Ho wt h e K X LN o r t h Ha s B e c o m e a R e d He r r i n g

o r : F u c k 3 5 0 . o r g

Text adapted from WrongKindofGreen.org

Midwest 2013

Intro
On Nov 3, 2009, Berkshire Hathaway, the investment vehicle of Warren Buffett, announced its plan to purchase the 77.4 percent of Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF) that it did not already own for $26 billion in cash and stock the largest deal in Berkshire history. The deal, which included Berkshires prior investment and the assumption of $10 billion in Burlington Northern debt, brought the total value to $44 billion. Buffett remarked it was a big bet on the United States. It was TO be a bet that both President Barack Obama and Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, would ensure he DID not lose. Theres class warfare, all right, but its my class, the rich class, thats making war, and were winning. Warren Buffett Barack Obama owes much gratitude to 350.org et al. Under this administration, grotesque atrocities and ecological devastation are accelerating around the world at an unparalleled speed all in the name of the American people. Despite this fact, 350.org, Sierra Club, Natural Resources Defence Council, Greenpeace and friends all excel beyond the call of duty in painting this same regime in the clean, shiny patriotic colours of red, white and blue; glossed over in an emerald green vellum, drenched in the hope industrys PR slogans and feel-good symbolic campaigns. In reality, 350.org and other Obama sycophants could not care less about stopping the tar sands. Hence, they wittingly draw your attention to a pipeline the industry doesnt need.

The Shows Over

[T]here are about 18 billion dollars worth of other pipeline projects that [are] totally approved, ready to go, nothing standing in their way, shovels essentially in the ground and these all will be ready by about 2015. Nov. 8, 2012 Globe & Mail video, Canadas pipelines: Beyond Gateway and Keystone The proposed KXL pipeline through Montana, South Dakota and Nebraska has seemingly provoked strong opposition from environmental NGOs and activists who argue that extraction of crude oil from tar sands increases greenhouse gas emissions that cause global warming. The second highlighted point of contention is the safety of the pipelines, which are prone to spills and leaks. Yet this is a strategic public relations campaign on the part of 350.org et al: brilliantly executed misinformation by design. In the case of KXL, a design whereby the NGO frames the main objections (in this case pipeline safety) while industry quietly implements a solution that will be somewhat condoned by the public. Case in point: Tar sands oil pipelines (and all other pipelines) leak. They are difficult to maintain and require ongoing maintenance. Contamination of fresh water, soil and sensitive ecosystems is a very real threat and concern. The main selling feature of the rail tanker put forward by industry as a solution is that they are nearly impervious to puncture and leaks, having been designed to bounce if a trains derails. In response, the NGOS within the complex will issue little to no rebuttal, effectively signaling to the public that rail must be a safer option. Anthony Swift, an attorney for the Natural Resources Defense Council and co-author of one of the critical pipeline

safety reports, said railroads dont offer a feasible alternative to pipelines from Canada. He said tar sands producers aim to triple oil output by 2030, which would outstrip railroads capacity. But the U.S. State Department, in a report on Keystone XL issued Friday, said the proven ability of rail to transport substantial quantities of crude oil profitably means that denial of the project is unlikely to have a substantial impact on the rate of development in the oil sands, or on the amount of heavy crude oil refined in the Gulf Coast area. As anti-pipeline groups have pressed the White House to kill the project, the oil and railroad industries have been building oil-loading terminals and buying tank cars to ship Canadian crude oil by rail. There is no permitting required you can put oil on rail and nobody can complain, said Sandy Fielden of RBN Energy, a Houston-based consulting firm that has tracked the oil-by-rail boom. In the campaign against Keystone XL, the National Wildlife Federation and other groups have issued two reports since 2011 critical of pipeline safety, singling out Canadas heavy oil called bitumen as especially hazardous. Neither report mentioned the risks of shipping it by rail. Yet the dramatic growth of the crude-by-rail business in North America illustrates how quickly shippers can adapt to a new option. North Dakota, the nations No. 2 oil-producing state behind Texas, ships the majority of its oil by rail from loading terminals built mostly in the past three years. March 3, 2013, Canadian crude oil finds a new pathway through Minnesota Very few in the environmental movement wish to discuss, let alone acknowledge, the very ugly reality that the Stop the KXL! campaign has absolutely nothing to do with shutting down tar sands production. The actuality is that behind the protest signs (that conveniently blur lines and bear much semblance to the Obama branding campaign), we have an entire rail transport industry burgeoning to transport the oil formerly designated for the KXL pipeline. The show is over. It matters little whether Keystone is approved or not. If it is approved, we have a flourishing rail economy plus the KXL pipeline. Bread and circuses have never been so skillfully orchestrated. Immense quantities of the Canadian oil that the KXL pipeline is designed to carry will still roll into the United States on railroads with tracks through Minnesota. If the KXL is denied, Obama gains symbolic credibility and legitimacy under the guise of green leadership, which automatically extends to 350.org and friends. This would build much trustworthiness for both Obama and for future campaigns to advance the illusory green economy. One must also consider, as Forbes pointed out on January 19, 2012, that even TransCanada shareholders will not lose: Goldman Sachs (GS) estimates that if TransCanada, which has already invested $1.9 billion in the project according to Business News Network, canceled the project, its earnings per share in 2012 and 2013 would rise between 5% and 10% due to a reduction in TransCanadas capital expenditures and financial costs. With the light sweet oil (note the terminology/framing of the US oil in the media, which is in stark contrast to Canadas heavy sour crude (bitumen), singled out as especially hazardous in two reports issued by the NGOs since 2011) now flowing from Texas and North Dakota, perhaps Obama can afford to nix the KXL in exchange for adoration from the non-profit industrial complex who would shower him with (more) undeserved praise. Yet, because the non-profit industrial complex is no doubt considered nothing more than useful idiots by the oligarchs, and because quarterly profits bear more credence than does credibility among a small percentage of the populace that the oligarchs care nothing about, it is more than likely the pipeline will be approved by the corporatocracy. After all, Americas thirst for continued rabid consumption is insatiable a thirst that can only be quenched by oil. Either way, Obama unequivocally demonstrated his immense loyalty to Warren Buffett. Buffett has revitalized rail an industry thought to be essentially dead. The delay of the pipeline was all he needed. His investments are secure. The pipeline will not interfere with the firm foothold this revitalized industry has achieved. Few notice. The non-profit industrial complex is silent.

