How a mild-mannered Vermont journalist derailed that $7 billion oil project, engineered history’s largest green protest, and became the environmental movement’s most unlikely celebrity.
By Barbara Moran
|
January 22, 2012
Bill McKibben is a mild-mannered Vermont journalist who engineered history’s largest green protest and derailed a $7 billion oil pipeline.
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Wow. The Globe celebrating the XL postponement and the loss of 20,000+ jobs. Reminds me of the Globe's unspoken attitude when the space shuttle Challenger blew up on takeoff: "Good. We had no business going into space."
This decision will hurt the president in his bid to be re-elected.
The Canadian oil will be exported to China instead. What has Obama accomplished? Is it better for the US to import oil from Venezuela and help to finance strongman Hugo Chavez?
This was never about the environment or unions for the prez, its always been politics as usual, and finding a way to make the least people hate him. its greed and power pure and simple. The same way the environmentalists like the power and influence of their political movement and haven't stopped any pollution, since the pipeline is going to go to china and actually impact more people than it would have going through america. So maybe this is selfish nimby environmentalism, not actually caring about the Earth. If that was the case they would focus their efforts on Canada, the country actually deciding to create a pipeline. People love influence, power and pretending to be part of something rather than actually accomplishing a goal. Human nature once again shows itself, selfish, greedy, weak minded human nature.
Is he any relation to the great Gordon McKibben, late of the Boston Globe? If so, any reason not to say so, loud and clear? Or, if not, any reason not to clarify? Thx ...
Cancelling the XL pipeline is NET NEGATIVE for the environment. It will INCREASE net consumption of hydrocarbons more than allowing the pipeline to be completed and products shipped to the US in it.
Now, instead of efficient pipeline transport of those petroleum products, the Canadians will build a pipeline to their west coast then SHIP their petroleum to China. Then we SHIP what was going to be used from the pipeline from the Middle East, using still more fuel.
Net-net, an environmental loss.
If any of the "skeptics" actually read this article they'd find a really interesting profile of a writer turned activist - a rare piece of writing that actually captures the personality and evolution of a real person rather than simply repeating empty soundbites (or worse, recycling the misinformation of the comment-sphere). I was at the protest in DC and was incredibly impressed by the large turnout and mix of people who were taking a stand for clean water and climate justice. McKibben is just one piece of this larger movement, but has played an important role, and is well worth this journalistic treatment.
Most environmentalists have been dishonest about the Keystone pipeline issue. Their goal is not to protect aquifers in the Great Plains from potential oil spills. Their real agenda, one pursued by Obama's EPA, is to force us to stop using fossil fuels ASAP regardless of the impact on jobs and consumer prices. I, for one, have doubts about Canadian oil sands, but these same environmentalists are trying to stop expansion of clean natural gas production in the US because of their quasi-religious opposition to "global warming."
Mr. McKibben and Miss Moran are the best friends OPEC and the natural gas industry ever had. Why don't they spend
a week among the urban poor who will pay the price in higher and higher energy costs ? With self-promoting environmentalists like McKibben and their enablers, any notion that it is the responsiblity of regulators to estimate the costs and benefits of their actions have gone by the board.
The pipeline has been delayed because the president had to choose between the greenies and the unions and he chose the greenies. It was a political decision and I don't blame him for it. He's doing what politicians do - whatever is necessary to get re-elected, although I think his decision will hurt him with independents. The pipeline will be approved, of course, as it should be, after the election. (I'd start a new paragraph here if I could.) I'm glad to see a couple of comments here by bostonsheperd whose observations are, in my opinion, consistently enlightening.
Comments
Wow. The Globe celebrating the XL postponement and the loss of 20,000+ jobs. Reminds me of the Globe's unspoken attitude when the space shuttle Challenger blew up on takeoff: "Good. We had no business going into space." This decision will hurt the president in his bid to be re-elected.
The Canadian oil will be exported to China instead. What has Obama accomplished? Is it better for the US to import oil from Venezuela and help to finance strongman Hugo Chavez?
This was never about the environment or unions for the prez, its always been politics as usual, and finding a way to make the least people hate him. its greed and power pure and simple. The same way the environmentalists like the power and influence of their political movement and haven't stopped any pollution, since the pipeline is going to go to china and actually impact more people than it would have going through america. So maybe this is selfish nimby environmentalism, not actually caring about the Earth. If that was the case they would focus their efforts on Canada, the country actually deciding to create a pipeline. People love influence, power and pretending to be part of something rather than actually accomplishing a goal. Human nature once again shows itself, selfish, greedy, weak minded human nature.
Is he any relation to the great Gordon McKibben, late of the Boston Globe? If so, any reason not to say so, loud and clear? Or, if not, any reason not to clarify? Thx ...
Well, that's good. Obama always needs someone to blame later for his stupid decisions and now we know who it will be...
We don't need more oil. We can power everything with happy thoughts and flowers.
Cancelling the XL pipeline is NET NEGATIVE for the environment. It will INCREASE net consumption of hydrocarbons more than allowing the pipeline to be completed and products shipped to the US in it. Now, instead of efficient pipeline transport of those petroleum products, the Canadians will build a pipeline to their west coast then SHIP their petroleum to China. Then we SHIP what was going to be used from the pipeline from the Middle East, using still more fuel. Net-net, an environmental loss.
This is so wrong! We don't only need the oil we need the jobs, and this so excuse for a president say's No !
If any of the "skeptics" actually read this article they'd find a really interesting profile of a writer turned activist - a rare piece of writing that actually captures the personality and evolution of a real person rather than simply repeating empty soundbites (or worse, recycling the misinformation of the comment-sphere). I was at the protest in DC and was incredibly impressed by the large turnout and mix of people who were taking a stand for clean water and climate justice. McKibben is just one piece of this larger movement, but has played an important role, and is well worth this journalistic treatment.
Most environmentalists have been dishonest about the Keystone pipeline issue. Their goal is not to protect aquifers in the Great Plains from potential oil spills. Their real agenda, one pursued by Obama's EPA, is to force us to stop using fossil fuels ASAP regardless of the impact on jobs and consumer prices. I, for one, have doubts about Canadian oil sands, but these same environmentalists are trying to stop expansion of clean natural gas production in the US because of their quasi-religious opposition to "global warming."
Mr. McKibben and Miss Moran are the best friends OPEC and the natural gas industry ever had. Why don't they spend a week among the urban poor who will pay the price in higher and higher energy costs ? With self-promoting environmentalists like McKibben and their enablers, any notion that it is the responsiblity of regulators to estimate the costs and benefits of their actions have gone by the board.
The pipeline has been delayed because the president had to choose between the greenies and the unions and he chose the greenies. It was a political decision and I don't blame him for it. He's doing what politicians do - whatever is necessary to get re-elected, although I think his decision will hurt him with independents. The pipeline will be approved, of course, as it should be, after the election. (I'd start a new paragraph here if I could.) I'm glad to see a couple of comments here by bostonsheperd whose observations are, in my opinion, consistently enlightening.