Re: i am ashamed of US policy when it does this, take a review of some history, see whistle blower Vokes report over Keystone XL
Posted by Peace is real! on Feb 04, 2014; 9:51am
URL: http://i-come-to-talk-story-welcomes-all-as-we-appreciate-the-many-sk.22.s1.nabble.com/i-am-ashamed-of-US-policy-when-it-does-this-take-a-review-of-some-history-see-whistle-blower-Vokes-rL-tp7559805p7559809.html
we had a nice vigil at Port Townsend, WA tonight w/sincere folks sharing in a variety of ways from good conversation, music, to the reality of being organized by many to do what it takes peacefully to resist, if you allow Keystone XL to go ahead, Barack, with such dysfunction of the FEIS report.
people have no interest in wasting good energy, we know the sensitivity it takes for what sustains us + we will accept nothing less..
sadly my camera broke + blurred my nice photos.
Thank you, Kees + your folks from Fossil fuel Action Northwest along w/ folks from Credo Action + Sierra Club + many more acting on their own.
Kees objective tonight was to hold President Barack Obama accountable for his words that he would stop the Keystone XL if FEIS report would find that the Carbon emission would be increased, + it has.
i see people very interested in stopping this + they are prepared to do what it takes peacefully to resolve.
i would like people to know that we at i come to talk storyhave worked hard to build a community solution for all communities to reflect via a tool we are presently restructuring. as we are presently studying Google Apps for ED for non profit. so we ask you to come take a review of our `plan + come aboard to make it happen.
for we are not interested in continuing to exert energy in a fragmented manor, rather we feel every community needs to fine tune its support + prioritize the reality of how each is effected by whom as locals start as we suggest by restoring their natural local food sovereignty. yes people to people once again regaining human functions that produce mental clarity + physical strength.
in do_in this correctly, sound science fuels the path to prioritize misuse/abuse. so those left behind are given support + those leaving negative effects are held accountable as we support each to walk their path as they build it into their opening, but this time no footprint left.
fortunately we have locals, indigenous + natural traditional engineers to start this process so technologically we co_evolve back into working with simple respect for mother earth + the life that sustains us all.. + where we have these food desserts we can bring one is or use virtual training tools to locals to self develop, not just do it for them..
we have too many scars to learn from as well aid if given wrong only interferes in ones ability to self develop. so in living local, globally we share the uniqueness of this planet +beyond. harmonizing as each live local.
do you realize this attitude adjustment.. sadly many legislators do not, + this is where if we welcome them w/our local students to do their walkabout together, network, they then can aid filling in these worn torn links as they come back to locals eye to eye + redefine what each communities potential is....
+ our idea is for locals once organized working w/their students to then welcome them into the local tapering transition. as they together define facts of what can be. as each community restores it`s ecological sustainable working community. as they reflect w/the proposed tool we are building. via those self reliant communities, even though we will be gathering these realities in fragments from the many good sensitive skilled folks that are simply living in respect w/ the natural world. + w/like ecosystem, season + subject. giving them the chance to see the many solution oriented options we have globally to work with.
giving us yet transparency so as to redefine the local enhanced potential. as we start w/Prof Miguel Altieri`s agro-ecology, giving us a sense of our bio diversity realities, protecting the species we all are interdependent on. as we simply gain respect for mother earth, + link our genetic biodiversity.
Keystone XL is just one of the many false green + war mode economies we need to juggle. But if we work 1 at a time, we can simultaneously do many. showing as in Tom`s email below, + Rees request above, we then can use sound science to over ride the bad science that has allowed such negative manipulation. + we can do it in every community so we are organized to act in real time. + we all deserve to here this truth. especially President Barack Obama that depends on his staff.
for every community has fragments + we are uniting + organizing.
so it is up to us to not accept this dysfunction + request that the FEIS report be redone w/transparency along w/good science that we have now.
this is the only way we all can most efficiently work thru this. especially when we have a 30 billion dollar investment from China, 2.5 billion or so spent already which who in their right mind would do that unless they where quite comfortable knowing things would go their way.. awaiting for Barack to make his report, meanwhile part of it is already being worked.
their are so many missing pieces here, that it is impossible for us to be clear w/it or any of them, so we are clear of a new way to continue. as each community does their own plan knowing well we can hold self accountable if we unite w/local institutions as Barack stated he would have VP Joe Biden do in his State of the Union Speech, w/communities as they restore their community colledges to fulfill their working needs, in so many words. but this i do not like unless we take part for the natural enehnaced potential to be the fueling guide, not the profits as even President Bill Clinton beign such a business person, appearing to think that that will resolve all.