Another Hard Lesson in Humanity

The March 25, 2013 Market Watch slideshow 21 stocks to play the crude-by-rail trend makes clear what transpired over the last 3 years while progressive media and progressive greens ensured that your attention stay focused on the KXL campaign.

Jan 14, 2013, North American energy companies are starting to invest more in railroad terminals than the railroads themselves: A group of oil and gas pipeline operators led by Plains All American Pipeline LP (PAA) announced plans just in the past three months to spend about $1 billion on rail depot projects to help move more crude from inland fields to refineries on the coasts. Warren Buffetts Burlington Northern Santa Fe LLC, the largest U.S. railroad, spent $400 million on terminals in 2012. Producers and refiners such as Devon Energy Corp. (DVN) and Irving Oil Corp. say theyll turn even more to rail to get domestically pumped crude to the highest-paying refineries. More than 200,000 train cars of oil will be shipped in 2012, the most since World War II, according to forecasts from the American Association of Railroads. About 1 million barrels a day of rail-unloading capacity is being built in the U.S., Olsen wrote in a note. Thats more than double the current level of shipments, which averaged about 456,000 barrels a day in the third quarter, according to the Railroad Association. Of course, all new railroads will also lead to new refineries and new tank cars. On Feb 4, 2013, it was reported that Phillips 66 and Valero Corp. plan to purchase 2,000 and 1,000 rail cars, respectively. Phillips 66s rail efforts will focus on moving Bakken crude while Valero will utilize rail to move oil sands away from Alberta. Such corporate entities will require the use of Buffetts Berkshire Hathaway (Burlington Northerns) rail lines to achieve their stated goals. Berkshires latest quarterly earnings show that the largest revenue growth for the railroad company has come from increased petroleum shipments. Union Tank Car Co. is already working at full capacity to produce rolling containers that carry the fuel in trains. Union Tank Car Co. is owned by Marmon group. In 2007, 60% of Marmon Holdings was acquired by Buffetts Berkshire Hathaway, with the remaining 40% to be acquired in the next five to seven years. Note that on July 13, 2012, Buffett announced it had invested in shares of Phillips 66 (27 million shares). Shares of Phillips 66 (which was spun-off from Conoco) have already surged more than 83% since May 2012 when the deal was completed. [Jan 29, 2013] Phillips 66 recently finalized a five-year agreement with Global Partners LP to ship 50,000 barrels a day of Bakken crude to its New Jersey refinery by train in a deal worth an estimated $1 billion. On April 8, 2013, PRWatch asked the question: Seven State Keystone XL Resolutions Where Are the Environmentalists? and makes reference to the fact that although 58,000 activists have pledged to be arrested, there is little opposition at the state level. Perhaps never before has there been such a clear case study that solidifies the fact that clicktivism is slowly and effectively destroying any meaningful activism. In the Havas Worldwide (global media giant and creator of TckTckTck) 2010 report, Who Cares Wins, The Rise of the Caring Corporation, one key element to further corporate loyalty and profit is to Grow Through Karma Off-Setting: Consumers will actively buy from companies who are good, so they feel that they themselves dont have to personally undertake social projects, as they have done good by making their purchase with you. Good brands provide a

moral alibi for buying. One could draw strong analogies to the 5 second click campaigns, which require (and demand) zero analysis and an abhorrence for critical thinking, when the Havas Worldwide campaign affects the psyche in a very similar fashion. As found in the Nov/Dec 2012, Jan 2013 issue of Bakken Oil Business Magazine: BNSF has been hauling Bakken crude out of the Williston Basin area for over five years. In that time, we have seen the volume increase nearly 7,000 percent, from 1.3 million barrels in 2008 to 88.9 million in 2012, said Dave Garin, BNSF group Vice President of Industrial Products. I received the following response from Jane Kleeb after contacting her about Bold Nebraskas oppositional stance to the KXL pipelines new suggested route through Nebraska: We are waiting for all the conservative politicians who say they care about property rights and family farmers and ranchers to actually give a damn and stand up against this pipeline. We welcome pipeline infrastructure (not in the Sandhills or that crosses the Aquifer) to ensure ND and MT oil is getting to U.S. markets. The leg from Cushing, OK to the Gulf Coast refineries has already been approved by the states through which it is being laid, as it did not require presidential approval and does not run through Nebraska. On March 12, 2012, President Obama personally announced his approval of fast tracking the southern leg of the KXL pipeline to relieve pressure on the WTI crude oil inventories for shipment to the Gulf Coast. Construction has started and is expected to be completed sometime in late 2013. The main contributor to Bold Nebraska is Dick Holland, who has financially supported this progressive political movement in its opposition to the KXL pipeline. Bold Nebraskas NIMBY approach will only cause further delays in completing the KXL. Mr. Holland is a good friend of Warren Buffett, the CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, and one of the worlds most successful investors. Any delay in the process by the U.S. State Department in recommending approval for the completion of the full route of the KXL by the President of the United States, will solely benefit the BNSF. Holland and his wife were two members of the small group that invested with close friend Warren Buffett in the original Berkshire Hathaway, which dates back to the 1960s. University of Nebraska Omaha reports: [O]ne version of Buffetts Oracle of Omaha story says $10,000 at the start (less than the Hollands invested) grew to roughly $280 million.Forbes states that the BOLD Nebraska campaign has been largely funded by Dick Holland.

Jan 26, 2012, Forbes, Obamas Keystone Rejection May Provide A Buffett Bonanza:
The Obama administrations original decision to postpone Keystone approval until after the 2012 elections followed loud opposition on environmental grounds led by an anti-pipeline group called Bold Nebraska. The BOLD Nebraska campaign was largely funded by Dick Holland, a close Buffett friend and business associate since the 1960s and an original Berkshire Hathaway investor.The two men share a similar political philosophy and are strong Democratic Party contributors.

