Leaked memo: Big Oil manufacturing ‘Energy Citizen’ rallies to oppose clean energy reform.
Leaked memo: Big Oil manufacturing ‘Energy Citizen’ rallies to oppose clean energy reform.
The American oil industry, working with a coalition of business interests, plans to manufacture rallies in opposition to clean energy reform, an internal document reveals. According to the plan acquired by Greenpeace, the American Petroleum Institute (API) will “coordinate transportation” for oil industry employees to “Energy Citizen” rallies targeting U.S. Senators in 21 states. The document’s author, API president Jack Gerard, discusses how it is “important that our views” supplant “constituents’ views”:
The objective of these rallies is to put a human face on the impacts of unsound energy policy and to aim a loud message at those states’ U.S. Senators to avoid the mistakes embodied in the House climate bill and the Obama Administration’s tax increases on our industry. Senate Majority Leader Senator Harry Reid reportedly has pushed back consideration of climate legislation to late September to allow Senators time to get their constituents’ views during the August recess. It’s important that our views be heard.
API’s membership, which includes ExxonMobil, GE, and Halliburton, will join “allies from a broad range of interests: the Chamber of Commerce and National Association of Manufacturing, the trucking industry, the agricultural sector, small business, and many others” to create these Astroturf rallies to protect their dirty energy profits at the expense of the planet.
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FU, you bloodsucking lying rich barstids.
August 13th, 2009 at 10:22 pmRepugs and wingnuts are so concered about leaving a huge debt to future generations if healthcare reform goes through.
August 13th, 2009 at 10:36 pmYet they dont give two shts about our climate,their more interested in big oil companies making obscene amounts of money.If these companies continue to pollute our atmosphere at the rate they are now,than national debt will be the least of their problems.
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Just think. When we were busily protesting an illegal and unjust “war” we were called anti-America, terrorist sympathizers and an entire array of other phrases. And the Repignicans did the name calling. Now that Democrats are trying to fix the mess of the last 8 years and put the country on a more positive track, the same Repignicans organize protests to bring down the country. Its ok for them to defy the public will, but its not ok for us to try extracting the country from an illegal venture. I’ll never understand the thought process of a Repignican – maybe there is none and I am hoping for too much?
August 13th, 2009 at 10:45 pmWeather the story is fake or real it is in the best interest of the Oil companies to make sure America never stops using Foreign Oil. The Oil companies have lined the pockets of all the votes they need to keep milking the taxpayers. Years ago in the early Clinton years Bill Clinton tried to show Americans we needed a way to get off of Foreign Oil. Americans were living large and the Law Makers were getting big bucks from the the Oil Companies to make sure the change would never come. Well we now see how the Middle East not only will always price oil for big profit, but Law Makers are still getting paid to vote for Big Oil.
August 13th, 2009 at 10:51 pmHaven’t these conservatives learned how to conserve energy by
recycling yet ?
They could simply use the same people and the same Obama as
Hitler signs that the health insurance industry is now using.
And those people would even bring their own loaded weapons.
August 13th, 2009 at 11:18 pm“Leo Gerard”???
are ther 2 of them??? … i’ve heard that name before…
Ed Schultz Show: Leo Gerard on the Cash for Clunkers Program …
Ed Schultz talks to The President of the United Steelworkers of America, Leo Gerard about the cash for clunkers program, and the need to …
http://www.google.com/search?q=leo+gerard%2Ced+schultz&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a
August 13th, 2009 at 11:19 pmNow how is Big Oil going to squeeze their agenda in this August? Our reps are too busy shilling for their other keepers, Big Pharma.
August 13th, 2009 at 11:20 pmwhew!
it’s “Jack”…
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla%3Aen-US%3Aofficial&hs=lM8&q=American+Petroleum+Institute+(API)%2C+president&aq=f&oq=&aqi=
brad, you could delete these 2 posts and fix it and
August 13th, 2009 at 11:22 pmno one would know…
well, of course they would adopt the same tactics, seeing
how well the teabagging mobs have worked out…
a special THANK YOU to whoever sent that memo…
whistleblowers are heroes these days…
August 13th, 2009 at 11:32 pmyep, it’s Jack N. Gerard
a fake?
