The Koch Brothers Invade Alaska: Nation, Guard Your Salmon
I was checking out the #nopebble hashtag on Twitter the other day, to see what links or comments had come in addressing what would be the continent’s largest open pit copper and gold mine situated at the headwaters of the world’s largest red salmon fishery in Bristol Bay, Alaska. It doesn’t take a fisheries expert or a biochemist to know that a project that would require 700 foot tall earthen dams in one of the world’s most active seismic zones to completely hold back lakes of deadly toxins forever, is a recipe for disaster.
Our Hero
Alaskan fishermen and thinking people in general are on the record opposing the mine. Even the late Republican Senator Ted Stevens, who could hardly be accused of being “anti-development” opposed Pebble and vowed to keep it from happening. Despite all this, sometimes we feel a bit outgunned and overpowered by the huge international mining conglomerates and the Pebble Partnership that try to buy and own the message up here. Recently, Senator Maria Cantwell of Washington state has joined the fight against Pebble Mine. Thousands of her constituents in Washington are also commercial fishermen in Alaska. They are afraid, as are Alaska residents and anyone else who recognizes the importance of this wild food source, that Pebble will destroy a way of life, thousands of jobs, an ecosystem, and a whole lot of fish. Her constituents asked her to take a stand, and she did. (See the call to action on Facebook below)
So, it surprised me that there, sandwiched in between my tweet thanking Maria Cantwell, and another tweet thanking Maria Cantwell, in the stream of the #nopebble hashtag on Twitter was a tweet from something called “Resourceful Earth” saying: Help us spread the word and STOP Maria Cantwell.
My head tilted to one side like a golden retriever on the receiving end of a whistle.
Who ARE these people?
I decided to check out who “Resourceful Earth” was, and followed the link. I was greeted by a website that looked downright fabric softener fresh – a fabric softener that might have been used by George Orwell. Swoopy logo, clean blues and whites and greens, and at the bottom an American worker – a kindly surveyor with a tripod and a hard hat standing knee deep in emerald green grass. I was waiting for the Snuggle laundry bear to leap out of the monitor and tickle me under the chin. And yet, Resourceful Earth is all in favor of this toxic open pit mine that puts half of the nation’s catch of red salmon under serious threat? Of course the images on the website didn’t show what happened AFTER the iconic surveyor left. Snuggle bear doesn’t look so good after a day wallowing through toxic mine waste. And just to clarify – no, there are no plush green lawns near Bristol Bay. There is tundra.
There is also a petition on the website which asks people to tell that so-and-so Maria Cantwell to mind her own business, and stay out of Alaska politics. What business does she have taking a stand against Pebble Mine? Yeah, she’s a duly elected representative of the people, put in office via the democratic process and represents constituents whose livelihood depends on the preservation of Bristol Bay…but nobody cares what she has to say. Butt out Cantwell! This is Alaska!
“Who are these people?” I thought.
It turned out to be difficult to figure that out. We’ve all learned to be wary of websites, mailers, and other forms of political communication that make it really difficult to find out who’s behind them. No worries, mudpups, your sleuthing homework has been done for you.
All is Revealed
It turns out that behind the warm, gauzy “resourceful earth” sales pitch is none other than a right-wing DC think tank called The Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI)—the brainchild of a corporate lobbyist named Fred Smith. A professional climate science denier and enemy of any and all corporate oversight, Mr. Smith famously said of global warming that “it looks pretty good. Warmer winters, warmer nights, no effects during the day because of clouding, sounds to me like we’re moving to a more benign planet.”
Myron Ebell, who heads up CEI’s climate science skepticism, is a nimble-brained fellow who at one time or another has managed to take all of the following positions:
• Climate change isn’t happening.
• It is happening, but it’s not because of human released carbon dioxide.
• It is happening, and may be human induced, but it will be much cheaper to adapt to the change than to ration the use of fossil fuels.
• It is happening and the consequences will be good for the environment.
I probably should have warned you to sit and grab the arms of your chair before you had to endure so much whiplash inducing spin. Mr. Ebell probably needs one of those head bags full of ice. That much back and forth might induce swelling.
Help, Help, the Glaciers are Coming!