well it doesn`t, rather a wallmart opening everywhere the way they do business now is not the answer. our ideas will have students equate this misuse/abuse on a social economic scale w/tallies. as they define the effects we each leave, + support to aid people to regain their center + sharpen their dull sensors, heal + self develop as they network via our platform we propose. explore what energy source best w/small scale planning that works within mother earth`s enhanced limits, as each do a local `plan land fresh water to sea use review.
that then co_evolves the local curriculum as the community is restored to it`s enhanced potential + maintained by locals.
but we must make sure that how we co_evolve this transition as students/communities work together rewriting curriculum as they restore their communities, is down w/traditional engineering by sustainable locals. that is sound science. that then can be worked technologically as it retains values that pertain to our life + all life that sustains ours.
these principles have been put on the back burner as people w/dull sensors are fragmented, building neuro networks unable to comprehend this, so we must give them compassion + students can give this aid for them to rethink. yet rid the dysfunction they created before leaving their position or changing their policy, etc. this is how we will rid the dysfunction locally + afar.. as we learn to hold our self accountable using mother earth as the rule of law.
this is what has not happened to date, leaving many in the fog w/out work due to the many layers they are lost in of disassociated energy, that we can harness. but it takes us all to focus direct together step by step so each community defines it`s identity ecologically, bio culturally w/it`s potential to restore it`s bio diversity. that in many environments have already been depleted or in process. leaving people w/no innate energy of life to self develop with. this can be restored.
same as i mention the UN Sustainable Energy For All program, as that needs to be assessed for some of the same principles that have depleted are now their. have they co_evolved??
we feel it is more efficient to set this debate in our tool proposed. so people have an idea of how best to rebuild w/the transparency of the many options many have. while yet many are left w/out.
we can do this together + that which has exceeded mother earth`s enhanced limits can open many positions to bring every local community back into harmony ASAP. + support each to find their path as they build it into their opening, w/no footprint.. so this is the route we are on + as i told many, we share + welcome your support to make it happen faster, for we are a small group working w/limitations, yet you folks have the support, yet appear to function also w/fragments.
we all need to work together making space for each other vs. so preoccupied in our own agendas. as many seek for answers yet don`t talk about how. we have the how.
+ we need over head expenses covered, tools + ability to hire, be paid our self, etc. for we do not do hedge funds, etc. that are unethical. Google is giving us a good opportunity to reach out for donations to do all this.
so lets see what is needed..
i share email from Tom today
The State Department's FEIS is based on the flawed premise that the Canadian tar sands will be developed no matter what — despite statements from industry executives who say they need the pipeline to ramp up production. It also ignores estimates that Keystone XL’s carbon footprint is the equivalent of more than 50 new coal plants — clearly failing the President’s climate test.
The FEIS has some serious oversights and can't be trusted. We cannot allow President Obama to make this critical decision based off of a defective document — he deserves better than that.
Add your name and urge Secretary Kerry to launch an independent and transparent review of the FEIS today.
http://action.nextgenclimate.org/secretary-kerry
Thank you,
Tom Steyer
Tom`s letter to Sec John Kerry
SAN FRANCISCO, Feb. 2, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Earlier today,
NextGen Climate Action President Tom Steyer sent the following letter to Secretary of State John Kerry regarding the State Department's Final Environmental Impact Statement on the Keystone XL pipeline.
February 2, 2014
Secretary John Kerry
U.S. Department of State
2201 C Street NW Washington, DC 20520
Secretary Kerry:
I am sure you know that I have the utmost respect for the leadership you bring to the State Department when it comes to addressing the challenge of global climate change.
At his State of the Union speech on Tuesday, President Obama made clear the Administration's position when he stated that climate change is a fact.
For those of us in California experiencing an historic drought, as well as for those across the country who have been dealing with extreme weather, climate change affects us every day – impacting our economy, our health and our welfare.
Many of us have been heartened to hear that amidst your many pressing responsibilities, you intend to take an active role in advising the President on his decision regarding the Keystone XL pipeline.
In light of the concerns enumerated below, I urge you to launch an independent and transparent review of the work product contained in the Keystone XL Pipeline Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) released last Friday.
Of particular concern are FEIS conclusions that conflict with and are contradicted by tar sands industry executives who confirm that they need the pipeline in order to continue to develop the tar sands and to reach international markets. The FEIS fails to consider that construction of the KXL pipeline is a necessity to fully maximize extraction of tar sands.
