Fracking is Wonderful unless it threatens the property of Rex Tillerson CEO of Exxon Mobil

Ah NIMBY(Not In My Backyard) is an old acronym. But, everything old is new again.

Update (02/27): 

Chris Hayes interviewed Lou Allstadt a former Executive of Exxon (pre merger) who has been fighting Fracking for over 5 years.

As Oil Companies push Hyrdaulic Fracturing (Fracking), the literal cracking and destruction of the earth's subsurface in order to extract petrochemicals, the Petroleum Pigs ignore the Thousands of Americans being harmed, the toxic fouling to the water table, and the political efforts of local communities and municipal governments to curb their reckless and rapacious behavior.

Unless! It threatens the Property of a Rich Man.

Rex Tillerson the CEO of Exxon Mobil has joined a lawsuit to stop the construction of Hydraulic Fracking Tower next to his 83-acre horse ranch.

The tower, being built by Cross Timbers Water Supply, would rise 15 stories, the Journal says. It's adjacent to Tillerson's horse ranch and not far from an 18-acre homestead. Tillerson is devoting considerable time to the matter: he sat for three hours in the lawsuit last May and attended an all-day mediation session in September, besides his Town Council appearance. 

Among the others opposing the project are those who are not exactly known for environmental crusading: former U.S.House Majority Leader Dick Armey and his wife are the lead plaintiffs.

See, Fracking like the Koch Brothers Petcoke piles is something done to Poor People.

But, for years duped and gullible Conservatives have been saying Fuck the EPA and all Regulations because Republicans have convinced them that it is only by lawsuits, and not by evil government regulation, issues like Fracking, Petcoke or other gross violations should be stopped or addressed. 

Of course when Real Americans realize they don't have a few spare million dollars lying around to bring a powerful lawsuit? Well, that's just what you get in conservative America. Justice and Government is reserved for the Rich. One of the main missions by the modern Republicans Party is to let Working Class Americans know They have no Friend in Government.

Conservatives idolize the Rich and hate the Poor that's why when local municipal governments have tried to stop Petroleum Pigs from Fracking them, Republicans and Conservatives swoop in with the awesome power of government to thwart the will of the people, to harm as many Americans as possible and to transfer money into the hands of the rich.

Governor Quinn just angered the Koch Brothers because of their Petcoke dumping

Governor Pat Quinn has stepped up and issued an emergency orders for the management of petroleum coke (petcoke), a toxic, choking, foul, hazardous byproduct of oil refining which Petroleum Pigs like the Koch Brothers have been dumping upon the residents of Detroit and Chicago in massive open air piles.

Progress Illinois reports,

"We want to make sure that every neighborhood in the state of Illinois is protected from the hazard of petroleum coke," Governor Quinn said at a press conference Monday afternoon. 

Quinn delivered the announcement from the outskirts of KCBX Terminals’ 90-acre property, at 3259 E. 100th St., on the Southeast Side of Chicago. The company, controlled by the conservative billionaire brothers Charles and David Koch, temporarily stores petcoke along the Calumet River for a nearby BP refinery in Whiting, Indiana. 

The rules will be submitted to the Illinois Secretary of State before the end of the week, Quinn said. The rules are expected to take effect before the end of the month, after a review by the Illinois Pollution Control Board (IPCB), which has the option to host a 14-day public comment period on the issue. 

Back in October, BP Whiting was producing 6000 tons of Petcoke a day. Detroit’s Marathon refinery wasn’t producing petcoke before its expansion, but produced 1,720 tons per day throughout 2013, while the Phillips 66 refinery in Wood River, Illinois, increased its petcoke output from 1,300 to 5,700 tons per day.

In December, Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan successfully won a lawsuit against Hammond, Indiana-based Beemsterboer Slag Corp., which operates a facility along the Calumet River. Beemsterboer Slag was accepting out-of-state petcoke residue and illegally storing it in and around the Calumet River.

