than that, the word's not really gotten out yet.  Behold, is this the future of doing business in America?

Brit Hume: "A group dedicated to opposing oil drilling off the California Coast is now changing its tune, correspondent William Longeness reports on a controversial and unusual arrangement that for one oil company comes at a heavy price."

William Longeness:  "Houston oil executives and California environmentalists call the deal "unprecedented" - an agreement that could end a 27 year ban on offshore drilling in California.  No state save Alaska has more oil off its shore than California.  And environmentalists like Linda Krop fought for decades to keep it under the sea floor.  Even an anti-drilling group like GOO dropped its opposition FOR THE RIGHT PRICE [emphasis mine]."

Abe Powell, President of GOO (Get the Oil Out):  "We feel like this is precedent-setting and we think that in the long run, uh, anybody that really wants to...try to...you know, do business in this state has to deal with the environment and the environmentalists."

Longeness:  "Some call it extortion - others, hard bargaining.  Off the California coast there are 79 active oil and gas leases.  About half are tied up in court.  One belongs to PXP Energy out of Houston.  After years of opposition, environmentalists now endorse allowing PXP to drill 22 slant wells off a single existing platform to suck oil out of State waters - but [and that's a BIG BUT] - it comes at a price.  The company must shut down and dismantle three other oil platforms, close two processing plants, donate 4,000 acres to an environmental trust, pay $1.5M to buy clean buses, and agree to end any and all operations in 14 years."

Dan Kish, Vice President of Institute for Energy Research:  "It looks as though if you're willing to pay the right price, they're willing to let you do something they say they're adamantly opposed to." 

Longeness:  "While PXP refused an on-camera interview, State officials told the company it needed environmentalist approval before even approaching their regulatory process, which is where the deal is now.  While "Greens" signed off on the deal, now Exxon/Mobile is opposed.  It fears that PXP will essentially drain oil from its adjoining lease.  Exxon and other companies also fear precedent that every future rig will come with an environmental price tag, a hidden cost that will make gasoline even more expensive. 

According to eNews 2.0 (April 11, 2008): 

The unprecedented agreement is hoped to be a model for other oil and gas production companies and other industries that could react and work together with environmentalists in order to fight against climate change.

"Preserving thousands of acres in the Lompoc uplands for permanent protection is the icing on the cake," said Steve Dunn, President of CPA [Citizens Planning Association of Santa Barbara], a group that not only opposed the original Tranquillon Ridge proposal, but also the Purisima Hills development project.

"Through this agreement, we will guarantee an end to oil development from four separate projects, significantly reduce greenhouse gases and preserve important lands for future generations," he concluded.