Alaskans will appreciate this one – CEI has run ads claiming the world’s glaciers are “growing, not melting… getting thicker, not thinner.” I guess that’s why the observation room at the Begich-Boggs Visitors Center in Portage that was built so you could stand inside and behold the majesty of Portage Glacier now shows you the majesty of Portage Lake because the glacier itself is nowhere in sight. It cited Science Magazine articles to support its claims, only to be rebuked by the publication’s editor for “misrepresenting the conclusions of the two cited Science papers” and by the papers’ own author for “a deliberate effort to confuse and mislead the public about the global warming debate.”
Ouch. It’s never fun to be smacked down by the very sources upon which one’s claims are based.
In addition to the nefarious and delusional Mr. Smith, another notable on the CEI roster is “adjunct fellow” Steven Milloy, whose other paid gig is as columnist for, (wait for it) Fox News.
Following the Money
The other thing we need to do when determining if the message of an organization is sincere and genuine is, of course, to follow the money. So put on your backpacks, head lamps and pith helmets, and let’s start trekking into the dark, dark jungle that is a Libertarian think tank. (Cue scary music) CEI receives its funding from individuals like right-wing sugardaddy Richard Mellon Scaife, and corporations like every Alaskan’s favorite – Exxon—a company with a famously stellar environmental track record in the state. They’ve donated more than $2 million to CEI. That’s $2 million of the settlement they appealed and won away from the fishermen in Prince William Sound after the Valdez oil spill. I guess they were saving it up for something really important.
And there’s yet another funding source of whom you may be familiar, and really shouldn’t come as any surprise. Yes, it’s the Koch brothers. It’s almost funny in a predictable, horrifying sort of way.
In case you missed the irony while you were feeling all riled up about this – A DC lobbyist working for a Libertarian think tank funded by multinational corporations including Exxon, and Lower 48 fat cats is telling a U.S. Senator, elected by the people and representing Bristol Bay fishermen to butt out and mind her own beeswax, because Pebble Mine is awesome and should be allowed to go through.
Intermission
(We allow you a moment to process the irony, like a filtration organ removes toxins from the bloodstream)
We Don’t Need No Stinking Oversight
In addition to its dubious efforts in the arena of global warming, CEI has also applied itself to fighting health and safety regulations, fuel economy standards, the 1998 settlement agreement with Big Tobacco, Food and Drug Administration (FDA) safety rules, and the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board. The latter was created in 2002 by the Sarbanes–Oxley Act, and is comprised of 5 SEC-appointed individuals who attempt to provide what little oversight we have of corporate shenanigans and Wall Street speculation. CEI, of course, prefers the Enrons and Bernie Madoffs of the world don’t have to subject themselves to pesky, independent audits. Why would those be desireable? Frankly, they’re just a downer. If Goldman Sachs wants to defraud investors by betting against its own clients, isn’t that what “freedom” is all about?
OK, so now that we know who we’re dealing with, the next question is – who believes this stuff?
Who Believes this Stuff?
So, when these corporate-minded, money-oriented D.C. lobbyists put their little message in the internet bottle and urged people to speak out on the Resourceful Earth Facebook Page, who showed up? Oftentimes it’s informative to see who is attracted to a particular message. Surely, if you believe the story of Resourceful Earth, their page would be populated by thoughtful sounding mining engineers, mine workers, corporate types, business Republicans, philosophically pure Libertarians, and perhaps even some bought and paid for scientists who will attest to the fact that no mine anywhere has ever devastated its surroundings and we’re all just a bunch of silly salmon-huggers.
You might think that, but oh, no.
It’s them:
So, if God put metal there to create American jobs, why did he put fish there? And what about the 17,000+ jobs that they already provide now?
Yes, these are the only people who are buying this toxic PR waste. And that actually made me feel a little bit better.