Plutocratic Candidate Bruce Rauner has probably already called the Koch Brothers to tell them that when he is elected he'll undo Quinn's Emergency Orders and defund the Illinois EPA and allow the Petroleum Pigs the power to dump hundreds of thousands of tons of toxic Petcoke wherever they wish in Illinois. After all it's not being dumped inside the palatial estates of Bruce Rauner or the Koch Brothers.

Rauner's best buddy Mayor 1% (Rahm Emmanuel) quietly stopped Chicago Alderman attempts at outright banning the accumulation of petcoke inside Chicago.

You know who isn't mentioned in the Progress Illinois Report? Republicans. No comments about this from State Senator Jim Oberweis or Congressman Peter Roskam or US Senator Mark Kirk. And why is that? Because Republicans don't care where Corporations dump their pollution and toxic waste because it isn't being dumped in their backyards.

For far too long Republicans have been allowed to get away with the blanket assertion that 'Regulations are bad' and when a West, Texas Fertilizer Plant explodes because of Rick Perry's hatred for the EPA or Freedom Industries poisons the entire drinking supply of 300,000 people in West Virginia well who could have predicted that?!?

Petcoke in Chicago

Earlier this year Detroit was smothered in Petroleum Coke (Petcoke), the newest waste product of the filthy Koch Brothers Koch Carbon LLC and other Multi-National Oil Conglomerates, from the refining of Canadian Tar Sands. Giant clouds of toxic black dust and carbon choked poor Detroit residents until Detroit Mayor David Bing ordered Koch Brothers Sovereign Corporation Koch Carbon LLC to remove the petcoke.

Koch Carbon surreptitiously removed the Petcoke, most likely to Ohio, where the High-Sulfur heavily polluting toxic waste was probably burned for electricity.

Well, Our Corporate Lords and Masters are at it again. If you ever wondered what it was like to live in 19th century London with Industrial Factories dumping massive amounts of carbon on your heads come to the Southside of Chicago where massive piles of Petcoke are collecting along the Calumet River.

BP Whiting, which under George W(orst President Ever) dumped thousands of tons of toxic chemicals (including tons of mercury) into Lake Michigan in violation of the Republican neutered EPA regulations, now don't even have to worry about the Rump EPA, as the Right-Wing Government Shutdown has furloughed 99% of the EPA.

I suppose it makes sense. Conservatives have increasingly pushed America back to the 19th century. By, rolling back Voting Rights for minorities, making Birth Control illegal for women, involving the US in various little conflicts, many in the same regions Victoria and her PM's sent troops, and a retarded economic system which rewards the Inheritors of Wealth, Rentiers and Robber Barons.

So, why shouldn't we get to experience the joys of 19th century Industrial expansion as well?

BP Whiting is producing 6000 tons of Petcoke a day.Detroit’s Marathon refinery wasn’t producing petcoke before its expansion, according to the report, but now produces 1,720 tons per day while the Phillips 66 refinery in Wood River, Illinois, is increasing its petcoke output from 1,300 to 5,700 tons per day.

The waste product is laced with sulfur, mercury, nickel, vanadium and selenium and various other toxic residue but why should that matter to the Koch Brothers or BP? It's not in their backyard. They don't have the clouds of choking carbon befouling their lungs. The petcoke isn't sitting next to river they live upon.

Tom Shepard, a neighborhood activist, worries about piles
of petcoke building up along the Calumet River in Chicago.
(Photo by Kari Lydersen / Midwest Energy News)

But, who needs a Government? Who needs an EPA? Who needs Job Killing Regulations?

Frack Baby Frack! The Petroleum Pigs Newest Evil

Fracking, the process of forcing thousands of gallons of water and toxic chemicals at high pressure into Shale beds to extract Natural Gas reserves, is the latest indignity the Petroleum Pigs have unleashed upon people.