Although BOLD Nebraska has openly stated [W]e welcome pipeline infrastructure (not in the Sandhills or that crosses the Aquifer) to ensure ND and MT oil is getting to U.S. markets, it is nonetheless a partner of both 350.org and Tar Sands Action.org. Yet in real life, this is really no big deal. Where BOLD Nebraska may receive funding directly from a corporate interest, all organizations involved in this campaign are also funded via corporate interests, the only difference being that the funds (i.e. investment) are funnelled through foundations, which essentially serve as tax-exempt marketing agencies for neoliberal ideologies, programs and policies. It is perhaps somewhat ironic that Holland is actually forthright and transparent in his financing of BOLD Nebraska and doesnt feel the need to conform to the political theatre in which the foundations are a key prop. A far more serious issue is that a non-elected, self-appointed NGO, who claims to speak on behalf/represent of civil society (as all NGOs claim), that is in reality, founded/initiated/financed by elite families of hegemony (Rockefellers and Clintons predominantly at onset) has declined to disclose the source of certain monetary donations. The fact that an NGO that claims to represent civil society refuses to disclose all funding sources, demonstrates unequivocally a great lack of respect not only for full transparency, but for the followers they claim to represent. What 350.orgs list of donors fails to convey is that some foundations provide only US$5,000 or US$10,000, while two unidentified donors provide half of 350.orgs budget for 2011, according to its financial statements. Four grants accounted for two-thirds of 350.orgs budget. 350.org declined to identify the donors of those grants. Behind the curtains of the political theatre we find the prestigious marketing agencies and public relation firms that grassroots groups are miraculously able to afford. These firms and agencies write and develop the scripts and design the sets. They bring the stories to life, strategically exploit and manipulate and our emotions, ultimately ensuring we come to accept and partake in their politically acceptable means of discourse discourse sanctioned (and financed) by the empire. In the case of BOLD Nebraska, partner and marketing agency, Justin Kemerling Design Co, boasts a client list of 350.org, MoveOn.org, Avaaz, the Obama campaign and many more. Another example is the corporate communications and public affairs agency Hoggan & Associates (DeSmogBlog co-founder Jim Hoggan is president and founder), whose client list includes corporate creation TckTckTck, Canadian Pacific (Rail), Shell, AMEC and many more. A planetary crisis for our Earth, which is on the verge of unprecedented, global ecological collapse, has never felt so far away. And the hustle, polished and refined in an emerald green patina, has never made us feel so damn good. Destruction of the planet and the oppression/ displacement/annihilation of non-white peoples has been internalized as a completely normal, day to day part of our everyday existence. The name of the game: allow us to subconsciously (and consciously) protect our privilege all while were up to our necks in blood, drowning within a system where violence and exploitation of people and planet are inherently built in. In our collective, oblivious minds, the Congo does not exist nor do the Congolese, just the SumofUs petition which Westerners sign (click) dishonestly knowing it will have no meaningful effect. DeSmogBlog may expose Shell on occasion, yet Hoggan & Associates has no problem raking in Shell cash to perhaps, in their own words, help clients identify the optimum frame and establish it in the public mind. In a crisis, we can help lift a story out of a frame that might have been set up by critics. Not surprisingly, note that Hoggan has been a member of the David Suzuki Foundation Board since 2001 and has served as Chair since 2007. Its all one big happy, delusional, and very privileged, family.

Image above: 350.org DC rally signs clearly promote the powerful Obama brand.

YES LOGO | The McKibben-Klein Doctrine

Together, the team has marshalled every tool in the modern marketing arsenal to create and sustain the Obama brand: the perfectly calibrated logo (sunrise over stars and stripes). Naomi Klein, author of No Logo (10th Anniversary Edition). Klein now sits on the board of directors of Rockefellers 1Sky/350.org A lot of times when hes at a podium what youll see is, centered right beneath him, at the very top of the blue field that usually says something like Change You Can Believe In.; itll be just that little symbol, functioning in the same way the Nike swoosh does. People look at that and know what it means, even though its just an O with some stripes in it. The thing that sort of flabbergasts me as a professional graphic designer is that, somewhere along the way, they decided that all their graphics would basically be done in the same typeface. If you look at one of his rallies, every single non-handmade sign is in that font. Every time you look, all those signs are perfect. Graphic designers like me dont understand how its happening. Its unprecedented and inconceivable to us. The people in the know are flabbergasted. Expertinent: Why the Obama Brand Is Working, Feb 27, 2008 Attitude branding is essentially defined by the ability to elicit/represent/instill a larger, more powerful feeling on an emotional, subconscious level. It need not be connected with the product or the consumption of the product whatsoever. At a deeper level, attitude branding drills into the consumer psychology of (attitude) choice as much as the term choice is applicable in the 21st century of accelerating social engineering. The brand Obama does not represent nor sell a president, rather it embodies an emotional chimera of hope and change that we can choose to believe in. One could quite safely describe attitude branding as a very sophisticated and calculated method of indoctrination, perhaps one of the highest (and most subtle) forms of psychological manipulation/brainwashing. Corporations excelling in attitude branding include Apple and Nike, to name two. Branding a person is not fundamentally different from branding a product; in 2008, Obama-the-brand beat out the aforementioned Apple and Nike, capturing first place for Advertising Ages marketer of the year. The Obama brand utilized by 350.org et al for the Forward on Climate rally was strategic and cunning. Anyone who believes otherwise is beyond nave. Perhaps this feat could be considered a unique and compelling example of the indoctrinating attitude branding that Naomi Klein describes as fetish strategy in her 2000 book No Logo. Although it is obvious that the No KXL campaign logo shares remarkable and purposeful semblance to the infamous Obama logo (sunrise over stars and stripes), allowing the pro-Obama, pro-Democrat veneer to illuminate at almost 100% transparency, a natural line of defence by 350.org would be that of course they utilize what 350. org board member, Naomi Klein, refers to as the perfectly calibrated logo to their advantage, as, they would argue, the Obama administration is the target of their campaign. And anyone who understands advertising, social engineering and the power of the brand, such as Klein, would understand that this line of defense is bullshit. The KXL campaign imagery absolutely reinforces Obamas ubiquitous brand. According to Investopedia, Brand recognition is most successful when people can state a brand without being explicitly exposed to the companys name, but rather through visual signifiers like logos, slogans and colors. The money that the modern power elite have pumped into 1Sky/350.org via their tax-exempt foundations has proven to be an investment with such incredibly high dividends, it would make even Warren Buffet blush. [Reports make it official: Oil and gas are booming.... the Railroad Commission issued 3,722 permits during the first