The Targets
I also found it interesting to see who exactly is in the Koch brothers’ crosshairs. There are two somebodies, it turns out. The first is Stop the Drills, an organization opposed to offshore drilling of oil. The second is one that I’ve written extensively about here at The Mudflats – No Dirty Gold. Resourceful Earth says of No Dirty Gold that they are “opposes gold mining.” In reality, No Dirty Gold pledge has been signed by dozens of large jewelers who promise never to use gold from Pebble Mine. Tiffany Jewelers led the charge because they know that even though their lifeblood is gold, that Pebble Mine is the wrong mine in the wrong place and the swimming red gold it protects is actually more important than the shiny kind. They also know (like jewelers who pledged not to sell blood diamonds) that people like it when you do the right thing.
Please take a moment to sign the Twitter petition by clicking HERE. You’ll be urging Senator Cantwell to stand strong against CEI, Resourceful Earth, the Koch Brothers, and other powerful interests who are pressuring her about her decision to oppose Pebble Mine.
A Call to Action on Twitter
For those of you unfamiliar with the Twitterverse, #GivePebbleaChance with the little pound sign in front of it is what is known as a “hashtag”. What that means is that anyone searching Twitter to read about the latest and greatest from CEI, or Resourceful Earth about Pebble Mine will go there. It’s like a file heading where a particular conversation on a topic is stored. And it’s also like #GivePeaceAChance, only totally different.
But the thing about hashtags is that they don’t discriminate about who can and cannot post there. That’s how I found all this out in the first place – Resourceful Earth posted something and used the #nopebble hashtag so their toxic message would leak out and pollute our pristine twitter stream. So, all I’m saying is that if you’re on Twitter, it might be fun to educate the people who are using that hashtag with interesting and informational articles and messages about why Pebble Mine is the worst idea in the history of ever.
A Call to Action on Facebook
Please take a moment and visit Maria Cantwell‘s Facebook page and “Like” or “Comment” on her most recent post regarding her commitment to Save Bristol Bay. Let the senator hear our thank you loud and clear!
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If the CEI and/or the Kochs are for something, then I’m against it.
Rather, I’m for decent wages, clean water, clean air, health care, and human rights, things these parasites are against.
I live in the coal region of Pennsylvania, and we have creeks that have no living fish in them whatsoever. The seepage from mines closed years ago continues to prevent life. I have had the wonderful opportunity to visit Alaska several times, and Bristol Bay simply must be protected. I will do everything I can from here to help spread the word!
Its not complicated,really. Get rid of the whored out to korporate amerika guv. and you probably won’t have an enormous ecological disaster on your hands. Rethuglicans of all positions tend to listen to the voters as long as the votes go their way. Parnell has probably already signed the necessary paperwork to allow this monstrosity to proceed. For Alaska’s sake I hope I’m wrong. If this ain’t the truth,then call me a coyote and cut off my tail.
Read “The World Peace Diet” to become aware of how to make sure that what you eat is safe and healthy for all beings.
Before reading any of the comments I want to make this one comment, it is a conspiracy theory type accusation but I think it has some merit. I use a very only browser (netscape 7.0) but it is not lame. When I clicked on the headline for this post my browser went into limbo and would not connect with the mudflats site it just hungup. So I cleared my cache and tried again, same thing. So then I looked at the javascript monitor and found a string of script errors, so then I cleared both memory and disk caches and shut down the browser completely and restarted. That finally got me into the actual post. I can’t tell from my monitor what part of the post caused the errors but this has never happend on mudflats before so I am assuming that it might be something embedded with some of the linked to content in the post. Thus a caution to AKM, don’t link to imagery or other content hosted on other sites, save a copy of the content on your own system and upload that with the post. It’s just a precaution but less knowledgeable users might find themselves unable to view mudflats at all if they could not clean up the apparently malicious scripting that seems to be related to the links in your post.
Now I will read and comment, this is a very good and interesting post. I hope Benlomand appears because we have talked about this a bit off line and this type of astro-turfing is common place.
I’ve been sharing this far and wide, Jeanne. It seems there is no low too low for these jerks. I’m wishing for some instant karma. Is that bad?
I worked 20 plus years in the Alaska mining industry. Mining can be done well and we need the minerals. We need the jobs and we need to be open minded. Pebble might be one of the richest deposits found, no one knows at this early stage.
