F. William Engdahl – Rex Tillerson and the Myths, Lies and Oil Wars to Come

I want to give here a personal account of the change in my own belief about the genesis of hydrocarbons as I feel it will become increasingly important in the near future to grasp precisely what the Oil Game of the Big Four Anglo-American oil giants–ExxonMobil, Chevron, Shell and BP–is truly about. It’s about creating myths, lies and ultimately oil …

MASON ADAMS – TRUMP AND THE OUTDOORS

Many conservationists are fearing the worst. Trump could be the most anti-environmental president ever to take office, and he will have the support of a Republican Congress. The 2016 Republican platform, after all, called for the rollback of environmental regulations; expansion of fossil fuels; a prohibition against regulating carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas; transfer of federal lands to the states; …

Ed O’Keefe – Here are the eight Trump Cabinet picks Democrats plan to target

Democratic senators plan to aggressively target eight of Donald Trump’s Cabinet nominees in the coming weeks and are pushing to stretch their confirmation votes into March — an unprecedented break with Senate tradition. Such delays would upend Republican hopes of quickly holding hearings and confirming most of Trump’s top picks on Inauguration Day. But Democrats, hamstrung by their minority status, …

ANDREW MCGILL – Why People Vote for Counterproductive Policies

Governing is often a cause-and-effect business. Give workers a tax break on retirement accounts? More people save for life after the working world. Offer a rebate for old cars? Drivers scrap their gas-guzzling Explorers in favor of sensible Corollas, and average fuel efficiency goes up. It’s easy to sell something to voters when the costs and benefits are immediately obvious. …

ELIANA JOHNSON – Cheney emerges as surprise Trump surrogate

During the campaign, Donald Trump trashed the hawkish foreign policy of the second Bush White House. But now, he and his team are relying on the man most closely identified with that regime — Dick Cheney — to help ensure that Rex Tillerson is confirmed next year as Trump’s secretary of state. As Republicans have voiced reservations about Tillerson’s relationship …

Court to Hear Lawsuit Against Bush for Nuremberg War Crimes

On Monday, December 12th, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeal in San Francisco will hear arguments in a first–of-its-kind lawsuit against former President George W. Bush, alleging that Bush engaged in a war of aggression against Iraq. “War of aggression” is a crime under the international law which evolved out of the Nuremberg Trials after World War II. The hearing …

Nika Knight – Bad Week for Exxon: Outlook Plunges as NY Court Says Climate Criminal Must Comply

ExxonMobil is having a very bad week. The oil giant was slammed Wednesday with a ruling against it from New York’s highest court in the ongoing climate fraud investigation, as well as a scathing report from a financial analysis firm that suggested the company’s fortunes may be in “irreversible decline.” The New York State Supreme Court ordered the oil behemoth …

ELIZABETH GROSSMAN – How fossil fuel use threatens kids’ health

The burning of fossil fuels — coal, oil and gas — creates pollution that not only can harm health but also foster climate change. Together these impacts pose an outsize risk to children, studies show. Their data point to a growing need for society to better protect kids. That’s the conclusion of a new report. It was prepared by Frederica …