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An exercise for the reader:
Google “minneapolis tar sands obama” or “minneapolis keystone xl obama” and see how many articles you find by the StarTribune, the Pioneer Press, WCCO, KSTP, TPT2, KARE, or FOX9 on these protests:
When President Obama arrives at the Minneapolis Convention Center he will be greeted by several dozen Minnesotans with a 20-foot banner that reads: ‘Pres. Obama, Yes You Can Stop the Tar Sands XL Pipeline.´
The rally comes as protests against the pipeline continue at the White House where more than 500 people have already been arrested in a rolling 15-day sit-in that started on August 20.
The controversial 1,700-mile pipeline project would carry tar sands oil from Canada to the U.S. and has become the most important environmental decision facing President Obama before the 2012 election. Notable figures such as author and environmentalist Bill McKibben, former Chairman of the U.S. Council on Environmental Quality and founder of the Natural Resources Defense Council Gus Speth, and NASA climatologist James Hansen have already been arrested at the White House in opposition to the pipeline.
Lemme guess — you didn’t find anything, right?
Well, maybe, you might have found this piece in the Minnesota Independent, but nothing by the local traditional media types.
Oh, well.
31 Comments
For being the largest civil disobedience environmental action in a generation, the TradMed certainly is following White House guidance on coverage of these historic protests and arrests.
This is begnning to remind me of the Nixon White House response to the anti-war demos. I wonder how Poppa Obama is explaining the arrests to the kids?
https://news.google.com/news/story?pz=1&cf=all&ned=us&hl=en&q=keystone+xl&ncl=dKhWCDP7Gg97VAMXYSKBEFEj6cZYM
Hi PW,
I was at the protest today. There was a reporter from Strib going around and talking to people, jotting down notes. Hoping something will be in Strib tomorrow. The Uptake guy who usually shows up at protests was there too.
The people in the white House are astute manipulators of facts. How the previous white handle disarming news? They created their own reality. Obama made up his mind months ago about this situation. I remember reading some where that State Department already sign of on this thing under Hillary early this year. They did think it were necessary to tell us heretics about it.
My sister protested the VietNam war circa 1966-71; one day I asked if she knew where the Straits of Malacca were? Had she heard of Royal Dutch Shell? Was she aware the USA policy to build freeways everywhere included demolishing 100′s of branch rail lines, forcing even more dependence on imported oil from places requiring more & more military muscle? No, no,no, and what the heck does transport policy have to do with wars and the environment?
Now the US staves off monetary collapse with one hand and motor fuel rationing with the other… 40 years ago, on back to 1900, America was a lending not a borrowing nation. Happy motoring has a price, the bill is due, and we be broke! So forget about stifling the Oil Sands production program.
IF and that’s a really big word, the entire environmental movement (throw in Tikkun, other seekers of peace and freedom, etc) want to forestall resource wars and dampen climate change, suggest all due haste replacement of missing rail branch lines, removed since Ike signed the Defense Highway Bill in 1956… Shift stocking practice from “Just-In-Time” (thanks to herds of trucks) and return to railway distribution methodologies. See spv.co.uk for US Rail Map Atlas volume showing your regional rail footprint past & present.
More to say, no more room- see “tahoevalley lines” at theoildrum.com for NAWAPA, US Army/Guard Railroad Operating Battalions, Suntrain, etc. Enjoy the protests, and the quality time with your car…
Headline in the Calgary Herald newspaper (online) today about Darryl Hannah being involved in the pipeline protest. The Herald has been following the protests and reporting on them. The newspaper, as well as the town, are pro-pipeline and were thrilled about the whitewash environmental study recently issued. That “study” made the headlines. Today’s article on the protest:
http://www.calgaryherald.com/business/Actress+Daryl+Hannah+arrested+pipeline+protest/5328527/story.html
Another article in the Calgary Herald (link below)
“Canadian activists are planning to mirror their U.S. counterparts outside the White House in Washington who are protesting a proposed pipeline that would transport bitumen from the Alberta oilsands to refineries on the Texas coast.
“Greenpeace Canada, the Council of Canadians and the Indigenous Environmental Network are to lead the effort on Sept. 26 in Ottawa during a display of ‘civil disobedience’ against the proposed Keystone XL pipeline.”
Read more: http://www.canada.com/Pipeline+protests+planned+Ottawa/5307122/story.html#ixzz1WZu5CZ3I
Good points, CarolynC. One might think that Alaska MSM would be paying a bit of attention to this for several reasons, some similar to what you observed:
1). TransCanada, which is involved in this project, was given a half billion by Palin in one of her failed lies (“we’re building a gas pipeline in Alaska”) in 2008
2). The project competes with AK oil development possibilities
3). The AK GOP, in full power here, might want to point to Obama being assailed by environmentalists.
But my blog, Progressive Alaska, has been the only outlet, conventional or not, to cover this comprehensively.
The borg grows in power…
I think the protests have gotten so much (comparative) coverage in the MSM in Calgary is that the elites in Canada fear they may force a change in American policy. (If only!) Most Calgarians, but not all, want that pipeline. They are afraid the protests in the US (and the copy-cat protests by Greenpeace in Ottawa) will derail it.
Chuckles Todd announces Daryl Hannah arrested yesterday protesting at the White House. She’ll be on later this morning with Chris Jansing.
