Arnold calls out the Big Oil Front Groups in dramatic fashion

(9AM EST – promoted by Nightprowlkitty)

I couldn’t believe my ears.  Did Arnold just change from Red to Blue ?

Or maybe it was just a deeper shade of Green.

Schwarzenegger defends climate law, slams Texans

Peter Fimrite, Chronicle Staff Writer, SFGate — Sep 28, 2010

The governor’s vehement defense of the climate legislation commonly referred to as AB32 comes amid a fierce campaign led by oil interests to win passage in November of Proposition 23, a ballot measure that calls for suspending the climate law until the jobless rate hits 5.5 percent for a year, a level achieved only three times in 40 years.

Schwarzenegger, speaking before several hundred people at the Commonwealth Club in Santa Clara, said the proponents of Prop. 23 are attempting to subvert the democratic process using scare tactics. He likened the campaign to a shell game hiding what he said was the real purpose: “self-serving greed.”

“They are creating a shell argument that they are doing this to protect jobs,” the governor said. “Does anybody really believe they are doing this out of the goodness of their black oil hearts – spending millions and millions of dollars to save jobs?”

The Oil Company Front Groups are out in force in California  …

They are trying to turn back the clock on Climate Change Legislation.

[ continuing …]

[…]

AB32 calls for the state to reduce carbon emissions to 1990 levels by 2020. Among other things, it requires the California Air Resources Board to establish and enforce limits on carbon emissions – regulations that will begin to go into effect in 2012. Seven Western states and four Canadian provinces have joined California in writing regulations in anticipation of a regional effort to curb emissions.

[…]

The two oil companies behind the effort to suspend AB32 [Texas oil companies Valero and Tesoro] are among those who would be obliged under cap-and-trade to clean up operations or pay significant new fees.

Schwarzenegger praised President Obama for his support of climate change legislation but was highly critical of Congress for dropping the bill, a situation he said was due to blatant partisanship.

“Right now in Washington nothing gets done,” he said. “It doesn’t mean that we should give up. California is the leader.”

The Oil Company Front Groups are out in force in California …

They are trying overturn the will of the people.

They are trying to by-pass all the Social Costs, that their lucrative industry creates, year after year, decade after decade.

And Big Oil is trying to call what they are shoveling — a Jobs saving measure!

Unbelievable!

Well the Guvner is having NONE OF IT!

Keith Olbermann: Countdown — Sep 28, 2010



http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30…

Keith Olbermann:  Governor Schwarzenegger full bore into the national debate over big business shaping our politics and class warfare. and in our third story tonight, he spoke the plain truth behind their motives. greed, just greed.

it turns out most of America does not even know how rich the rich had gotten. the new study based on polling from 2005 finds that Americans think the richest 20% of the country own about 59% of the wealth.

at the time of the poll, the richest 20% owned 84% of the wealth. and that was before the recession.

new census data out today showing that median household incomes fell again last year to $50,000 while those making at least $180,000 saw their incomes rise.

the income gap between rich and poor never larger since the nation began to track it. the 20% that earned more than $100,000 a year took home 49% of all income last year.

those living in poverty made just 3.4% of all income, making the richest to poorest ratio 14 to 1. without even factoring how much tax loopholes, dividends, and capital gains further enrich the rich.

and we have new information on how the rich are using that money while individual voters have given money to democratic campaign committees, the associated press reports that the citizens united ruling on unleashing private groups to pour millions of dollars has benefited republicans by a ratio of 6 to 1,

the outpouring of money leading to last night’s extraordinary outpouring to the republican Governor of California talking about a political campaign there to in essence take over the state in cash. to reduce carbon emissions there by 30% by the year 2020. the ads, claiming his new law will kill jobs.

Governor Schwarzenegger:  

does anyone really believe that these companies out of the goodness of their black oil hearts are spending millions and millions of dollars to protect jobs?

Keith Olbermann: in the rest of his speech, audio of which was provided to “countdown,” Governor Schwarzenegger did not hesitate to name which companies, including the koch brothers, founders of the tea party movement. here’s how he started.

Governor Schwarzenegger:  

I want to talk about the corruption of the democratic process, and about forces willing to sabotage this country’s economic future for private gain.

I want to talk about Texas oil interests that have descended up on California to overturn a Californian environmental law. and then assume that they’ve done the dirty work thanks to millions of dollars of scare tactic advertising.

[…] there’s a great drama, there is a great struggle playing out here in california right now that the rest of the world doesn’t pay much attention to and knows very little about. and that’s why I’m here today to put the spotlight on this very important issue.

[…]

Oil companies like Valero and Tesoro and Frontier are blatantly trying to manipulate the will of the people and the good.

they put an initiative to halt until unemployment drops to 5.5%. comparing them to the 20th century that killed off public transportation rail systems.

Governor Schwarzenegger:  

today Valero and Tesoro and others involved are involved in the conspiracy, but not in a criminal conspiracy, but clearly in a cynical one. they are not seeking to buy rail systems, but to buy votes this time. yet the motivation is the same which is self-serving greed.

2/3 of Californians approve our state law to reduce carbon dioxide emissions. do you know who the two most prominent opponents are?

Valero and Tesoro, also two of the state’s top polluters. they’re behind an initiative on the November ballot called proposition 23, which would suspend our law to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. but in reality, because of the fine print when it comes to unemployment, they really don’t want to just suspend it, they want to kill this initiative, they want to kill our laws.

[…]

Governor Schwarzenegger:  

and while they’re not creating a shale company, they are creating a shell argument that this is about saving jobs. does anyone really believe that these companies that out of the goodness of their black oil hearts are spending millions and millions of dollars to protect jobs?    this is like Eva Braun writing a kosher cookbook — it’s not about jobs at all, ladies and gentlemen, it’s about their ability to pollute and thus protect their profits.

[…]

Those who seek to overturn our carbon reduction law say that the green-tech future is too costly. another excuse, great, great excuse, huh?

but here’s what they don’t want to tell you. the cost calculations doesn’t include the increased of cost doing business their way, the old way,

They don’t include the cost of rising oil prices as the developing world demands more and more oil.

They don’t include the costs of job losses that is rising oil prices will force.

They don’t include the costs of hundreds of billions of dollars in tax breaks that have gotten and continued to get.

They don’t include the costs of pollution that are already causing — the cost, for instance, to hundreds of thousands of Americans who die every year from smog-related diseases.

They don’t include also the cost of 6.5 million hospital visits a year for smog-related illnesses.

They don’t include the cost of the NEXT War over Oil.

and believe me, eventually it will come as we become more and more dependent on Oil. i mean, i think that we have had enough wars in the Middle East because of Oil.

Don’t you think so?

That was one amazing rant Arnold — keep calling out the Billionaire Bastards, trying to BUY the California Electorate.

WTG!

Keep a blazing spotlight on the very Real Costs of that Oil addiction.   Soon the Cheap Oil will be gone.  Then What?

America NEEDS to break that dangerous Addiction. NOW  — America needs to Move on.  NOW.

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Many Thanks Mr Keith Olbermann, and Countdown for reporting on the ragin’ Green Governor.