two months of the year, the strongest start to a year in the entire history of the TPI [Texas Petro Index], he said. The Obama branding/marketing campaign was planned and executed with clinical precision. The Obama marketing team established brand leadership by ensuring Obama owned the change ideology in the voters minds. The KXL campaign successfully reinforced/reinforces the illusion that this same iconic change is still sitting right in front of us, ours for the taking, if only we believe. Like the Obama brand, the 350.org brand (along with many thousands of other NGOs) recognizes and focuses on the desire for an authentic product, which simultaneously reinforces our societys collective thirst for the lies that enable the populace to continue to ignore reality and perhaps more importantly, disregard our collective role in it. On January 16th, 2010 the Guardian publishes the article Naomi Klein on how corporate branding has taken over America. Ten years after the publication of No Logo, Naomi Klein switches her attention from the mall to Barack Obama and discovers that corporate culture has taken over the US government. When Obama was sworn in as president, the American brand could scarcely have been more battered Bush was to his country what New Coke was to Coca-Cola, what cyanide in the bottles had been to Tylenol. Yet Obama, in what was perhaps the most successful rebranding campaign of all time, managed to turn things around. Kevin Roberts, global CEO of Saatchi & Saatchi, set out to depict visually what the new president represented. In a full-page graphic commissioned by the stylish Paper Magazine, he showed the Statue of Liberty with her legs spread, giving birth to Barack Obama. America, reborn. So, it seemed that the United States government could solve its reputation problems with branding its just that it needed a branding campaign and product spokesperson sufficiently hip, young and exciting to compete in todays tough market. The nation found that in Obama, a man who clearly has a natural feel for branding and who has surrounded himself with a team of top-flight marketers. His social networking guru, for instance, is Chris Hughes, one of the young founders of Facebook. His social secretary is Desire Rogers, a glamorous Harvard MBA and former marketing executive. And David Axelrod, Obamas top adviser, was formerly a partner in ASK Public Strategies, a PR firm which, according to Business Week,has quarterbacked campaigns for everyone from Cable vision to AT&T. Together, the team has marshalled every tool in the modern marketing arsenal to create and sustain the Obama brand: the perfectly calibrated logo (sunrise over stars and stripes); expert viral marketing (Obama ringtones); product placement. Yet rereading No Logo after 10 years provides many reminders that success in branding can be fleeting, and that nothing is more fleeting than the quality of being cool. Many of the superbrands and branded celebrities that looked untouchable not so long ago have either faded or are in deep crisis today. The Obama brand could well suffer a similar fate. The task at hand is to ensure Obama does not suffer this similar fate that Klein aptly describes. Hence, the millions funneled into MoveOn.org, the front group/non-profit organization for the Democratic Party. MoveOn.org takes the visible pro-Democrat position, at the forefront of the non-profit industrial complex which, for the most part, keeps their political ideological leanings hidden in order to appear both non-partisan/independent and legitimate. One should note that MoveOn is the key founder of Avaaz along with Res Publica. Both MoveOn.org and Avaaz are partners of 350.org, Avaaz being a 350.org key partner/affiliate. When Klein stated that Obama followed the logic of creating an appealing canvas on which all are invited to project their deepest desires but stay vague enough not to lose anyone but the committed wing nuts, who would have known she was describing, with astounding accuracy, the very faction that she affiliated herself with, the following year on April 7, 2011. Whether Kleins words were a self-fulfilling prophecy or simply bad judgment, one can only speculate. However, one thing is certain, the committed wing nuts Klein speaks of have only become more delusional in the years that have followed as Obama leads the world in the race to the bottom. Who knew that fascism, invasions, occupations, corruption and drones could be so appealing?

Hypocrisy Knows No Bounds

Man is born free, and everywhere he is in chains. Jean-Jacques Rousseau Brilliant is the person that could inspire a nation to stand up and systematically destroy the system that is killing us. These people are not brilliant. Rather, they are diabolical. The foundations that support them depend upon industrialized capitalism to grow their investments. The non-profit complex can only be sustained if the foundations wealth continues to reap the rewards of infinite growth. It is unsustainable (not to mention deadly). Without infinite growth,the non-profit complex will collapse. Gone will be the six-figured salaries of the progressive greens. Yet, every day that this system remains intact, turning Earths remaining natural resources into monetary capital, we are one day closer to our collective annihilation. There will be no winners in this game of 21st century Russian roulette. +++ After the first segment of this report was published on April 12, 2013, there was still much difficulty in acceptance for the privileged few, especially those with affiliation to the corporate greens behind the KXL campaign. The dominant belief that still encapsulates the progressives is that rail is not a viable option in the future. Therefore, let us, one more time, delve back into reality.

Stock Markets and Media Tell the Story

April 9, 2009, National Post, |CN idea a winner for oil sands: Within months, CN will be shipping 10,000 barrels daily from producers whose reserves are now stranded. The railway will deliver the oil sands production through the use of insulated and heatable railcars or by reducing its viscosity by mixing it with condensates or diluents. But the scalability of the concept up to four million barrels per day means that the railway can ramp up production vastly by just adding rail cars. Shipping four million barrels a day is possible with current rail capacity, said Foote. [Note that this article (cited in part 1 of this series) appeared simultaneously with the April 9, 2009 Huffington Post article titled Game-changer: Canadian oil sands will bypass US for Asia written by Diane Francis. Francis was also the author of the National Post opinion piece. Although Huffington Post is now a Time-Warner acquisition, green progressives remain quite devoted to it.] February 7, 2011, CN, CP PUSH FOR A PIPELINE ON RAILS, Globe and Mail: [CN] has begun sending oil sands bitumen to California; heavy oil from Cold Lake, Alta., to Chicago and Detroit; and crude from the Bakken, a fast-growing play in southern Saskatchewan, to the U.S. Gulf Coast. CN boasts that its tracks lie within 80 kilometres of five million barrels a day of refining capacity, which is more than double Canadas entire U.S. exports. The idea of a pipeline on rails has been quietly pursued by both CN and CP in recent years. Our unparalleled market reach and flexibility, we feel, gives shippers, buyers and refineries new options to explore and new ways to reach different markets, James Cairns, vice-president of petroleum and chemicals with CN, told an Insight Information conference. Rail cars can also ship pure bitumen, the very heavy crude produced in the oil sands. Bitumen is so thick that it