I worked the Exxon Valdez spill and had an education witnessing one of the great environmental disasters of our time. I’m especially fascinated by the corporate response. Exxon dumped billions of dollars quickly to the “spillionaires” and completely abandoned the people actually harmed. Lawyers and time denied justice and educated me how things are done.
Twenty two years later we have big resource extraction talking again. First they attack the messengers and their legitimate concerns. No discussion of alternatives, no acknowledgement of facts or science. Remember the botulism scare in the seventies? One or two cans of salmon wrecked the industry. People like the wild fish and there is value in this perception.
The larger argument is which direction we’re heading. I’ve made a good living working on well run mining projects and I support the industry. Today we have a political climate promising disaster. Complete denial of anthropogenic climate change. Media dominance by the plutocracy. Coal mine disasters killing scores of miners, BP blowout totally preventable if known procedures are adhered to.
So I say no to Pebble, I know it can be done right but the extraction industry has gone nuts and abandoned science for political power. Almost all of the big environmental disasters of the last thirty years were totally preventable and the trend seems to be getting worse.
If and when a project looks at science, best management practices and common sense I would love to support it and hopefully get a job with it. It is truly a joy to produce something mined, something grown, something caught and feel the contribution of effort to the greater good.
Until things change I’m sticking with with the gold with fins, remember Deepwater Horizon,remember Exxon Valdez, remember Massey’s Upper Big Branch mine (29 dead). How the hell did this happen?
In our hearts we all know the answer, we’ve turned from science and knowledge to politics and the power of money. By “we” I don’t me you and I but the current political climate and the constant denigration of legitimate political discussion.
Sorry to be so long winded but it brings me right back to Maria Cantwell. Of course she’s doing her job and of course she’s supporting her constituency. The response is not about the issue, once again it’s about the messenger.
I would love any comments about this post and please email me at [email protected]
Jim Akins – well we might be similar in our views. I too have had a long career in mineral extraction industries. It has not been all happy times and greed is good either. I also have some reluctance to endorse profiteering over responsible supply of industrial needs.
The things that tweak my warning wiskers are the way the pebble project has treated its waste management plan and a complete lack of any proposal for the handling of the product. I’m a geologist who happens to work on porphyries like this one. If you want to have a disussion I am willing but be aware I respond only about once a day at about the same times.
Cheers,
Still time to make the Alaska Republican picnic tonight at Kincaid park!
Sigh.
We all know exactly what kind of people Kim Potts and Nick Lalla are. They are the reason why Sarah Palin and Michele Bachmann are household names.
Koch has declared war on their own consumers, women who stock their shelves with their products like Dixie Cups, Northern Quilted, hell, even Spanx and public workers like cops who wear Kevlar to keep the peace.
Corporations are people too? Well a lot of people are assholes as evidenced in a lot of AKM’s illuminating posts, so Koch is entirely unconcerned about our welfare, they are the ugly neighbor, the ugly Americans.
Oh yuck. CEI is a really ratty outfit.
http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Competitive_Enterprise_Institute
and the Resourceful Earth post about BB is ridiculous.
Rather than rail about what the EPA can do about navigable waters , the post blathers on like it’s on the State of Alaska’s side against an outside invader , the invader being Ms Cantwell.
The state has to deal with EPA too, you dummy CEI!
Unless and of course our foolish Representative Young makes headway with his extraordinarily stoopid idea of disallowing the EPA any say in Clean Water Act issues in/on navigable waters.
I have my issues with Ms Cantwell’s proposals for further messing with federal fisheries policies which have created some real problems here but she is not the enemy.
And she’s got more sense in her one head than the whole of that CEI pack have together.
Bravo! Follow the information trails, follow the $ trails, call out the wrongdoers. This is what mudflats is all about.
They (?) called me a few days ago for a survey…I answered almost all of the questions with I “Strongly oppose or Strongly disagree” It was being worded to get a feel if they could change my mind…wanted to know if the media was impacting my decision….NOT! Being a born and raised Alaskan who depends on the commercial fisheries is what is impacting my decision and I told them I will do whatever is in my power to see that this proposal is voted DOWN! The more info I can get in my hands and pass along to my friends, and family….the better….and believe me, I have a wonderful opportunity to get that info. out there!
“sounds to me like we’re moving to a more benign planet.”