Attached is an analysis of such assertions by tar sands executives, which includes such statements as:
"If Canada fails to develop its oil sands now — and fails to build the pipelines to move it to market — the opportunity could vanish for decades, two industry executives warned Wednesday." "Oil sands development is now or never, industry executives say," Toronto Star, 1/15/14
"If there were no more pipeline expansions, I would have to slow down," the Cenovus executive told The Globe and Mail's editorial board. "Oil industry rebuts 'trash-talking' celebrity critics," The Globe and Mail, 1/15/14
"The pipeline has to be done," [Total] Chief Executive Officer Christophe de Margerie told reporters at the World Economic Forum in Davos. "Total CEO Urges Keystone Approval To Unplug Alberta Bottleneck," Bloomberg News Service 1/22/14
These assertions reinforce the findings by NextGen Climate Action in late November of last year which demonstrate the pipeline is the economic key to unlocking the tar sands and, as such, will lead to more pollution in the air than would be generated if the pipeline was not built.
Both the statements from the tar sands executives and the NextGen Climate Action report make clear the pipeline would fail the test established by the President during his speech at Georgetown last June: that no project that increases the amount of air pollution will be approved.
However, and despite the fact that some of the aforementioned assertions from tar sands executives were made as recently as last week, it does not appear that any of these representations were considered in the FEIS.
How can the foreign companies who stand to financially benefit from the approval of the KXL pipeline assert that the pipeline is the key to their ability to develop the tar sands without these assertions being considered material to this report? This was a report that was designed to analyze exactly this issue of whether or not the pipeline would affect the development of the tar sands.
TransCanada and the tar sands lobby has time and time again justified the development of the pipeline by making the public policy argument that the pipeline would support U.S. oil independence. But TransCanada has refused to commit to keeping the refined oil in the United States.
However, as you are aware from your time in Congress, while TransCanada's CEO has asserted that "every" drop of crude would stay in the United States, company officials have refused to testify to this when appearing before Congress. And to this day, TransCanada has refused to explain whether or not the refined oil will be shipped to economic competitors such as China, which has a significant investment in the project.
The failure to address the assertions made by tar sand oil executives that the pipeline is the key to unlocking the tar sands is the latest in a series of problems. Together, they make it clear it would be a disservice to President Obama, to our country and to the resolution of climate change to use the FEIS as a trusted document.
These problems include:
The hiring of a TransCanada contractor – Environmental Resources Management (ERM) – to write the FEIS.
ERM's problematic representations about its ties to the tar sands industry on its conflict of interest disclosure form.
The Inspector General's investigation into this deception, an action taken only after persistent pressure from public interest groups.
Additional conflicts (here, here and here) that have come to light since the Inspector General's investigation began.
Repeated quotes (e.g., here and here) to news outlets from named and unnamed staff members at the State Department boasting of "rigorous conflict of interest procedures…" that "… ensure that no contractors or subcontractors have financial or other inappropriate interests in the outcome of a project." This assertion continued to be made even after the Inspector General's investigation was announced.
The unsurprising tilt of the draft FEIS toward ERM's client, TransCanada.
The interagency criticism (here and here) that the draft EIS drew because of its deep flaws.
The nearly identical nature of the final FEIS to the draft EIS, despite significant, contradictory information coming to light after the draft version was issued. This includes ignoring the realities of tar sands transportation, and estimates that Keystone XL would produce the pollution equivalent of more than 50 coal plants – an amount no serious expert thinks can be meaningfully offset. It also ignores the $30 billion in investment by companies backed by the Chinese government.
The apparent rush to get the EIS out the door before the Inspector General's investigation was complete – despite a recent request by over 20 House members asking that the FEIS be held until the investigation was completed.
And, in addition to this litany of issues that should disqualify this FEIS report from being used as a trusted document, there is now a report in the Canadian Press that seems to indicate officials in Ottawa were provided with the assurance that they would receive the favorable FEIS that they had lobbied so hard to secure. I have long said that Keystone is a pipeline that runs through — but no to — the United States. If the press reporting is accurate, it would now appear that foreign interests have a direct pipeline into the decision-making process of the U.S. government, which is simply unconscionable.
For all of these reasons, especially in the context of global climate change, it is critical that an independent and transparent review of the FEIS, and the process undertaken for its preparation, commence immediately. It is inappropriate and unfair to provide President Obama — who has stated that climate change is a fact and even articulated a clear test for the approval of a project such as the KXL pipeline – with a report that is not only on its face defective, but which has suffered from a process that raises serious questions about the integrity of the document.