Why was she arrested? Maybe she’ll be able to tell us. Don’t look to Chuckles….
This should be no surprise. Enbridge buried the news of its big oil spill in a river in Michigan which flowed into Lake Michigan after about one 24 hour news cycle. TransCanada did the same with the huge Keystone I oil spill into the Yellowstone River just a few months ago. It’s like Stalin’s airbrushed version of history, vanishing as it is occurs.
The MOTU are happy to jail protesters of their actions. And their press has been instructed to print the party line. Kinda like Pravda during the Soviet Union. Gah
It is not about Democracy it is about complete control.
Good morning
Get in line and move along!!!
Speaking of Daryl Hannah, she was on the Sean Hannity show yesterday and I tuned in to hear what she had to say. Not once did she mention anything about the protest against Keystone XL or what it was about – except that she was arrested. To her credit, she talked about using pure alcohol (made from waste) to fuel her black Trans Am. She was charming and laughed a lot. Sean Hannity has an audience of millions and she had an opportunity to get the message out, but she didn’t. What a waste.
Why not just call it The Poison Pipeline on the signs?
I agree. Good observation.
will they cover the protest in Minnesota while Obama is there?
ha ! I actually was googling this late last night while reading Teddy’s post — Tar Sands Action had tweeted about it but had yet to post pics
oh my – Bloomberg reporting on James Hansen’s arrest here:
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-08-29/nasa-s-hansen-arrested-outside-white-house-at-pipeline-protest.html
and here’s a pic of James Hansen getting arrested at the Fence
http://www.flickr.com/photos/32202438@N06/6099594979/
Daryl Hannah did a great job on MSNBC just now — hitting all the points and notes — Bravo !
even pushing back on Jansing’s q’s about yet more celebrities
Because he’s Not Listening, STILL: ‘Carney on Obama’s View of Tar Sands Arrests & Protests: “I haven’t talked to him about it.” ‘! So campaign pitch-slap Obamar!! Tell the Baracketeer in the Big House, Keep IN!
PW -
the clergy contingent to DC from Minnesota call themselves The Mennonistas – ya gotta love it !
Yup, and nothing in there on the Minnesota protest that greeted Obama.
I do see that the Michigan Messenger (an online paper similar to the Minnesota Independent cited above) has a piece on the former Obama staffer arrested at the Tar Sands Action protest at the White House. Funny how that too hasn’t exactly been heavily publicized by the legacy media.
So Folks
Couple things. I copied and pasted this story, giving credit on the Minnesota Issues List. Which is watched by the media here on a regular basis. No responses yet. Although this mornings Minneapolis Star Tribune did have a story on the protests. Although the majority of protesters were either related to the Tar Sands issue or the Obama/FBI attacks on peace activists here, the article called it an anti-war protest. With an interview from one woman who “voted for Obama and now is ‘disappointed.”
They missed talking to me. I was the guy wearing
THE AUDACITY OF WAR CRIMES
on my tee shirt
So it goes. Corporate media does not tell the truth? Why I am shocked, shocked I tell you.
The UpTake’s got something up, but like with the Mindy, it’s about all of the protests, which is likely why it didn’t turn up in last night’s Googling for Keystone or Tar Sands. Still, that’s more than the Strib’s done.
While I agree wholeheartedly, Phoenix, that most of Corporate news is ignoring this subject, I do think they are finding it harder and harder to keep the topic mute. The huge coincidence of Katrina Anniversary and Irene devastation is overwhelming the corporate newsline that ‘this was nothing to get excited about.’ It simply won’t fly.
This is a good space to acknowledge a good job done by the PBS Newshour when they set up a conversation with Bill McKibben a few days back, alongside some ‘drill baby drill’ maniac who simply reeked of disinterested greed. Bill was super on point, made use of every moment of his time to drive home the salient points. Of course, he’s had plenty of practise lately but he showed what people can do to the pseudoarguments if they are given the podium. Thank you for doing that, PBS; please do more.
Someone needs to explain why shipping that oil via far more risky tankers is better than using a pipeline.
Let’s see: Stealing of land via eminent domain. The possible/probable contamination of the Ogallala Aquifer which is one of the largest aquifers in the world. It supplies the drinking water to about 80 percent of the residents within its boundaries of 8 surrounding states.
I have spoken with industry contacts I have. The earthquake on the east coast could have been caused by fracking oil from shale in the area. This has also happened in Arkansas with one man there suing the oil company for damage to his house and winning.
This needs some publicity. People are in danger from fracking.
When you guys follow that Michigan Messenger link, there are 2 articles there about the Enbridge spill in Michigan which was a tar sands oil spill a year ago. You can read what happens.
When the “largest civil disobedience environmental action in a generation” amounts to 100 people a day, you really can’t expect the MSM to pay all that much attention. An effective protest is going to require thousands of people, day in and day out for months. THAT’S how you get attention.
In addition to significantly larger protests, you’re going to need some known faces, and I don’t mean Daryl Hannah, who although apparently a very nice person is something of a professional protester.
Since I don’t believe that the protest is going to attract thousands of people for any kind of sustained action (let’s face it, if you are lucky enough to have a job these days, you are not taking weeks off to protest anything), would a serious push with legislators not work better? You CAN get many thousands of people to demand that their congresscritters take action. Make this a campaign issue. It won’t be one for Obama but it could be one for local representatives.