May 22, 2013

Sierra Club to go *lawless* with Keystone protests

There have been many radical environmental groups protesting the Keystone XL Pipeline.

First we had the tree sitters, who called it quits after the pipeline was erected around them:

Then we had the “Tar Sands Action” group:

Code Pink showed their “support and solidarity” for those protesters who went on hunger strikes or were arrested:

But readers, *Save the date*. February 17 in D.C. For the first-time in its illustrious history, the Sierra Club is going to break the law to try and stop the Keystone pipeline.

With Nebraska Gov. Dave Heineman approving the pipeline’s route through his state Tuesday, Sierra Club President Michael Brune hopped onto Facebook to announce that the San Francisco-headquartered Club is “for the first time in our 120-year history….be engaging in peaceful civil disobedience to help stop the dirty and destructive Keystone XL tar sands pipeline. We’re all in!”

Below is their tweet announcing this:

This must be a really, really big deal because they actually went to their Board of Directors to get this approved:

“The recent decision made by the Board of Directors is not one we take lightly,” said Allison Chin, Sierra Club President. “As a nation, we are beginning to achieve significant success in the fight against climate disruption. But allowing the production, transport, export and burning of the dirtiest oil on Earth now would be a giant leap backwards in that progress. The Board is answering the urgency of this threat with our decision to engage, for one time, in civil disobedience.”

What that *civil disobedience* will actually be, well, they haven’t told us. Yet.

Back in July of 2011 NYC Mayor Mike Bloomberg announced he was donating $50 million out of his own pocket to help the Sierra Club *dump coal.* But this writer doubts Sierra Club separates their donations and Bloomie’s money will be helping to aid and abet this *civil disobedience.*

February 17 is a Sunday folks, so maybe some of us off work can catch the show and start a bet pool on how many will be arrested.

Crossposted at Unified Patriots and Grumpy Opinions.

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EPA’s attempt to regulate rainwater dries up

The EPA must’ve realized they’ve already regulated everything conceivable under the agency’s jurisdiction, because now they’re really grasping at straws in a bizarre attempt to regulate rainfall. Yes, you read that right. More information comes from Steve Doucy of Fox News for backgroud:

Luckily for the taxpayers a federal judge struck down the proposed regulation, recognizing it as a bridge too far on the absurdity scale.

A federal judge struck down an EPA attempt to regulate stormwater runoff as a breach of authority:

U.S. District Judge Liam O’Grady in Alexandria ruled late Thursday that the EPA exceeded its authority by attempting to regulate stormwater runoff into a Fairfax County creek as a pollutant. O’Grady sided with the Virginia Department of Transportation and the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors, which challenged EPA’s stormwater restrictions.

Stating the obvious: water that falls from the sky isn’t a pollutant so bureaucrats can’t regulate it:

‘Stormwater runoff is not a pollutant, so EPA is not authorized to regulate it,’ O’Grady said.

The ruling will save Virginia taxpayers millions of dollars, up to $300 million says Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli.  EPA bureaucrats took fire from both sides of the aisle this time as Cuccinelli was joined in the fight by the Democratic-controlled Fairfax County Board of Supervisors. Cuccinelli argued the EPA’s proposed regulation was “illegal” but the EPA’s stated it plans were ”in harmony with the broader purposes” of the Clean Water Act, including “reducing the water quality impacts of stormwater.”

While the EPA wasn’t able to get away with this one, the fact they even tried goes to show that despite the loss of red- tape enthusiast Lisa Jackson the EPA isn’t going to stop burdening us all anytime soon.

 

Crossposted at Unified Patriots and Grumpy Opinions

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Debunking the Common Core “The Emperor’s New Clothes” Narrative….

and why are education reformers/politicians ascribing to fairy tales for policy?