Thank you for your attention to this serious matter.
Regards,
Tom Steyer
SOURCE NextGen Climate Action
after more study here seeing as in whistle blower Votes facts are not also being used makes me state my position;
which i have been very clear to all that we can make this happen, but considering how it should happen is another issue. stopping ecological abuse in 1 direction to be stuck in a delusion perspective w/false green energy is another, as w/Al Gore making his funds as he has, then to see him supporting the Sustainable Energy For All is not what we want to see. unless major mindsets change.
same w/those who have gained on hedge funds as you Tom. I`m not poor for the hell of it. rather i just can not be bought, + i know what took us down in 2008. so unless i see clearly which direction you folks think you are going w/your ideas to resolve, i can no longer support you.
i proposed in my work + i`ve put it pretty much on the front page crudely, due to working over time on this. which once we get some donations we will clean this up. but point is our plan resolves climate change most energy efficiently w/ humane consciousness.
meaning once we do our `plan w/ funds needed, we will be doing all we can humanly possible working `boon w/the natural world that sustains us all.
any of you thinking you want to continue working for Climate Change is truly deviating from the reality of resolving it. that only continues a subjunctive mode. when yet our `plan is indicative as we cover a variety of realities to get us focus directing together only in general terms for each to be protected locally + do their individuality of living local.
yet together the tool will help us respond to early signs w/gentle bells. not like the good work we did w/stopping GMO then to have Facebook cancel the folks that organized globally.
once we do what we plan no pone will stop us. + it is inefficient for any to not want to link w/us to make this happen. for it only helps us each co_evolve our potential do_in our part for humanity.
so please rethink + let me know your ideas of energy alternatives, for we no way will support large grid systems anywhere. nor large fields of alternative energy leaving locals unable to maintain their local community. nor will we get hung up on Climate Change. for only once we are calm asserting our self daily w/ what sustains us, will we have a good night sleep enabling us to awaken w/new neuro networks to truly understand the simple respect that is needed for all life. so people can gain support to sharpen their dull sensors understanding how we allow it to happen to our self.
sorry you have the wrong lady. i know what i am working for + Port Townsend has much to offer + i feel the sensitivity we want to share can be further built here, w/families. using this as a great tool for others to reflect with, as they get triggered to rethink.
we have worked hard so i am redirecting, + would like to fund raise while i am here, so please let me know what we can do together..
your feedback will be welcomed. i will be in Port Townsend for a few months + i look forward to having further discussions on moving forward w/all this.
if you want to talk privately about this please call + leave a message; 360-450-3749 + i will get back or email; kareje@ictts.org
peace is our option is we get real w/our self..
thank you for what you can do, + for what you are do_in..
i`ve tried to share i come to talk story while respecting Credo + Rees` agenda here today. the connections were good even though today i did not feel it was appropriate to announce to all about our project in the building, considering time was important here today..
but i did feel many wanting to do more for the bigger picture, yet unaware, so i do want to have some more gatherings while here in PT sharing how i come to talk story can resolve all this. collectively working together where appropriate. globally, sharing how to live local so we gain more transparency, knowing how to reflect + be more effective changing the dysfunction within our self, locally + afar.. + PT folks are good at that..
warm wishes, kara j lincoln
Peace is an option if we share it,
`patches + `pockets everywhere are linking,
good folks are building this network along with their community's
eye to eye...
Join in and let's keep Nabble as a great tool to help all organize
and link getting real needs met and offerings shared!
We are transitioning w/your critical thinking using common sense;
Prioritizing ridding toxic-resolving, w/all to restore healthy working communities locally and afar! Our virtual platform is free to all, as we create together an intro explaining, an archive and message board here on Nabble for education, for you to create with that also makes nice tourism and peace plan for all to explore, as we save all life on earth and celebrate while doing it!!
Thank you Nabble and Google, for sharing Humanity's solutions locally and afar to all earthlings!! We welcome you as we transition both sites!
Nabble site;
http://i-come-to-talk-story-welcomes-all-as-we-appreciate-the-many-sk.22.s1.nabble.com/
Google site, under construction!
Please Donate if have to give, to our US 501.c3 Nonprofit Charitable Association; Label Donation. If want a tax receipt, please give us
your info and we will send you one;
Email kara; farmwuwei@gmail.com
If I can answer more, or you want to correct us or gather a group until we complete this, for further understanding, young or old, please do!