Like all problems with Oil Companies, the issue is one of sovereignty, they don't recognize anyone's and simply influence governments at all levels to give them a free hand This map of New York State shows the increasing number of Municipalities fighting to keep Fracking away.

But, Multi-National Oil Conglomerates don't care. They've been destroying ecosystems and people in Nigeria, Ecuador, Azerbaijan for decades why would they think of Americans as any different? For the destruction wrought by fracking is not going to affect them. It's well beyond NIMBY, it's not just the richest members of Oil Corporations, but most involved in the Oil business, who live outside the areas affected and don't come into contact with any of the toxic by products.

“Giving local governments the power to regulate would be the kiss of death for natural-gas development in New York state,” Tom West, an attorney in Albany who represents Denver- based Anschutz Exploration Corp. and other drilling companies, said in a telephone interview with Bloomberg News. Anschutz Exploration Corporation is owned by Philip Anshutz, a full-fledged member of the 1% the 34th richest person in America, and credited with the George W. Bush White House with killing the 2001 Kyoto Protocol and in 2010 used financial legerdemain to hide his obscene profits, until a U.S. Tax Court judge ruled he owed $94 million in taxes.

A member of the 1% who thinks Regulation is bad, is a tax cheat, and makes money off of Corporate Welfare. Hmmm, seems to fit a pattern.

A recent spate of earthquakes in the Youngstown, Ohio area are the direct result of fracking. But, don't worry because minor earthquakes are the least of your trouble if a fracking operation sets up near your home in Ohio.

The two Allardale Park gas wells were drilled by Wildcat Drilling LLC for Ohio Valley Energy, based in Austintown. The county park is east of the Mangans’ house and near the Bath Township border.

The wells, about 1,500 feet apart, were being drilled to a depth of 3,700 feet and cemented on the outside for environmental protection at the time that the Mangans’ problems surfaced. The vertical wells were then fracked.

On Sept. 29, 2008, Mangan and wife, Sandy, found that their drinking water well had gone dry at the same time that a company was drilling for natural gas at Allardale Park about a half mile away.

When the water returned to the Mangans’ well in five days, it had an unpleasant taste and a rotten-egg scent. It was salty. It bubbled. It contained methane gas and a gray slurry of cement.

Ohio Valley Energy drew headlines in 2007, after a house exploded east of Cleveland in Geauga County.

In Ohio, state lawmakers can overturn local ordinances. So even if you manage to band together within your local community and stave off the fracking wells. Philip Anschutz or some else of his 1% ilk is simply going to jerk the chain on their obedient lap dog Ohio Governor Republicon John Kasich and his slavish guardians in the Republicon dominated Ohio Legislature and get the rights to frack you. Frack Baby Frack!

The wells won't be anywhere near Kasich's Governor's mansion nor will they affect his speaking fees from the Cato Instiutite or Faux News position post-governorship. And Philp Anschutz is safely ensconced far away from water laden with benzene, gas, and any of the other toxic by-products of his evil hand.

BP Commercials and Lawsuits and the Petroleum Pigs

"Are you fuckin' kiddin' me? You don't ever admit the existence of this thing. Ever!" ~ Frank Vincent, The Sopranos

BP wants you to know they destroyed the Gulf for Generations but, it's fine now. I'm actually surprised that BP ran a commercial during the BCS title game. I'm not surprised they choose to peddle their pablum to the mouth-breathers who breathe vicariously through student-athletes. Just that they would reference it at all.

The standard model for the rapacious evil Petroluem Companies has been to blame 'Mother Nature' let a spill fade into memory and then proclaim 'See it's all better now!'

BP's commercials portray a sublime Gulf, with sparkling beaches, reenergized businesses, smiling happy fishermen and pristine waters bursting with seafood. As the propaganda tells Us, 'BP is still here and isn't going anywhere.' So get used to your gulf shrimp and oil cocktail.