needs to be mixed at about a 70-to-30 ratio with a thinner hydrocarbon called diluent to flow in a pipeline. Diluent then needs to be returned to the oil sands, creating substantial additional pipe costs. Rail cars, which are already used to transport asphalt, can take undiluted bitumen. Theres a lot of talk about: Is it pipe? Is it rail? Mr. Cairns said. Our view is pretty simple. Its a big pie. Nov 3, 2011, Oil aboard! Railroads shipping more Alberta crude: A year ago, almost no Alberta crude traveled by rail. Now, Canadian railroads cant find enough cars to ship the gooey stuff. Thats part of the reason Canadas two biggest railroads, CN (Canadian National Railway) and CP (Canadian Pacific Railway) are wrapping up the year on an upswing. CNs third-quarter profit climbed 19 percent Some 2 million barrels of Canadian crude go through pipelines to the U.S. daily, and estimates are that only 10,000 to 20,000 go by rail. But as oil companies grow more comfortable shipping by rail, analysts say, therell be a lot more crude in actually, on their pipelines on rails. March 1, 2012, Bloomberg News: Gains in mineral and chemical carloads helped BNSF pay a $1 billion distribution to Buffetts Berkshire Hathaway last month. Oil and gas-field servicing are exploding very healthily for BNSF, said Paul Bingham, economics practice leader at consultant CDM Smith in Arlington, Va. In the West I think the BN disproportionately benefits from that. March 24, 2012, BNSF Galesburg Yards New Tracks Are In Service: Okay, its time to reveal the big secret. Last Saturday (March 17), while waiting at Galesburg for the expected arrival of a rare (for the past several years anyway), Decatur-bound Canadian National haulage (by BNSF) grain train, I decided to check out the new tracks that have been built at BNSF Railways Galesburg Yard during the past several months. Anyway, the three new long tracks were empty, and just as I thought how cool it would be to see a train actually using one of the tracks, a North Dakota oil train came into view and pulled onto one of these tracks! A BNSF Railway petroleum crude oil train uses one of three new Long Tracks at Galesburg, Illinois classification yard Saturday, March 17, 2012 June 27, 2012, Southern Pacific Resource Corp. completes arrangements to transport and market bitumen via CN to the U.S. Gulf Coast: Southern Pacific Resource Corp. (Southern Pacific or the Company) (TSX: STP) announced today completion of a long-term arrangement to transport its bitumen to the U.S. Gulf Coast via the rail network of CN (TSX: CNR) (NYSE: CNI).Given recent regulatory delays around additional pipeline capacity to accommodate growing bitumen volumes from Alberta, the Company has now secured direct and immediate access into the Gulf Coast market.In 2012, CN expects to move a total of approximately 25,000 carloads of crude oil, up significantly from approximately 5,000 last year. August 21, 2012, Railways ship bitumen to relieve pipeline bottlenecks: It also allows producers additional options for getting oil to market. Some 2 million barrels of Canadian crude go through pipelines to the U.S. daily, and estimates are that only 10,000 to 20,000 go by rail. Some estimates say it

costs $3 to $6 to move a barrel of crude through a pipeline versus $15 to move it by rail. The rail option, that did not exist even 2 years ago, will continue grow. Jan 3, 2013, UPDATE 1-U.S. petroleum rail shipments up nearly 50 pct in 2012 Shipments of petroleum on U.S. railroads rose more than 46 percent in 2012 as shale oil producers put record amounts of crude on trains to overcome pipeline capacity constraints.Major U.S. freight railroads carried 66,000 carloads of crude in 2011, up from only 11,000 carloads in 2009. By the third quarter of last year, daily shipments of crude oil were exceeding 500,000 barrels per day, roughly equivalent to the output of OPECs smallest member, Ecuador. If growth patterns hold, crude by rail could easily blow past 600,000 barrels per day by early 2013, AAR said By the end of the third quarter last year, about 430,000 barrels per day of crude moved out of North Dakotas Bakken shale play by rail, up from nearly nothing in mid-2010, according to the North Dakota Pipeline Authority. January 7, 2013, Alberta bitumen makes it to Mississippi by rail: EDMONTON The first oil from Southern Pacific Resource Corp.s startup thermal oilsands facility near Fort McMurray reached Mississippi by rail this week after a 4,500-kilometre, two-week journey. The Calgary-based firm was in the news this fall when it announced it would avoid the bitumen pipeline bottlenecks and very low prices being paid to Canadian oilsands producers by contracting for new terminals and a fleet of rail cars to carry its product to the U.S. Gulf Coast. The first shipment of diluted bitumen left the Lynton rail terminal, located just south of Fort McMurray, on Dec. 22 and landed in Mississippi on Jan. 6. It will be off-loaded at the Genesis Natchez terminal where Southern Pacific has exclusive terminal capacity, the company announced Monday. Initial production at the firms steam-assisted gravity drainage (SAGD) facility 45 km northwest of Fort McMurray was 1,200 barrels per day in December. It could take at least another year before the design capacity of 12,000 bpd is achieved. Feb 5, 2013, Macleans Canada: Oil Sands Bust: Meanwhile, another group of businessmen is backing a $10.4-billion plan to construct a new, 2,400-km purpose built railroad to carry oil from Alberta to Alaska, where it could then be shipped overseas on tankers. Feb 18, 2013, Price differentials boost rail transport of blended bitumen: A surge in rail delivery of crude oil and oil products in the US last year reflects, in part, a textbook system of price leapfrog, known more formally as location arbitrage. Although oil is far more expensive to move by railcar than by pipeline, tracks connect more places than pipes do. So when production surges somewhere not fully served by pipelines, such as the Bakken play in North Dakota, oil finds its way into tank cars. The Energy Information Administration reports Association of American Railroads data showing last years rail delivery of crude and oil products exceeded the prior years total by 46%. March 6, 2013, If Buffett Were Canadian, Hed Want This Stock: In late 2009, Buffetts buy big mentality led him to a well-positioned railroad play. But instead of just adding to his shares, Buffett bought out Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad (BNSF). Since his purchase, railroad stocks have been burning up the tracks. For reference, the Dow Jones Transportation Average, which started as a simple gauge of railroad activity, is booming.Railways across America are booming from a sea-change of energy flow. In fact, things are going so well for the rail industry, besides hitting brand new highs yesterday, something else amazing is happening. Today, in Houston, the CEO for BNSF, Matt Rose, is giving a talk on North American energy, The New Abundance and What it Means. This is huge. Just the fact that an executive for a