Thank you, for making a difference!
Love us at `i come to talk story
URL: http://i-come-to-talk-story-welcomes-all-as-we-appreciate-the-many-sk.22.s1.nabble.com/i-am-ashamed-of-US-policy-when-it-does-this-take-a-review-of-some-history-see-whistle-blower-Vokes-rL-tp7559805p7559809.html
we had a nice vigil at Port Townsend, WA tonight w/sincere folks sharing in a variety of ways from good conversation, music, to the reality of being organized by many to do what it takes peacefully to resist, if you allow Keystone XL to go ahead, Barack, with such dysfunction of the FEIS report.
people have no interest in wasting good energy, we know the sensitivity it takes for what sustains us + we will accept nothing less..
sadly my camera broke + blurred my nice photos.
Thank you, Kees + your folks from Fossil fuel Action Northwest along w/ folks from Credo Action + Sierra Club + many more acting on their own.
Kees objective tonight was to hold President Barack Obama accountable for his words that he would stop the Keystone XL if FEIS report would find that the Carbon emission would be increased, + it has.
i see people very interested in stopping this + they are prepared to do what it takes peacefully to resolve.
i would like people to know that we at i come to talk storyhave worked hard to build a community solution for all communities to reflect via a tool we are presently restructuring. as we are presently studying Google Apps for ED for non profit. so we ask you to come take a review of our `plan + come aboard to make it happen.
for we are not interested in continuing to exert energy in a fragmented manor, rather we feel every community needs to fine tune its support + prioritize the reality of how each is effected by whom as locals start as we suggest by restoring their natural local food sovereignty. yes people to people once again regaining human functions that produce mental clarity + physical strength.
in do_in this correctly, sound science fuels the path to prioritize misuse/abuse. so those left behind are given support + those leaving negative effects are held accountable as we support each to walk their path as they build it into their opening, but this time no footprint left.
fortunately we have locals, indigenous + natural traditional engineers to start this process so technologically we co_evolve back into working with simple respect for mother earth + the life that sustains us all.. + where we have these food desserts we can bring one is or use virtual training tools to locals to self develop, not just do it for them..
we have too many scars to learn from as well aid if given wrong only interferes in ones ability to self develop. so in living local, globally we share the uniqueness of this planet +beyond. harmonizing as each live local.
do you realize this attitude adjustment.. sadly many legislators do not, + this is where if we welcome them w/our local students to do their walkabout together, network, they then can aid filling in these worn torn links as they come back to locals eye to eye + redefine what each communities potential is....
+ our idea is for locals once organized working w/their students to then welcome them into the local tapering transition. as they together define facts of what can be. as each community restores it`s ecological sustainable working community. as they reflect w/the proposed tool we are building. via those self reliant communities, even though we will be gathering these realities in fragments from the many good sensitive skilled folks that are simply living in respect w/ the natural world. + w/like ecosystem, season + subject. giving them the chance to see the many solution oriented options we have globally to work with.
giving us yet transparency so as to redefine the local enhanced potential. as we start w/Prof Miguel Altieri`s agro-ecology, giving us a sense of our bio diversity realities, protecting the species we all are interdependent on. as we simply gain respect for mother earth, + link our genetic biodiversity.
Keystone XL is just one of the many false green + war mode economies we need to juggle. But if we work 1 at a time, we can simultaneously do many. showing as in Tom`s email below, + Rees request above, we then can use sound science to over ride the bad science that has allowed such negative manipulation. + we can do it in every community so we are organized to act in real time. + we all deserve to here this truth. especially President Barack Obama that depends on his staff.
for every community has fragments + we are uniting + organizing.
so it is up to us to not accept this dysfunction + request that the FEIS report be redone w/transparency along w/good science that we have now.
this is the only way we all can most efficiently work thru this. especially when we have a 30 billion dollar investment from China, 2.5 billion or so spent already which who in their right mind would do that unless they where quite comfortable knowing things would go their way.. awaiting for Barack to make his report, meanwhile part of it is already being worked.
their are so many missing pieces here, that it is impossible for us to be clear w/it or any of them, so we are clear of a new way to continue. as each community does their own plan knowing well we can hold self accountable if we unite w/local institutions as Barack stated he would have VP Joe Biden do in his State of the Union Speech, w/communities as they restore their community colledges to fulfill their working needs, in so many words. but this i do not like unless we take part for the natural enehnaced potential to be the fueling guide, not the profits as even President Bill Clinton beign such a business person, appearing to think that that will resolve all.