These commercials, only 20 months after the biggest criminal Oil disaster (that Americans have seen), should serve as a stark reminder of BP's absolute evil. But, Surprise America! The undying negligent Corporate Monster BP has been screwing the US and the World for decades in the pursuit of Oil profits.

Every now and again, a Petroleum Corporation has to step forward and receive the lash of public criticism, but the key for the Oilmen has always been to keep the game going. And they have honed their skills and refined their modus operandi for a century.

The Petroleum Pigs have some how convinced the American People, Natural Resources which belong to Us as a Nation, are theirs. So, they steal Our Oil and sell it for Their Profits and ensure whatever the damage to the land and people that occurs isn't their problem and they receive taxpayer funding to do it all. Profits Privatized, Losses and Costs Socialized. American Capitalism at it's finest.

Even when the victims of the Oil Monsters victims were nominal Americans, i.e. Native Alaskans and the land and seas destroyed were "U.S." territory, Americans could be relieved to know no lawsuits against Exxon would be heard as a result of the heinous unforgivable Exxon Valdez spill.

Although Alaska Natives may have suffered to a greater degree than members of the general public, "differences in the intensity with which a public harm is felt does not justify a private claim for public nuisance." . . . All Alaskans have the right to lead subsistence lifestyles, not just Alaska Natives.

Judge Russell Holland 03/23/94.

Fortunately, as long as the BP or Chevron or ExxonMobil or Royal Dutch Shell Group were destroying ecosystems and screwing people Overseas no problem! The Free Market knows best. Drill, Baby! Drill! I bet you didn't hear about the massive Oil spills from Royal Dutch Shell Group, the equivalent of an Exxon Valdez every year for 50 years or the fact it will take 30 years for the damage to subside and cost $1 Billion Dollars.

In South America, at least, the people are fighting back. President Rafael Correa, a U.S. and Belgian educated economist declared the debts forced on Ecuador by Vulture Capitalists and Corporate Oil Monsters to be illegitimate and that the oil and gas reserves in the country belong 100% to the People of Ecuador. This greatly angers the Neo-Feudalists and the Petroleum Pigs. Happily, the Ecuadorian Courts have ruled the overwhelming evidence of criminal negligence and evil tactics used by Chevron from 1964-1992 constituted a ruling of $18 Billion Dollars in damages.

The evidence against Chevron comes not only from plaintiffs, but also from Chevron's own experts and environmental auditors as well as independent third-party sources. The damages included a punitive component designed to punish Chevron for trying to sabotage the trial and threaten judges with jail time if they did not rule in the company's favor.

On Sunday 01/08/12, Hugo Chavez declared, "I will say it once. We will not recognize any decisions of the ICSID. We will not recognize them." Chavez seized back control of Venezuela's resources from the Vultures at ExxonMobil. Exxon called upon the power of the IMF and the World Bank to exert economic pressure on Venezuela regain control. Chavez along with allies Bolivia and Nicaragua, has said in the past that it would withdraw from the convention that created the ICSID, arguing that the international body gives transnational companies a gateway to violate national sovereignty.

So, BP agreed to pay $20 Billion Dollars for damages to the Gulf. This only happened after Republicons nearly shit themselves unconscious apologizing to BP for the hassle. And only after BP agreed to a "fair mediator" Kenneth Feinberg to administer the fund. "I want the lawsuits to stop" Kenneth Feinberg said. Of course, what Ken Feinberg actually wanted was the lawsuits against BP to stop. BP has been free to sue whomever they wanted and they did so in April 2011 when they filed lawsuits against Transocean Ltd., Halliburton Co. and Cameron International, for over $40 Billion Dollars.

See how "fair" that is? BP causes a Disaster and stands to gain $20 Billion Dollars in profit. It's all part of the Game. Oil Companies steal your Oil and sell it back to you. And they get you to finance the con they are pulling, foist the cost of the damages their rape of the land causes, while getting the rubes to clap and cheer wildly "Drill Here Drill Now!"