Monthly Archives: January 2012

Announcing the Western Lands and Energy Dashboard!
2012-01-27
The sheer scale of the Big Oil rhetoric-fest that was unleashed after President Obama’s State of the Union (SOTU) address was tremendous. But as we read through clips and blogs, we realized there is a lot of poetry out there, but no prose. So we decided to create a one stop shop of easily accessed,… Read more »
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Statement on President Obama’s State of the Union Address
2012-01-24
The following statement is by Matt Garrington, Denver-based co-director of the Checks and Balances Project, in response to President Obama’s State of the Union Address. He can be reached at (720) 206-4348. “We applaud the President for calling for an end to taxpayer handouts to Big Oil. It’s time we invest in American innovation and… Read more »
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Wall Street rings in the New Year for oil speculators
2012-01-12
Matt Garrington Wall Street started 2012 by ringing in the New Year for oil and gas speculators.  On Tuesday, Ralph Hill, the CEO of WPX Energy Inc., rang the opening bell for the first day of trading on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). The evidence of speculation’s effect on the price at the pump… Read more »
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Watching the Gas Bubble?
2012-01-11
In recent months, it appears that top national media outlets have started to cast a more skeptical eye at how “abundant” shale gas really is. The New York Times led the charge last year by analyzing “hundreds of industry e-mails and internal documents.” The Times concluded that shale gas has inherent risks, the geology varies,… Read more »
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From ‘Astroturf’ to Drilling in the West: Tim Wigley heads to WEA
2012-01-5
Yesterday, the Western Energy Alliance (WEA) announced that it had selected former lobbyist Tim Wigley as its new president. Wigley comes from the oil-and-gas lobbying firm, PAC/West where he managed its DC operations.  The experience will come in handy when managing WEA’s $70,000 to $85,000 yearly spending habit of lobbying the federal government. According to… Read more »
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Vote 4 Energy: Activists Launch Parody of API’s Deceptive 2012 Ad Campaign
2012-01-4
Today, Greenpeace USA launched a new campaign that mocks the American Petroleum Institute’s (API) “Vote 4 Energy” advertising initiative. API’s multi-million dollar campaign, which launched this week, is advocating for more drilling and hydraulic fracturing in United States. Watch the ad below: [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OW-NadlTFIA&feature=player_embedded] In a parody of API’s ad, “oil executives” say they vote for:… Read more »
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The Five Rules for Natural Gas
2012-01-3
Hal Harvey, founder of ClimateWorks, has a sharp piece on natural gas in today’s Los Angeles Times. Hal served  on the first President Bush’s Energy Task Force of the President’s Council on Environmental Quality, and later on the Energy Panel of President Clinton’s President’s Committee of Advisors on Science and Technology. In this op-ed, Hal provides… Read more »
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