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Monday, March 11, 2013

ALEC's Keystone XL Pipeline Success



I wept (literally) when I read this headline this past week on Truthout.
and all I could think about was ALEC, the Koch brothers, TransCanada and how big a mess we are in - because people do not realize how deep ALEC has buried their secret, extremist, pro-corporate members into our government.

The one thing that has puzzled me for the past week is
Why isn’t the American Legislative Exchange Council braying about their XL Pipeline success, publicly – where are the press releases?
Oh yeh, the disastrous things ALEC members are doing to the US and world are suppose to be SECRET!
Shhhhhhhhhh!

After all
ALEC boasts that it has
    2,000  state legislators that support and push ALEC policy
    96  members of the US Congress that support and push ALEC policy
Thousand of ALEC-ers at the state and federal level - legislators and public servants in various state and federal offices and agencies - serving the will of their ALEC Master - the ALEC corporate profit sector members.

ALEC DOES NOT BOAST ABOUT
the number of other state federal officials
who support ALEC policy
which could be a major issue for America.

From the Common Cause documents

American Legislative Exchange Council
Natural Resources Task Force
Beth Jensen
Private Sector Member (M1)
Manager, Government Relations
TransCanada
13710 FNB Parkway
Omaha, NE 68154
Phone: 402.492.3400 FAX: 402.492.7491

Then in
Resolution in Support of the Keystone 1 XL Pipeline BE IT RESOLVED BY THE [INSERT LEGISLATIVE BODY] OF THE STATE OF [INSERT STATE]:

WHEREAS, The United States relies – and will continue to rely for many years – on gasoline, diesel and jet fuel despite the recent focus on renewable and alternative sources of energy. In order to fuel our economy, the United States will need more oil and natural gas while also requiring additional alternative energy sources such as ethanol and other renewable energy sources; and

WHEREAS, The United States currently depends on foreign imports for more than half of our petroleum usage. As the largest consumer of petroleum in the world, our dependence on overseas oil has created difficult geopolitical relationships with damaging consequences for our national security; and

WHEREAS, oil shale deposits in the Bakken Reserves in Montana and North Dakota and South Dakota are an increasingly important crude oil resource, with an estimated 11 billion barrels of recoverable crude oil, and there is not enough pipeline capacity for crude oil supplies from Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Oklahoma and Texas to American refineries; and

WHEREAS, Canadian oil reserves contain an estimated 173 billion barrels of recoverable oil. Canada is the single largest supplier of oil to the United States at 2.62 million barrels per day and has the capacity to significantly increase that rate; and 7

WHEREAS, the Keystone XL pipeline will, when completed, carry 700,000 barrels of North American oil to American refineries in the Gulf Coast region and construction of the project will create 120,000 jobs nationwide, create $20 billion in economic growth and generate millions of dollars worth of government receipts; and

WHEREAS, A recent study by the U.S. Department of Energy found that increasing delivery to American refineries from Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota and Alberta, as well as Texas and Oklahoma to American refineries has the potential to substantially reduce our country's dependency on sources outside of North America; and

WHEREAS, Canada sends more than 99% of its oil exports to the United States, the bulk of which goes to Midwestern refineries. Oil companies are investing huge sums to expand and upgrade refineries in the Midwest and elsewhere to make gasoline and other refined products from Canadian oil derived from oil sands. The expansion and upgrade projects will create many new construction jobs over the next five years and, in [INSERT STATE], substantially add to our state's gross state product; and

WHEREAS, The same money used to buy North American oil will likely later be spent directly on U.S. goods and services in contrast with the money sent to hostile oil-producing governments that is later used to further anti-democratic agendas. Supporting the continued shift towards reliable and secure sources of North American oil is of vital interest to the United States and the state of [INSERT STATE].

NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, That we, the members of the [INSERT LEGISLATIVE BODY] of the state of [INSERT STATE], support continued and increased development and delivery of oil derived from North American oil reserves to American refineries, urge Congress to support that continued and increased development and delivery, and urge Congress to ask the U.S. Secretary of State to approve the Keystone XL pipeline project that has been awaiting a presidential permit since 2008 to reduce dependence on unstable governments, improve our national security, and strengthen ties with an important ally; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That the Clerk of the [INSERT STATE LEGISLATIVE BODY] transmit duly authenticated copies of this resolution to the Speaker and Clerk of the United States House of Representatives, to the President Pro Tempore and Secretary of the United States Senate, to the members of the [INSERT STATE] Congressional delegation, and to the news media of [INSERT STATE].

ALEC Boasts that it has
2,000 state legislators that support ALEC policy - which would include the ALEC policy on the XL pipeline
96  members of the US Congress that support ALEC policy - which would include the ALEC policy on the XL pipeline

ALEC DOES NOT BOAST ABOUT
The number of other state federal officials
who support ALEC policy
which could be a major issue for America.

And don’t kid yourself – there are other ALEC-ers
others who support ALEC’s right-wing, pro-corporate, extremist policies
that we do not know exist
because ALEC
keeps their membership list SECRET!!!!
  
1994 ALEC Annual Meeting Speaker
J. William Lauderback
Bill Lauderback is an associate with The Eddie Mahe Company in Washington, D.C., a political and corporate strategic communications consulting firm. He has held several positions in the public sector including serving as a Deputy Assistant Secretary of Energy in the Bush Administration, Executive Director of the Texas Department of Commerce, and as Special Assistant to Texas Governor Bill Clements.

2001 Attendee ALEC Annual Meeting
U.S. Secretary of Energy Spencer Abraham

2007  Natural Resources Task Force Update
At the 2007 Spring Task Force Summit, the Natural Resources Task Force subcommittees heard many important presentations      The Natural Resources Task Force heard from Kelly Michael Richard of the U.S. Department of Energy, who addressed the need for a long-term nuclear waste repository;

2010 American Legislative Exchange Council
Natural Resources Task Force as of July 1st, 2010
Greg Williams
Advisor
Director of Intergovernmental Affairs
U.S. Department of Energy
1000 Independence Avenue,
Washington, DC 20585
Phone: (202) 586-6655 FAX: (202) 586-7314

And because ALEC membership is SECRET
You never know how close ALEC gets to the President - maybe even the Cabinet
Source:  ALEC 2005 Listing "Leaders in the States"
ALEC members - state and federal - across the US
and around the world
carrying out the mission of ALEC and their corporate profit members.

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