well it doesn`t, rather a wallmart opening everywhere the way they do business now is not the answer. our ideas will have students equate this misuse/abuse on a social economic scale w/tallies. as they define the effects we each leave, + support to aid people to regain their center + sharpen their dull sensors, heal + self develop as they network via our platform we propose. explore what energy source best w/small scale planning that works within mother earth`s enhanced limits, as each do a local `plan land fresh water to sea use review.
that then co_evolves the local curriculum as the community is restored to it`s enhanced potential + maintained by locals.
but we must make sure that how we co_evolve this transition as students/communities work together rewriting curriculum as they restore their communities, is down w/traditional engineering by sustainable locals. that is sound science. that then can be worked technologically as it retains values that pertain to our life + all life that sustains ours.
these principles have been put on the back burner as people w/dull sensors are fragmented, building neuro networks unable to comprehend this, so we must give them compassion + students can give this aid for them to rethink. yet rid the dysfunction they created before leaving their position or changing their policy, etc. this is how we will rid the dysfunction locally + afar.. as we learn to hold our self accountable using mother earth as the rule of law.
this is what has not happened to date, leaving many in the fog w/out work due to the many layers they are lost in of disassociated energy, that we can harness. but it takes us all to focus direct together step by step so each community defines it`s identity ecologically, bio culturally w/it`s potential to restore it`s bio diversity. that in many environments have already been depleted or in process. leaving people w/no innate energy of life to self develop with. this can be restored.
same as i mention the UN Sustainable Energy For All program, as that needs to be assessed for some of the same principles that have depleted are now their. have they co_evolved??
we feel it is more efficient to set this debate in our tool proposed. so people have an idea of how best to rebuild w/the transparency of the many options many have. while yet many are left w/out.
we can do this together + that which has exceeded mother earth`s enhanced limits can open many positions to bring every local community back into harmony ASAP. + support each to find their path as they build it into their opening, w/no footprint.. so this is the route we are on + as i told many, we share + welcome your support to make it happen faster, for we are a small group working w/limitations, yet you folks have the support, yet appear to function also w/fragments.
we all need to work together making space for each other vs. so preoccupied in our own agendas. as many seek for answers yet don`t talk about how. we have the how.
+ we need over head expenses covered, tools + ability to hire, be paid our self, etc. for we do not do hedge funds, etc. that are unethical. Google is giving us a good opportunity to reach out for donations to do all this.
so lets see what is needed..
i share email from Tom today
The State Department's FEIS is based on the flawed premise that the Canadian tar sands will be developed no matter what — despite statements from industry executives who say they need the pipeline to ramp up production. It also ignores estimates that Keystone XL’s carbon footprint is the equivalent of more than 50 new coal plants — clearly failing the President’s climate test.
The FEIS has some serious oversights and can't be trusted. We cannot allow President Obama to make this critical decision based off of a defective document — he deserves better than that.
Add your name and urge Secretary Kerry to launch an independent and transparent review of the FEIS today.
http://action.nextgenclimate.org/secretary-kerry
Thank you,
Tom Steyer
Tom`s letter to Sec John Kerry
SAN FRANCISCO, Feb. 2, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Earlier today,
NextGen Climate Action President Tom Steyer sent the following letter to Secretary of State John Kerry regarding the State Department's Final Environmental Impact Statement on the Keystone XL pipeline.
February 2, 2014
Secretary John Kerry
U.S. Department of State
2201 C Street NW Washington, DC 20520
Secretary Kerry:
I am sure you know that I have the utmost respect for the leadership you bring to the State Department when it comes to addressing the challenge of global climate change.
At his State of the Union speech on Tuesday, President Obama made clear the Administration's position when he stated that climate change is a fact.
For those of us in California experiencing an historic drought, as well as for those across the country who have been dealing with extreme weather, climate change affects us every day – impacting our economy, our health and our welfare.
Many of us have been heartened to hear that amidst your many pressing responsibilities, you intend to take an active role in advising the President on his decision regarding the Keystone XL pipeline.
In light of the concerns enumerated below, I urge you to launch an independent and transparent review of the work product contained in the Keystone XL Pipeline Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) released last Friday.
Of particular concern are FEIS conclusions that conflict with and are contradicted by tar sands industry executives who confirm that they need the pipeline in order to continue to develop the tar sands and to reach international markets. The FEIS fails to consider that construction of the KXL pipeline is a necessity to fully maximize extraction of tar sands.
