8.19.2009

"Energy" "Citizens"

The new Astroturf:
HOUSTON — Hard on the heels of the health care protests, another citizen movement seems to have sprung up, this one to oppose Washington’s attempts to tackle climate change. But behind the scenes, an industry with much at stake — Big Oil — is pulling the strings. [...]

The event on Tuesday was organized by a group called Energy Citizens, which is backed by the American Petroleum Institute, the oil industry’s main trade group. Many of the people attending the demonstration were employees of oil companies who work in Houston and were bused from their workplaces.
So who are these "Energy Citizens"? For one thing, if you, as a citizen, want to join this organization, for instance if you were to hit the "join" button...

Energy Citizens

Go ahead and try it. Really. It's OK. I'll wait here for you to get back.

...you can get information on how to contact your representatives, etc., but you cannot actually join this organization since "Energy" "Citizens" are a group of really awesome companies and lobbying organizations. Fair enough. "Families" "For Coal" doesn't allow families to join either. They probably just don't want ordinary citizens screwing up the message:
“It's a dangerous piece of legislation,” said James Hackett, chairman and CEO of Anadarko Energy, which is busing employees to the event.

Hackett said he supports reducing greenhouse emissions and developing alternative sources of fuel.

“But I do think there's a virtual reality that's being portrayed to most American citizens about how quickly we get there and how we get there,” Hackett said.
See? A very reasonable guy who supports reducing greenhouse gas emissions, but he's just a little concerned about cap-and-trade:
As with many industry veterans and proponents of improved energy security, he warns government officials and environmental advocates to stop suggesting that solar and wind could reduce the US's need for petrol.

Instead, he said focusing on solar and wind would work against Washington's goal of reducing the US's dependence on foreign oil as it would displace sources of energy produced domestically, such as uranium, natural gas and coal. Somewhat predictably, opening more US land to drilling would be his solution. [...]
Which is presumably the rationale behind this sign displayed at a recent "Energy" "Citizens" rally:

"Stop giving money to terrorists countries"

Given Mr. Hackett's concerns, we can therefore presume that currently he is not "displacing" his own company's oil production, right? Only after the cap-and-trade bill passes would he be forced to do such a thing, yeah? Sadly, No!
Under his leadership the company's exploration success more than doubled its resource base. The company is active in all the most important new oil regions, including Ghana and the new finds in Brazil, places none of the world's biggest oil companies helped discover. Mr Hackett has been amply compensated. His total pay package grew by 42 per cent last year to $21.3m making him one of the most generously paid of his peers.
Oh well.