railroad company is speaking at the IHS Cera Week event, is an amazing milestone. May 13, 2013, Oil trains pipelines on wheels headed to Northwest terminals and refineries from North Dakota fracking: Enter trains. In 2008, the largest railroads carried 9,500 carloads of crude. Last year: more than 200,000. If all the proposed oil terminals are built, the traffic could hit nearly 3,000 loaded TRAINS a year, not counting direct trips to refineries. That could come on top of coal traffic. Three proposals for Northwest coal export terminals would generate nearly 7,000 coal train trips a year at full capacity on already congested tracks in Spokane, the Gorge and along Interstate 5. BNSF Railway is likely to carry most of those loads. Spokesman Steve Forsberg said BNSF is investing a record $4.1 billion in upgrades nationwide this year. Lets take one moment to acknowledge that there is truth in the first article cited above (CN idea a winner for oil sands, November 9, 2009) when it states As for Canadas environmental concerns, the oil sands is absolutely essential to maintaining the future living standards of Canadians. And while the progressive greens complain about the Venezuelan government utilizing their oil wealth to lift their people, who have been oppressed and exploited under imperialism for centuries, out of poverty, perhaps this is a good time for reflection and some unadulterated truth. It is the wealthy that create the climate crisis. As an example, Venezuelan emissions account for only .056% of global emissions while the wealthiest 8% emit 50% of all GHG emissions and the 3 billion poorest people emit essentially nothing. More recently (no doubt after the engineered financial crisis of 2008), esteemed scientist Kevin Anderson has stated that 50% of emissions come from 1% of the worlds population. Rib-eyed steaks, Coca-Cola, shopping malls, air conditioners and western consumption do not correspond with mitigation on climate change. Perhaps one of the very few options left in the fight against climate change is class war.

Language
The pipeline corrosion and safety issues (the primary focus being that of pipeline oil spills) have been the focus points in the Keystone XL debate. This is not by accident. Again, let us for a moment consider the language used in 350.org et als Defend Our Coast campaign. The stated goal of the campaign is essentially that they want the Obama administration to reject a Canadian companys application to construct the $7 billion, 1,702-mile pipeline, which would carry heavy crude from the oil sands mines of Alberta to refineries along the Gulf Coast. Meaningful language would state unequivocally that the main reason to shut down the production of all tar sands is simple: if we do not shut down all tar sands production, we will annihilate our species. It is that simple. By framing our demands with reasonable and politically correct language, we lock ourselves willingly into the acceptable limits as dictated by the industry operating within the industrialized capitalist system which we must oppose and destroy if we are to simply continue to live. Working within the confines of the acceptable language as constructed by the system ensures absolute subservience, obedience and, always, failure.

The intent of the language employed by corporate greens is to create a feeling of trust/safety, effectively pacifying resistance, and to normalize our acquiescence to corporate culture and abuse. The state will never fear what it can control. [Further Reading: Tar Sands Action & the Paralysis of a Movement | Part I]

Avoiding Systemic Change Promises Global Ecological Collapse

Reformers who are always compromising, have not yet grasped the idea that truth is the only safe ground to stand upon. Elizabeth Stanton Internationally, 32,000 km of new pipelines are constructed each year: this is a $28 billion business, and 50% of these new builds are expected in North and South America. Additionally, 8,000 km of offshore pipelines are being built per year: this is a $5 billion business with 60% in northwest Europe, Asia Pacific, and the Gulf of Mexico. [Source: OIL AND GAS PIPELINES: Yesterday and Today by Phil Hopkins, Chairman, 2006-7] Considering that the Keystone XL represents a mere 2,735-km pipeline out of a yearly 32,000 km of pipeline being constructed each year globally, and considering that stopping the KXL will not stop the expansion of the tar sands as we now have a booming rail industry in place, it might be worth asking why we are focusing on a single pipeline rather than the root causes of climate and environmental disruption. Yet, if we are to be honest with ourselves, we do know why, so instead, why dont we re-visit the root causes of our multiple crises. More than half (58%) of the total energy produced in the US alone is wasted due to inefficiencies (Phys.org April 2011). The US military (alone) consumes as much as one million barrels of oil per day to steal resources from sovereign states while simultaneously moving trillions in tax dollars from hard-working people into the hands of global corporations. Millions of men, women and children have been murdered in the process. Approximately 51% of all GHG emissions are created from industrialized livestock. But whereas bio-fuel (aptly coined agro-fuel) is an acceptable topic within the constructed left paradigm, industrialized livestock is not. The blatant hypocrisies of the privileged once again shine transparent on this critical yet unspoken issue. Progressive greens correctly identify that running our cars, etc. on ethanol has already contributed to the worlds food shortages and that the consequences of converting forest land for growing corn for ethanol, etc. are profound. Most activists would agree with these excellent observations and argue against corn ethanol based on these facts and further damning facts simply because it is common sense. Yet, it is clear that the progressive greens are unwilling to collectively identify these very same arguments when it comes to industrial livestock. What are our proposed solutions to the fact there has been a 158% increase in methane (72-100 times more powerful than CO2 in the short-term) as we approach and surpass accelerating feedbacks and irreversible topping points? Maybe the current NOAA methane graphs are terrifying only to the atolls slipping under the rising oceans. The root cause of climate disruption is our global, industrialized capitalist economic system. Yet on these issues, the most critical issues of our lifetime, there is no discussion within the non-profit industrial complex. There is a reason. The complex is financed to the tune of billions of dollars to ensure the right discourse in order to protect the system.