Attached is an analysis of such assertions by tar sands executives, which includes such statements as:
"If Canada fails to develop its oil sands now — and fails to build the pipelines to move it to market — the opportunity could vanish for decades, two industry executives warned Wednesday." "Oil sands development is now or never, industry executives say," Toronto Star, 1/15/14
"If there were no more pipeline expansions, I would have to slow down," the Cenovus executive told The Globe and Mail's editorial board. "Oil industry rebuts 'trash-talking' celebrity critics," The Globe and Mail, 1/15/14
"The pipeline has to be done," [Total] Chief Executive Officer Christophe de Margerie told reporters at the World Economic Forum in Davos. "Total CEO Urges Keystone Approval To Unplug Alberta Bottleneck," Bloomberg News Service 1/22/14
These assertions reinforce the findings by NextGen Climate Action in late November of last year which demonstrate the pipeline is the economic key to unlocking the tar sands and, as such, will lead to more pollution in the air than would be generated if the pipeline was not built.
Both the statements from the tar sands executives and the NextGen Climate Action report make clear the pipeline would fail the test established by the President during his speech at Georgetown last June: that no project that increases the amount of air pollution will be approved.
However, and despite the fact that some of the aforementioned assertions from tar sands executives were made as recently as last week, it does not appear that any of these representations were considered in the FEIS.
How can the foreign companies who stand to financially benefit from the approval of the KXL pipeline assert that the pipeline is the key to their ability to develop the tar sands without these assertions being considered material to this report? This was a report that was designed to analyze exactly this issue of whether or not the pipeline would affect the development of the tar sands.
TransCanada and the tar sands lobby has time and time again justified the development of the pipeline by making the public policy argument that the pipeline would support U.S. oil independence. But TransCanada has refused to commit to keeping the refined oil in the United States.
However, as you are aware from your time in Congress, while TransCanada's CEO has asserted that "every" drop of crude would stay in the United States, company officials have refused to testify to this when appearing before Congress. And to this day, TransCanada has refused to explain whether or not the refined oil will be shipped to economic competitors such as China, which has a significant investment in the project.
The failure to address the assertions made by tar sand oil executives that the pipeline is the key to unlocking the tar sands is the latest in a series of problems. Together, they make it clear it would be a disservice to President Obama, to our country and to the resolution of climate change to use the FEIS as a trusted document.
These problems include:
The hiring of a TransCanada contractor – Environmental Resources Management (ERM) – to write the FEIS.
ERM's problematic representations about its ties to the tar sands industry on its conflict of interest disclosure form.
The Inspector General's investigation into this deception, an action taken only after persistent pressure from public interest groups.
Additional conflicts (here, here and here) that have come to light since the Inspector General's investigation began.
Repeated quotes (e.g., here and here) to news outlets from named and unnamed staff members at the State Department boasting of "rigorous conflict of interest procedures…" that "… ensure that no contractors or subcontractors have financial or other inappropriate interests in the outcome of a project." This assertion continued to be made even after the Inspector General's investigation was announced.
The unsurprising tilt of the draft FEIS toward ERM's client, TransCanada.
The interagency criticism (here and here) that the draft EIS drew because of its deep flaws.
The nearly identical nature of the final FEIS to the draft EIS, despite significant, contradictory information coming to light after the draft version was issued. This includes ignoring the realities of tar sands transportation, and estimates that Keystone XL would produce the pollution equivalent of more than 50 coal plants – an amount no serious expert thinks can be meaningfully offset. It also ignores the $30 billion in investment by companies backed by the Chinese government.
The apparent rush to get the EIS out the door before the Inspector General's investigation was complete – despite a recent request by over 20 House members asking that the FEIS be held until the investigation was completed.
And, in addition to this litany of issues that should disqualify this FEIS report from being used as a trusted document, there is now a report in the Canadian Press that seems to indicate officials in Ottawa were provided with the assurance that they would receive the favorable FEIS that they had lobbied so hard to secure. I have long said that Keystone is a pipeline that runs through — but no to — the United States. If the press reporting is accurate, it would now appear that foreign interests have a direct pipeline into the decision-making process of the U.S. government, which is simply unconscionable.
For all of these reasons, especially in the context of global climate change, it is critical that an independent and transparent review of the FEIS, and the process undertaken for its preparation, commence immediately. It is inappropriate and unfair to provide President Obama — who has stated that climate change is a fact and even articulated a clear test for the approval of a project such as the KXL pipeline – with a report that is not only on its face defective, but which has suffered from a process that raises serious questions about the integrity of the document.