August 13th, 2009 at 11:46 pmWhile I note the comments above suggesting the memo may be fake.
OTOH – I’ve never seen a group bus in people to town hall meetings. Never happened, never will !
August 13th, 2009 at 11:52 pmnot saying the memo is fake – saying brad messed up with his copy…
the first link states:
The email memo (download a PDF copy), which appears to come from the desk of American Petroleum Institute president Jack Gerard, asks API’s member companies to recruit employees, retirees, vendors and contractors to attend “Energy Citizen” rallies…
…
can’t believe it’s still there… oops.
too late now… as for removing my comments/evidence…
really need to change that name before the good leo gerard
August 14th, 2009 at 12:15 amis any more insulted…
Those poor oil guys never get a fair shake.
August 14th, 2009 at 12:45 amThese greedy bastards will protect their billions of dollars of quarterly profits by ANY means necessary.
God help anyone or anything that gets in their way.
August 14th, 2009 at 1:03 amAs I see it, the unjust war, as Mike Hunt refered to, was declared for no other reason than oil. A little too much Haliburton and Blackwater.
Living in what was for most of the 20th century the “Oil Capital of the World”, I see the dependance on this industry, for not only the investors and tycoons, but middle class engineers and blue collar workers as well. Cap and Trade is a good start, and it is certainly feasible for most of these people to transition to positions in clean energy.
But the “Fat Cats”, of the J.R. Ewing genre are deeply invested in future leases and equipment. I’m not suprised to see these dinosaurs put up a fight for their century old lifestyle of country clubs and million dollar incomes.
August 14th, 2009 at 1:04 am***
“ExxonMobil, GE, and Halliburton”
aren’t these the same assho|es who
employed cheney for the past
eight years?
**
August 14th, 2009 at 1:19 amThe idea of energy dependence has been around since Carter and the first gas crisis. We will never solve our energy problems when the only research is being done by industries that are dependent on fossil fuels and very little R&D by the government. The natural gas companies, car makers, etc., have no incentive to develop cheap alternatives unless a company can control the supply of the alternative. Solar energy should be further along in development but has not progressed because the R&D is being done by the industries who are selling us the fuels. Consequently, there is no incentive for them to develop any cheap source like solar because it is free.
August 14th, 2009 at 1:19 amIt is they the corporate powers that be against We the People. The more this interconnected group of bastards screw US the richer and more powerful they become while we become continually weaker.
We must bring on campaign finance reform and take back our media.
August 14th, 2009 at 1:24 amSo what is this ’sound energy policy’?
They talk about their views but havent yet explaimed, exactly, why their view is sound.
Im listening
August 14th, 2009 at 3:13 amI, for one, am not for wall street valuing carbon and makimg it a commodity even though we should make our emissions as clean as possible without even adding global warming into the mix.
August 14th, 2009 at 3:19 amThe Observer says:
Think Progress needs to research more this memo. They have done this before and it turned out not to be the case. This website is doing very well, they need to stay focused.
Let me fix this:
The G(nO)P needs to research more on this issue but that would be a waste at least to the tax payer for the G(nO)P showing no signs of “intelligence” when it comes to science which has been proven already.
The G(nO)P clean energy philosophy: ‘profits’ before ‘people’s health’ and ‘clean environment’ and keeping people ‘un-healthy’ means more ‘profits’ by rejecting those that got sick from our pollution and un-healthy clean air policies.
And your correct in saying TP is doing well glad you are getting accustomed to the facts and truth. Hopefully, you’ll learn something from the real “reality” based smart people here on TP.
BTW you will be the same person to “whine” and “complain” when the price of crude oil goes down and the gas price’s go up. These “un-enviromentally clean” G(nO)P and their “daddies” will reap billions of dollars destroying Earth. You will also be the first to call on the government if there is a toxic spill in your backyard. ExxonMobile….Valdez comes to mind anyone…..
The lobbyist is just pimping their stupid “whores” the G(nO)P to oppose this bill.
Clean Air Energy is a Must, the G(nO)P = death of America!!!
