Oil Spills off the Coast of New Zealand and Nigeria

Oil spills off the coast of New Zealand and Nigeria continue to make the point that oil has far-reaching consequences for the environment and the economy. On December 20, last year Nigeria experienced yet another oil spill, the worst in over a decade. Prior to that The Greek cargo ship Rena that ran aground off the coast of New Zealand on October 5, and then broke in two early in January 2012. Hundreds of tonnes of oil have spilled from the ship killing hundreds of birds. The Rena is already New Zealand's worst maritime disaster, and authorities say the situation will worsen with the release of even more oil.

US Protests Against the Keystone XL Tar Sands Oil Pipeline

Canada wants to build a pipeline to transport tar sands oil from the province of Alberta all the way down to refineries in Texas. Earth friendly groups see the 1,700-mile long pipeline, known as the Keystone XL, as a disaster for the environment. According to Dr. Hansen who is one of America’s top climate scientists, the full exploitation of Canada’s tar sands would constitute a “game over” scenario for efforts to solve climate change.

Now that it has Canadian approval, the fate of the Keystone XL Pipeline is in the hands of President Obama. The President will decide on the fate of the pipeline as early as September. This decision will have dire implications for renewable energy production. The more access the US has to tar sands oil, the less it will turn to renewable sources of energy.

Palin Blames Environmentalists for Oil Spill

The oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is the fault of 'extreme environmentalists' who protest against oil companies, Sarah Palin said.

The former Alaskan governor said if campaigners weren't successful in prohibiting land based oil exploration in the US, companies like BP would not have to resort to deep-sea drilling and the oil spill disaster would never have happened.

Palin, who made the chant 'Drill, Baby, Drill!' famous in the 2008 presidential election, favors drilling in environmentally sensitive areas including the Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

In an online Facebook rant titled 'Extreme Enviros: Drill, Baby, Drill in ANWR - Now Do You Get It?' she said: 'Look, here's the deal: when you lock up our land, you outsource jobs and opportunity away from America and into foreign countries that are making us beholden to them.'

'Extreme deep water drilling is not the preferred choice to meet our country's energy needs, but your protests and lawsuits and lies about onshore and shallow water drilling have locked up safer areas,' she said.

Palin does not appear to understand that the catastrophic impacts of oil are not reserved for off shore drilling. Fossil fuels are a finite source of energy that is driving climate change. The environmental impact of burning fossil fuels and the risks associated with its exploitation, justifies the aggressive pursuit of renewable alternatives.

Rush Limbaugh's excuse may be an addiction to pain medication, Palin may simply be the victim of her own intellect.

Palin said, 'It's catching up with you. The tragic, unprecedented deep water Gulf oil spill proved.' However, what is more likely is that Palin's tragic record on the environment will one day catch up with her.
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Koch Industries' Environmental Crimes

The Koch companies have a notorious environmental record. According to Greenpeace, in the last 15 years they have amassed an impressive rap sheet that includes everything from environmental violations to negligence causing death.

In 2009, the US Justice Department and the EPA announced that Koch Industries' Invista subsidiary would pay a $1.7 million penalty and spend $500 million to fix environmental violations at facilities in seven states.

In May 2001, Koch Industries paid $25 million to settle with the US Government for the company’s long-standing practice of illegally removing oil from federal and Indian lands.

In late 2000, the company was charged with covering up the illegal release of 91 tons of the known carcinogen benzene from its refinery in Corpus Christi. Koch eventually cut a deal with then-Attorney General John Ashcroft to drop all major charges in exchange for a guilty plea for falsifying documents, and a $20 million settlement.

In 2000, the EPA fined Koch Industries $30 million for its role in 300 oil spills that resulted in more than three million gallons of crude oil leaking into ponds, lakes, streams and coastal waters.
In 1999, a Koch subsidiary pleaded guilty to charges that it had negligently allowed aviation fuel to leak into waters near the Mississippi River from its refinery in Rosemount, Minnesota, and that it had illegally dumped a million gallons of high-ammonia wastewater onto the ground and into the Mississippi.

In 1996, two people where burned alive in their vehicle due to a poorly maintained Koch pipeline that had leaked flammable butane into a residential Texas neighborhood.

Koch's crimes are not limited to spills of oil, ammonia, aviation fuel, benzene, and butane. A recently released Greenpeace expose uncovered Koch industries' connections with climate denial front groups.
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Next: Koch Industries Financing Climate Denial

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