Timing is Everything | Sierra Club and Warren Buffetts MidAmerican Energy Company Landmark Settlement
January 13, 2013, Indigenous Environmental Network: Tuesday, January 22, 2013 DES MOINES, IA Today, the Sierra Club and Warren Buffetts MidAmerican Energy Company announced a landmark settlement that requires the Iowa utility to phase out coal burning at seven coal-fired boilers, clean up another two coal-fired boilers and build a large solar installation at the Iowa State Fairgrounds. The announcement also pushes the total amount of coal generation retired or announced to retire since 2010 to over 50,000 megawatts, almost one-sixth of the nations coal fleet. Iowans are joining a growing number of citizens around the country who are helping to end our nations dependency on coal and move the U.S. toward a cleaner energy future, said Michael R. Bloomberg, whose Bloomberg Philanthropies has contributed $50 million to the Sierra Clubs Beyond Coal campaign. Todays settlement marks an important national milestone to end the scourge of coal, as well as an important milestone in our ongoing discussion with the Warren Buffett family of companies about combating climate disruption, said Bruce Nilles, Senior Director of the Beyond Coal campaign. Most interesting is the fact that Nilles makes absolutely no mention of Buffets expanding rail empire transporting oil across North America. Rather, the release goes on to state: However, Nilles also took aim at two other parts of Mr. Buffetts holdings, his western utility, Pacificorp, that owns and operates six existing coal-fired power plants and Mr. Buffetts BNSF, the largest hauler of coal nationwide. Pacificorp continues to be a laggard on clean energy and BNSF is one of the very worst actors when it comes to lobbying and promoting expanded coal use nationally and internationally, Nilles said. Over the coming months we will be stepping up our engagement with Paciforp and BNSF to urge them to follow the examples of other forward-looking parts of Mr. Buffetts holdings. One might wonder what holdings appear forward-looking in the eyes of Nilles. One must also contemplate which undisclosed non-profit was chosen as the beneficiary of a massive financial contribution from Warren Buffett. On Feb 4, 2013, Time-Warner/AOLs Huffington Post reports: Buffett revealed the donations Monday. Buffett, who is Berkshires chairman and CEO, made donations of Class B shares to four unnamed charities and three individuals between September and December. The biggest single gift reported Monday was 172,375 shares worth $16.6 million given to a nonprofit. These gifts are in addition to the 22.4 million Class B Berkshire shares Buffett gave to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the four Buffett family foundations that are slated to eventually distribute most of Buffetts fortune. [In progressive green foundation-funded fashion, Huffington Post includes under the aforementioned article a 14-page online photo album titled Adorable Warren Buffett Photos.] All those within the non-profit industrial complex brand the Sierra Club Buffett landmark settlement as a victory (even more so on the heels of Obamas 2013 inaugural address), when in reality it is nothing more than a strategic component of new investment hijinks: get paid to retire the old and reap even more billions to build new all under the guise of the illusory green economy. Let us not forget how the non-profit industrial com-

plex strategically greenwashed clean coal. On August 31, 2011, environmentalist Gregory Vickrey posed a question in response to a legitimate grassroots organiser demonstrating public support for the very NGOs undermining the grassroots. This question was put forward by Vickrey before it was disclosed on Feb 12 2012, that the Sierra Club raked in $26 million from the natural gas industry and following the announcement (July 21, 2011) that Michael R. Bloombergs Bloomberg Philanthropies contributed $50 million (over 4 years) to the Sierra Clubs Beyond Coal campaign (initiated in Spring of 2010). Vickrey asks: My primary concern lies with providing a tract of general legitimacy for those sellouts. Right or wrong, when we vocalize support or otherwise endorse these sanitized events and the players behind them, we are seen as sanctioning them on the whole, and it makes walking the fine line of organizing an effective movement tough. Our present reality is tough to swallow in context. On coal, I understand some of the stronger points of messaging from, say, the Sierra Club, but am concerned that much of that movement is likewise funded primarily with Rockefeller Family money (Bill himself states this, and proudly) and defines (dilutes) success in increments that, in the grand scheme of things, mean little. We cant tolerate another 6k mW of coal active in FL, for example, but that is a victory to the Beyond Coal campaign because they managed to stop another 13k mW. In the next cycle, industry will again ask for 20k mW, and will get 5-8k mW. And that will be labeled another victory. At which point are they pyrrhic? It is significant to note that massive gifts (i.e. investments) by philanthropists (i.e. capitalists protecting their power/ privilege) are rarely if ever given in one lump sum. Rather, as in the case of Sierra Club/Bloomberg above, the gift/ investment is staggered in installments over many years, thus ensuring that dependence on the funding source is created (if not established prior). This quickly translates into obedience and convenient cognitive dissonance on behalf of the recipient.

Off to the Next Campaign

When the KXL campaign is all said and done (it almost is), progressive greens will proclaim theyre mad as hell and theyre not going to take it anymore. They mayfly away to a retreat in the Netherlands in order to go through their crafted agenda as TckTckTck(GCCA)/Greenpeace (faux environmental leader Kumi Naidoo chairs both) did after the COP15 United Nations climate conference where they grossly undermined the most powerful positions put forward by leading states and the G77. One should take note that, like many professional activists who move freely through the revolving doors of the non-profit industrial complex and corridors of empire, TckTckTck/Greenpeace chair, Naidoo is no exception. Of special interest to the Keystone XL analysis is Naidoos board position on the 350.org international advisory council. Further, Naidoo was an advisor to the chair of the Clinton Global Initiative [Source: May 26, 2007]. Recall that in 2007, the Clinton Global Initiative undertook an instrumental role in the development of 1Sky, now 350.org. Naidoos high profile board and advisory positions and appointments with renowned institutes of empire include/included but are not limited to: Amnesty International (Soros-funded), the World Economic Forum, the United Nations UNDEF, UNIFEM, the Panel of Eminent Persons on UN Civil Society Relations (appointed by the UN Secretary General), international adviser for the CarnegieUK Trust, secretary general and CEO of CIVICUS (Ford-funded) and the SumOfUs Advisory Board. [Further reading: The Most Important COP Briefing That No One Ever Heard | Truth, Lies, Racism & Omnicide.] The agenda would look something as follows:

1) Discuss key points arising from evaluation of the KXL campaign 2) Power Analysis & Critical Pathway 3) Overall Strategic Framework 4) Draft 2013 Action Plan 5) Communications/Mobilization: Vision, objectives and options for next steps, and 6) The next campaign. With certainty, the NGOs within the complex will abandon the Natives and the Earths most oppressed peoples in their centuries old fight for basic human rights. This will be especially true in the case of outright treaty violations involving the theft of Native land guaranteed by a contract, as well as the genocide brought about by poisoning Native drinking water. McKibben et al will internalize that such contradictions are not within their scope, nor their jurisdiction, nor their mission statements when in fact it is these very violations that are the integral basis for the entire controversy. TckTckTck is not the only organization fighting against climate change whose leading activists jet-set to retreats in order to regroup as demonstrated in the 350.orgs 2011 990 tax form that reported $53,000 in retreat expenses. While pipelines are being built all around the entire planet, the US (and even international)media focuses on just this one as the single pipeline that will push us over the precipice the infamous KXL (ultimately, only an extension of the newly built and already operational Keystone pipeline no less). With the Shut Down the Tar Sands campaign now essentially defunct, having been tossed to Polaris Institute on Feb 6, 2013 by Indigenous Environmental Network (who is now focused on pacifying the Idle No More movement campaign), we can expect that the remaining NGOs will be abandoning the KXL campaign in relatively short order. The Polaris Tar Sands Watch is another NGO entangled within the massive non-profit industrial complex web. As an example, Anuradha Mittal serves on (to name a few) the board of Polaris Institute, International Forum on Globalization,World Future Council, Ben and Jerrys (Ceres partner) and Natural Capital Institute which has, as of January 1st, 2011, been officially renamed WiserEarth! (Seeing that the illusory green economy, climate wealth and other terms of delusion are now exposed and frowned upon by many,including eco-footprint founder/scientist Bill Rees and Kevin Anderson, a name change was imperative.) In 2012, Wiser.org, in collaboration with Earth Day Network, challenged members and citizens around the world to make a pledge toward the Billion Acts of Green campaign. Keypartners/supporters included TckTckTck, 350.org, Anonymous Tides Foundation, Ford Foundation, and many more. Confused? Thats all right, youre supposed to be. Dont think. Just open up your mouth and say ahhh. Prepare yourself for the bitter taste of green capitalism.

Self-Destructive and Collective Deception

In the past, issues of critical importance were discussed at the dinner table, on living room floors, at the community school, at the town hall, etc. Today, comfortable citizens (taking solace in the fact they make an automatic payment of 25.00 per month to their favourite NGO brand) are under a gross misconception that NGOs such as Greenpeace and 350.org are actually representing civil society,as they claim. They are not. First and foremost, these self-appointed NGOs represent and protect the interests of their funders. 350.org and friends successfully take the issues away from the dinner table, where the issues need discussing, and instead, they make the issue about them. Then, after poisoning it, theyll blame someone else for it. This is narcissism, which flourishes like a cancer within the complex. A complex built on a foundation of whiteness and aversive racism. It is ugly. Perhaps the late George Carlin summarizes the second half of this investigative report far better on stage than in typeface: Its a big club and you aint in it. And as an apt expression of how we have regressed from the first Earth day in 1970 to the most recent one in 2013, perhaps activist Jeff Weinberger sums it up best:

Tomorrow being Earth Day, just want to wish you all a relaxing, thoughtful day peacefully focused on how were going to avoid ANNIHILATING EVERYTHING in other words, a calm day spent considering amidst the other joy! that aside from the obvious villains, the system creates smiley villains in green-face, floating about in the alphabet soup made in the non-profit industrial complex kitchenthis shit is BOILED for consumptiondont be fooled because it tastes good at firstNGOs are more toxic than fossil fuels and radiationconsider perspectives like this so we can have some hope of uniting to rip the ecocidal tendency out at the root, to affirm Life Happy Earth Day!

Appendix:
Leaderless Indeed: Setting Up the Dems While the World Burns
by Michael Donnely

In this latest article by Bill McKibben, he states: Most of the people doing the work didnt look like environmentalists were supposed to. They were largely poor, black, brown, Asian, and young, because thats what the world mostly is. What were the people doing the work SUPPOSED to look like??? White?! -Cory Morningstar

Staggering. I cant decide which is more ludicrous in the latest Bill McKibben article : the insufferable self-promoter, er, inspired Rebecca Solnits hagiography at the beginning or the insufferable, er, healthy ego Bill McKibbens Leaderless Movement composed of sheer name-dropping and praise for fossil-fuel foundation-funded groups? Not a word about reducing unsustainable Consumption, as usual. But plenty of the usual blather about renewables it even has McKibbens ludicrous comparison of renewables to a leaderless movementas if! The reality is: they could run the grid on unicorn farts and if Consumption isnt drastically lowered, its over. The stage is now totally set for Obama to cancel the unnecessary Phase 4. Like the dishonest Clinton saved 60 million acres in 2000 became the Dem/big green rallying cry for the 2000 Gore Campaign, so will Obama stopped the pipeline be trotted out in 2014 and 2016.long after Tar Sands dilbit is actually running thru the real pipes! Phases 1, 2 and 3 are already complete from Alberta to Port Arthur TX! On top of that, dilbit is already running thru Phases 1 and 2 and then transferred to barges and rail cars for the rest of the journey. Already 90% of retail gasoline in the US Midwest comes from Tar Sands refined in the area AFTER running thru the web of existing pipes said refineries also have out-going pipelines direct to the airports. Not to mention, every single Tar Sands protest relied on Tar Sands-derived gas and, especially damaging for the Climate, jet fuel to carry out. More carbon was spewed by McKibben jetting around the planet for the past few years setting up this Democratic Party victory than his leaderless movement will ever succeed in sequestering. At one time it was the crucial Stop the Tar Sands (at their source). It is now all about stopping an unneeded pipeline while First World Consumption levels - the real cause of Terracide have become a taboo subject. Talk about an Emperor with no clothes! This is how it endswith self-congratulatory Democrat/Foundation/Green cabal ass-kissingwith no calls for serious reduction of Consumption as the planet burns. All of the Democratic Party/Big Green operatives should be ashamed of their parts in this Earth-destroying kabuki theater.

The stage is now set for Obama to cancel the

unnecessary KXL Northern Leg. Like the dishonest Clinton saved 60 million acres became the Dem/Big Green rallying cry for the 2000 Gore Campaign, so will Obama stopped the pipeline be trotted out in 2014 and 2016long after the tar sands dilbit is running thru the real pipes that he expedited! Phases 1, 2, and 3 are already complete from Alberta to Port Arthur, TX This is how it endswith self-congratulatory Democrat/Foundation/ Green cabal asskissing as the planet burns.