Thank you for your attention to this serious matter.
Regards,
Tom Steyer
SOURCE NextGen Climate Action
after more study here seeing as in whistle blower Votes facts are not also being used makes me state my position;
which i have been very clear to all that we can make this happen, but considering how it should happen is another issue. stopping ecological abuse in 1 direction to be stuck in a delusion perspective w/false green energy is another, as w/Al Gore making his funds as he has, then to see him supporting the Sustainable Energy For All is not what we want to see. unless major mindsets change.
same w/those who have gained on hedge funds as you Tom. I`m not poor for the hell of it. rather i just can not be bought, + i know what took us down in 2008. so unless i see clearly which direction you folks think you are going w/your ideas to resolve, i can no longer support you.
i proposed in my work + i`ve put it pretty much on the front page crudely, due to working over time on this. which once we get some donations we will clean this up. but point is our plan resolves climate change most energy efficiently w/ humane consciousness.
meaning once we do our `plan w/ funds needed, we will be doing all we can humanly possible working `boon w/the natural world that sustains us all.
any of you thinking you want to continue working for Climate Change is truly deviating from the reality of resolving it. that only continues a subjunctive mode. when yet our `plan is indicative as we cover a variety of realities to get us focus directing together only in general terms for each to be protected locally + do their individuality of living local.
yet together the tool will help us respond to early signs w/gentle bells. not like the good work we did w/stopping GMO then to have Facebook cancel the folks that organized globally.
once we do what we plan no pone will stop us. + it is inefficient for any to not want to link w/us to make this happen. for it only helps us each co_evolve our potential do_in our part for humanity.
so please rethink + let me know your ideas of energy alternatives, for we no way will support large grid systems anywhere. nor large fields of alternative energy leaving locals unable to maintain their local community. nor will we get hung up on Climate Change. for only once we are calm asserting our self daily w/ what sustains us, will we have a good night sleep enabling us to awaken w/new neuro networks to truly understand the simple respect that is needed for all life. so people can gain support to sharpen their dull sensors understanding how we allow it to happen to our self.
sorry you have the wrong lady. i know what i am working for + Port Townsend has much to offer + i feel the sensitivity we want to share can be further built here, w/families. using this as a great tool for others to reflect with, as they get triggered to rethink.
we have worked hard so i am redirecting, + would like to fund raise while i am here, so please let me know what we can do together..
your feedback will be welcomed. i will be in Port Townsend for a few months + i look forward to having further discussions on moving forward w/all this.
if you want to talk privately about this please call + leave a message; 360-450-3749 + i will get back or email; kareje@ictts.org
peace is our option is we get real w/our self..
thank you for what you can do, + for what you are do_in..
i`ve tried to share i come to talk story while respecting Credo + Rees` agenda here today. the connections were good even though today i did not feel it was appropriate to announce to all about our project in the building, considering time was important here today..
but i did feel many wanting to do more for the bigger picture, yet unaware, so i do want to have some more gatherings while here in PT sharing how i come to talk story can resolve all this. collectively working together where appropriate. globally, sharing how to live local so we gain more transparency, knowing how to reflect + be more effective changing the dysfunction within our self, locally + afar.. + PT folks are good at that..
warm wishes, kara j lincoln
Peace is an option if we share it,
`patches + `pockets everywhere are linking,
good folks are building this network along with their community's
eye to eye...
Join in and let's keep Nabble as a great tool to help all organize
and link getting real needs met and offerings shared!
We are transitioning w/your critical thinking using common sense;
Prioritizing ridding toxic-resolving, w/all to restore healthy working communities locally and afar! Our virtual platform is free to all, as we create together an intro explaining, an archive and message board here on Nabble for education, for you to create with that also makes nice tourism and peace plan for all to explore, as we save all life on earth and celebrate while doing it!!
Thank you Nabble and Google, for sharing Humanity's solutions locally and afar to all earthlings!! We welcome you as we transition both sites!
Nabble site;
http://i-come-to-talk-story-welcomes-all-as-we-appreciate-the-many-sk.22.s1.nabble.com/
Google site, under construction!
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Email kara; farmwuwei@gmail.com
If I can answer more, or you want to correct us or gather a group until we complete this, for further understanding, young or old, please do!
Thank you, for making a difference!
Love us at `i come to talk story
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