Tell that to the people of Joplin, MO and Tuscaloosa, AL and Windham, NY and Bastrop County, TX and Nashville, TN and New Orleans, LA and along the Mississippi River and…and…and…
If that’s his idea of benign, I’d hate to think about what a p.o.’d planet would look like!
Tweeted, FB’d…will share w/as many as I can!! Keep up the great work AKM!
resourceful earth is a long standing offshoot of CEI’s offshoot on the environment. If you were born on June 16th,2011 you would be longer running than this website. I guess, according to paid shills for korporate polluters who have no interest in the actual people that live and work in and around Bristol Bay,if you are elected to do the nation’s business,you should only mind your own state’s business unless you can help korporate shills.
If God put it there, why do you suppose he/she made it so hard to get at? Because God loves us and wants us to be safe. The same way a parent puts harmful things out of our reach. Stoopid morans.
I took action, as I have so often. Earlier this week, I attended a conference held by Rapaport (of the Diamond Report) regarding new chain-of-custody standards for diamonds, which mentioned the No Dirty Gold campaign and other efforts by jewelers to clean up their act. (I learned that many of the “diggers” are paid $1 a day for getting one of the world’s most precious substances out of the ground.)
Mining — whether for copper and gold, sub-lignite coal, or anything else — should not take place adjacent to salmon streams, and Alaskans need to stay informed. Thanks, AKM, for ensuring that happens.
Zyxomma – This is interesting to me because I have spent most of my career in the diamond industry and not because I could get rich from selling them but because they are scientifically significant. I have been offered many jobs with various partners in the cartel. I am still independent.
I worked in West Africa for almost 15 years before the civil wars began that deranged that entire region. I witnessed and was victimized by the carnage and chaos. If you go back and look at the records, West Africa, including Sierra Leone, Guinea, Mali, Liberia and Burkino Fasso together produced less than 2% of the world production of diamond. The blood diamond, or conflict diamond myth was generated by De Beers and their associated subsidiaries, primarily the CSO, in order to choke off the price depression effect that free diamonds had on their global monopoly. The Rap sheet is just a small part of the global cartel. I subscribe to it and have all their weekly issues dating back to about 1977. It and everything else about the diamond trade is about manipulating the price to keep it high and force it higher by creating artificial shortages.
The Kimberly Procotocol is nothing but a scam that is a transparent effort to lock in 100% of the diamond trade to the cartel. The Cartel has been invited into the US by political operatives, De Beers can now market their goods directly via the WSJ. Pick up any copy and see for yourself.
For decades they were banned for their monopolistic system.
Yes, it is true that what the diggers, the diamond boys get paid is pathetic. But when I was working in Sierra Leone and Liberia producing alluvials with local labor, we worked on a profit sharing basis and we paid out about 5 times the gross annual income in both countries and still made a nice enough profit to expand our operations. There were other benefits which we supported, such as free medical care to the extent we could provide it in the bush and free food for families. We were shut down by the so-called civil wars. These wars were probably funded by the cartel. I have no evidence to support that claim except the obvious fact that no one else stood to benefit by them.
Our tiny contribution of a few hundred carats a month at a cheap price was enough to derange whole nations by the use of corrupt money.
Don’t for one second believe the hollywood version of what went on in the real world. I was there, I lived through it, and my colleagues, co workers, and their faimilies died because of the greed that could not tolerate even this small competition. There is a lot more to this story.
If you want an independent, though admittedly vague and non-objective perspective on all this look up and buy a book titled Firmly By the Tail. It might open your eyes if you don’t believe me.
Krubozumo Nyankoye, why would I not believe you? You are one of the posters to this thread I respect most. For one thing, you’re a professional geologist, a discipline I admire (although I knew students who despaired of ever finding work outside the oil industry). I’m an amateur, and defer to your in-depth knowledge on topics about which my knowledge is cursory (although we both share the habit of carrying a loupe).