August 14th, 2009 at 3:45 amXisithrus says:
I, for one, am not for wall street valuing carbon and makimg it a commodity even though we should make our emissions as clean as possible without even adding global warming into the mix.
It’s all relative and their should be a cap on carbon “emissions” as the levels of man-made carbon has and is currently destroying Earth.
….and how would you, “make our emissions as clean as possible?”
August 14th, 2009 at 3:52 amJack Gerard: webpage from API: http://www.api.org/aboutapi/apipresident/
August 14th, 2009 at 5:04 amRecent events are teaching us a lot about right-wing psychology.
Their reaction to the massive popular revulsion against them and their policies seems to be complete, instant personality change. That’s one of the things that is driving us nuts.
The Republicans have all turned into libertarians overnight! Yesterday they were clicking their boots together for George W. Bush (don’t try to deny it, Pubs–we saw you!); today, they’re weeping for the freshly-shredded Constitution.
Note the amnesia. It’s as if George W. Bush never happened.
I’m not a psychologist, but all of this sounds like a political version of Dissociative Personality Disorder. Republicans have shaved off their little Hitler moustaches and become freedom freaks, forgetting their own behavior for the last eight years. Dick Cheney is no longer at the center of their brains. All of a sudden, it’s all about Ayn Rand. Forget the Patriot Act. Forget The End of America.
Crushed by their defeat, the Right have switched from their Nazi personalities to their libertarian personalities. They’ve got their muskets loaded–the whole bit.
Bait & Switch
August 14th, 2009 at 6:58 amWill “Energy Citizens” get to review the notes and attendees of Cheney’s energy policy meetings to get a better handle on how to lie to America?
August 14th, 2009 at 7:33 amPerry logan says:
The Republicans have all turned into libertarians overnight!
Not just libertarians — many (perhaps “most”?) are also “Independents”. I think that most of them who post here are the ‘republican turned independent” type, fewer on the libertarians.
I think.
August 14th, 2009 at 7:34 amXisithrus says:
So what is this ’sound energy policy’?
This is THE question format to use when speaking with any republican (libertarian/independent). What we need to see is this format of question (being — so you oppse “X”, then please offer YOUR “viable solution”) being asked, not just of JoethewhereamInoonecaresplumberwannabe, or jilltheindependenthomemakerwhoisconcernedaboutrationing, but asked to the pliticians, and asked over and over until they respond to the question — “what is YOUR proposed plan to solve this? — or is the issue something that you think needs any kind of ’solving’ at all?”
I think the second part to that question is closer to the mark — they (and mainly their corporate overlords) don’t want any changes, really, they want the status quo — they are pleased. Well, the healthcare industry would like those 40 million to HAVE to buy some of their insurance, but failing that they’d be quite content with everything remaining as it is.
August 14th, 2009 at 7:39 am“libertarian” is code for straight ballot Republicans who don’t like the fact the George Bush and Karl Rove helped them get their asses kicked in 2006-2008. Now Sarah Palin, Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh are positioning Republicans for a long future as a southern party for old, angry, white, males who feel their country has been taken from them by the northern liberal elites. Just ask Pat Buchanan.
August 14th, 2009 at 7:50 amWell, the Repugs won! They got the ‘Living Will’ tossed. These same Repugs, who once championed this (Because it saves money of course, not because it’s the moral thing to do) are congradulating themselves. This is repulsive, immoral, and cruel. Thanks spineless Dems! You’ve been steam-rolled again. These Repugs are fading as a Party. Oh sure, they might have some gains in 2010, but it will be short-lived. Show some back-bone Dems! That’s why you were elected!
August 14th, 2009 at 7:51 amThat’s just out of grassly’s so called “bi-partisan” bill.
It means nothing at this point. It is exactly why Obama is talking about doing it without republican support.
It was inevitable but I think Obama felt he had to give them a chance before writing them off and moving forward without them.
This is far from over.
August 14th, 2009 at 7:57 amFred@32, I hope you are right. I guess I’m listening to too much MSM. In 2006, MSM told me that the Dems would never take the House and Senate. MSM also tols me that American would never elect a black ‘Liberal’ and Bill and Hillary would DESTROY the Democratic Party. Maybe I should watch SpongeBob SquarePants reruns instead of MSM? It might save my sanity.