Should Common Core State Standards be considered an educational version of the story “The Emperor’s New Clothes”?  The standards are the promise of  new clothes for education but is there basis for believing there are any clothes at all?  From Wikipedia:

The Emperor’s New Clothes” (Danish: Kejserens nye Klæder) is a short tale byHans Christian Andersen about two weavers who promise an Emperor a new suit of clothes that is invisible to those unfit for their positions, stupid, or incompetent. When the Emperor parades before his subjects in his new clothes, a child cries out, “But he isn’t wearing anything at all!” The tale has been translated into over a hundred languages.[1]

Christopher H. Tienken, Editor of AAASA Journal of Scholarship and Practice provided commentary in the Winter 2011 publication entitled Common Core State Standards: An Example of Data-less Decision Making.

His research may just expose the standards to be unfit and fallacy to those who are critical thinkers asking for data determining their stated validity. This article should be studied by educators, politicians, taxpayers, to understand the colossal farce Common Core standards are in terms of providing promises of educational improvement for American students as they are unproven and untested.

READ MORE AT GRUMPY OPINIONS

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Celebs join the anti-fracking bandwagon

Update 1-3-13 9:50 pm.

H/t Kenny Solomon.

Matt Damon has been called a “liar” by the maker of the pro-fracking film “Frack Nation,” Phelim McAleer. According to Politico McAleer plans on erecting billboards in New York like the rendition below:

Sweet, sweet Karma.

Original post begins below.

First we have a fellow by the name of Josh Fox who made the incendiary anti-fracking film called Gasland. Josh Fox ranaround the country trying to set tap water on fire in fracking areas. The film won a Sundance award and went on to be nominated for an Academay Award for “best documentary.” Hint: it lost. But Fox became an overnight faux celebrity with the Hollywood crowd until it was proven tap water in these areas at times could be “set on fire” even well before fracking ever took place.

Actor Mark Ruffalo was placed on the “Terrorism Watch List” by the Pennsylvania Dept. of Homeland Security over his efforts to organize screenings for Gasland. 

Now we have other members of the *Hollywood Elite* jumping on the anti-fracking bandwagon as well. Apparently Yoko Ono, Sean Lennon and Matt Damon got tired of counting their millions and have too much time on their hands so they have made anti-fracking their projet du jour.

Yoko and Lennon had this billboard placed in New York on a route well-traveled by New York Governor Cuomo to urge him to continue the moratorium on some methods of natural gas fracking in the state:

And if this isn’t enough, now actor Matt Damon is making a film called Promised Land which is apparently so one-sided against fracking the liberal blog Huffington Post has even denounced it:

What has also became remarkably apparent is that we are dealing with an American resource that is in such abundant supply that it portends to become a major game changer for our economy, bringing thousands upon thousands of jobs into the field and to ancillary industries that are supplying the infrastructure hardware.[sic] Their [editor's note: see underneath this quote who *their* is.] forthcoming film Promised Land is meant to frighten Americans, and whomever, to resist the development of shale gas in their communities. No mention here of the long suffering communities of Pennsylvania who have celebrated an economic renaissance through the development and extraction of natural gas from the vast Marcellus Gas Formation.

And you will never guess who is bank-rolling this film: none other than Image Media Abu Dhabi. Yep. And in case you have forgotten who the charter members of OPEC are, Abu Dhabi is one.

The film has been dubbed “Good Will Fracking” and thankfully is showing only modest reviews but of course praised by environmentalists. But fracking companies such as Chesapeake Energy have been fighting back and launched The Real Promised Land highlighting testimony of those across the nation who are in support of fracking.

Pennsylvania gubernatorial Democrat candidate John Hanger had this to say about the film:

“It’s entertainment, and pretty silly entertainment,” said former Pennsylvania environmental regulator John Hanger. “It doesn’t pretend to deal with the real issues.”

And from a Washington Post review:

“Promised Land” fizzes and pops; otherwise it’s an attractive, well-intentioned dry well.

Box office stats last weekend revealed the film has only made $190,150 in 25 select theaters across the nation.

This author hopes it stays this way and believes these *Hollywood Elite* should stay away from subjects they know little or nothing about for the sake of our nations’s jobs and struggle for energy independence.

Crossposted at Unified Patriots and Grumpy Opinions

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