At the conference I attended (which I attended because one of the principals of my company — we’re in sustainable fashion — was invited to speak), Rapaport basically stated that the Kimberly protocol was shite, although he may have said that only to polish his own credentials. His company’s new protocol is about chain of custody from source to end product. I did not attend most of the conference, only the end of the small segment on diamonds and social responsibility. Most people who attended did so online. The CoC protocol is supposedly going to prevent diamonds from Zimbabwe (for example) being sold as Canadian (or otherwise cleanly-sourced).
I know that there are many dishonest and/or self-serving individuals in that industry (as in so many others); that’s true of all industries with resource extraction at their center, whether that resource extraction involves cutting down ancient trees or digging up even more ancient minerals. I am horrified by trawlers tearing up the ocean floor to fish more “efficiently” so that McDonald’s can sell filet-o-fish sandwiches. I am horrified by rainforest trees being cut down so land can be converted to grazing cattle (again, this is on behalf of McDonald’s — they make an additional five cents per burger that way).
I agree with you that diamonds are scientifically significant. They are, in fact, a marvel of our beautiful planet. Health and peace.
I haven’t a clue about twitter but can do facebook, so I thanked the Senator. Oh, not interested in learing about twitter either.
Also, consider the ALEC conference our legislators spent state money to attend. Look up ALEC, yet another right-wing group attempting to make inroads into Alaska. I have had it!
http://www.npr.org/2010/10/29/130891396/shaping-state-laws-with-little-scrutiny
ALEC has made deep inroads into many state legislatures across the country. They have been bribing and coercing at that level for 3 decades. Google it. Not a pretty picture.
The Kochtopus tentacles reach far and wide.
Indeed!
Singing to the choir here..but the folks who need to..’be reached’..need some visuals..that help..place these situations..in perspective. Imagine if someone..came up with..not a world map..but a map showing..total land mass..and..another..total water mass. Then..show lines down..like slices on a pie chart..as to land made..uninhabitable..by 1. natural events..not man made, 2. man made events nuc. test sites..Bopal in India..etc. and 3. the creeping land use choices that..in retrospect..have ..’withdrawn’..a decent amount of land..from safe-use. If this all was done on a pie chart..or something similar..so that the entire % of ..landmass..and then..watermass..was shown..and with..disclaimers as to ..actual guesstiments..which this would be designed on..it would help..john q. public..see what is left..in the way of safe, useable, livable land and water masses..at this point in time. Only when the ave. person..is seeing a sq. of, or a pie chart of..whats been removed from..safe use..what remains..and what big corp. wish to ‘use’..will the less educated..start to see/feel..what is at hazard. The bulk of the worlds populations..are..ave. They..must be reached..and if it takes making..baby steps to show the public..what is/has..and will happen..then the properly educated must redesign their informations..to..connect to those of ave. ability..or all IS..Lost.
What a good idea! I wish I had the skills to do it but I don’t.
It is a nice idea but I actually think that graphics are less accessible to most people than other simpler forms of communication. A few bullet pointed statements supported by graphically displayed evidence might be more useful. It is relatively easy to use statistics to lie. It is actually done all the time. Think in terms of political polls.
Does anyone here have anything to say about the statistical validity of a poll that questions 1,000 people for a population of over 300 million people?
There are two ways to argue the issues that confront us. One is from the standpoint of knowing to the best of our ability what is true. The other is from the standpoint of what is to the best of our ability convincing. In my opinion in a propaganda war, what is needed is propaganda that is convincing and on the side of truth. Truth alone is not enough.
Bullet pointed..works for me..since tis a graphics, in its way..methodology. It is a screaming need to start reaching those who manage to totter to the voting booth/box..but have no time for reading. Why don’t they read?…sigh..let moi count their reasons..and the ways..they Do..spend their time..further sigh. As to ” truth alone is not enough”..bingo! [ and for those who wish to..clarify my understanding as to..’graphics’..pull up a chair, hand moi your martini ..Jug..and lets converse..as I take short cuts..long cuts and dig my way through brush..at any op. I am only able to operate at top speed..off trail. My fathers fault..a trappers daughter ranges..far outside the norm..for I’d die quickly..in modern life/captivity. Luckily for all..I am an only child, the two sons have looked at the world and chosen to help others with children..and not create any of their own..so..when I drop..the world will be just a mite tidyer..and..language-adept. ]