August 14th, 2009 at 8:09 amP.D. Locally blue cross and blue shield are laying off hundreds of people.
Do you think it’s because the insurance companies are being affected by the recession?
They say publicly that that is part of it but they also list the inpending health care reform as a factor.
I think the handwriting is on the wall.
August 14th, 2009 at 8:20 amFred, oh sure they will blame the recession and reform, but what about the outrageous compensation packages the CEOs recieve? Please. And will the employees still recieve their Health benefits? Health Care for profit is wrong.
August 14th, 2009 at 8:27 amAll they have to do is pay off their favorite Senators. You know, the US has the best Congress money can buy.
I guess this would be more for the media and the little people than the Senators themselves.
August 14th, 2009 at 8:56 am***
I CAN’T BELIEVE YOU HAVEN’T FIXED THE NAME ABOVE.
IT’S NOT LEO GERARD… IT’S JACK.
C’MON BRAD – GET THAT FIXED!
…
August 14th, 2009 at 9:12 amCorrection: Jack Gerard is the President of API. Leo Gerard is the president of USW and a major ally to a real energy policy for America. Hope you read this and make the change!
August 14th, 2009 at 9:48 amthank you, brad.
August 14th, 2009 at 11:16 am“We have seen the enemy and he is us”-Pogo
President Carter created the DOE in 1977 to place greater emphasis on conservation rather than just increased domestic oil production as Presidents Nixon and Ford had done. Good.
32 years later 67 percent of DOE’s (huge) budget goes to nuclear weapons and weapons-related programs. This is 14 times what DOE spends on all energy-related research and development.
Here is my source: http://pogoblog.typepad.com/pogo/2009/01/67-percent-of-doe-budget-overlooked-during-confirmation-hearing-of-steven-chu-for-doe-secretary.html
Who needs enemies with friends like this?
August 14th, 2009 at 11:33 amWhat pags2 said earlier is correct but we need reform from within the government too.
Well, the Repugs won! They got the ‘Living Will’ tossed. These same Repugs, who once championed this (Because it saves money of course, not because it’s the moral thing to do) are congradulating themselves. This is repulsive, immoral, and cruel. Thanks spineless Dems! You’ve been steam-rolled again. These Repugs are fading as a Party. Oh sure, they might have some gains in 2010, but it will be short-lived. Show some back-bone Dems! That’s why you were elected!
August 14th, 2009 at 11:35 amThe GOP and the industry lobbyists are taking a page from the Atwater-Rove playbook on using fear-mongering tactics and maliciously disseminating misinformation to sway public opinion.
The health insurance industry will spare no cost in their efforts to defeat any substantive, meaningful health care reform legislation, and the petroleum industry will do likewise with energy reform/climate change legislation. It’s why the banking industry fights tooth and nail to neuter regulatory reform in the financial sector.
It boils down to the Gordon Gekko mentality — it’s all about profit margins and their bottom line.
August 14th, 2009 at 1:43 pmApparently my sarcasm in #13 didn’t come through loud enough.
Come on. After the Teabaggers turned into bussing folks around to shout down town halls on healthcare,
Looking at how thugs were mobilized to break up the unions around the 1930s and the thugs that formed groups like the KKK and their interaction in the 50s and 60s,
who could have any doubt whatsoever that folks like “Clean Coal” and “Big Oil” would do the same thing.
August 14th, 2009 at 3:21 pmBuried in the story we also find that “In addition to making Hefty profits, Exxon also had a hefty tax bill. Worldwide, the company paid $10.5 billion in income taxes in the second quarter, $9.5 billion in sales taxes, and over $12 billion in what it called ‘other taxes.’”
MP: In other words, Exxon Mobil paid $32.361 billion in taxes in the second quarter, which works out to $4,114 in taxes per second. Another way to look at it – Exxon paid almost $3 in taxes ($32.361 billion) for every $1 in profits ($11.68 billion.
http://www.istockanalyst.com/article/viewarticle/articleid/2459357
August 14th, 2009 at 5:34 pmfrom
Exxpose Exxon.com:
http://www.exxposeexxon.com/
August 15th, 2009 at 3:04 am