Monthly Archives: July 2014

Another Brine Mess

Graphic by US Geological Survey via Wikimedia Commons

Bakken oil field wells 2013. Graphic by US Geological Survey via Wikimedia Commons

We’ve talked a lot about the devastating impact the oil boom we’re experiencing currently is having on the environment. We’ve talked about oil spills, exploding trains, earthquakes and miscellaneous other effects. Now, there’s another damaging byproduct that’s made the news in the last few days; saltwater spills.

What does saltwater have to do with drilling for oil? Water below the freshwater table becomes more salty with depth, and water injected into the ground during fracking operations can become salty before it rises back towards the ground. This briny water comes up with the oil, and must be separated or removed, and may be 20 to 30 times as salty as seawater. There’s two common ways of disposing of the brine: 1) wastewater injection, which is linked to increased earthquake activity in numerous states; most notably Oklahoma, and 2) storage in an evaporation tank/area, where the residues can be buried in a landfill.

Spills are common in this process. 141 brine water pipeline spills were reported in North Dakota alone in 2012, and a 2006 rupture that spilled 1 million gallons into a creek, aquifer and pond is still being cleaned up.

Which brings us to three recent spills in North Dakota. On June 27, a saltwater disposal facility near Ross was struck by lightning. Authorities let the storage tanks burn down before putting out the fire. 580 barrels of oil and 1,800 barrels of saltwater were spilled. Then, on July 7, 11 tanks (9 saltwater and 2 oil) on an oil site in McKenzie County were destroyed in a lightning strike and subsequent explosion. Over 2,000 barrels of saltwater were spilled, as well as 167 barrels of oil.

Then, on July 8, a leak was discovered in an underground pipeline near Bear Den Bay, a tributary of Lake Sakakawea when company officials were investigating reports of production shortfalls. By the time the leak was discovered, over 1 million gallons (24,000 barrels) of saltwater had been spilled. Why did it take so long to discover? Because the pipeline doesn’t have a system to send an alarm in the event of a leak or rupture.

Lake Sakakawea, a reservoir on the Missouri River, provides water to communities on the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation, occupied by the Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara tribes. But, the reservation is the source of more than 30% of the state’s 1 million barrels of oil produced per day, according to the North Dakota Department of Mineral Resources.

The EPA said yesterday that they were trying to determine if the saltwater had reached the lake or not; but they were fairly confident that most of the saltwater had was pooled on the ground, soaked into the soil and held back by dams. Cleanup of the site is estimated to take weeks.

Company and tribal officials claimed that the spill was contained, but there was visible damage from the spill. Kris Roberts, an environmental geologist with the North Dakota Department of Health, said; “We’ve got dead trees, dead grasses, dead bushes, dying bushes.”

The more we see of the peripheral damage done by the waste products of fracking, not to mention the oil spills and explosions, the more we realize what a self-destructive path we’re following in our thirst for oil. What we need is a renewable energy program along the lines of the industrial switch to a wartime economy during World War II. Not only will future generations thank us, but it’s more likely that there will be future generations if we do.

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Planes vs Houses

Engine of F-35. Photo by Duch.seb (own work) via Wikimedia Commons

Engine of F-35. Photo by Duch.seb (own work) via Wikimedia Commons

Last week, the Pentagon grounded all of their existing F-35 Joint Strike Fighters, after one of them caught on fire while preparing for takeoff at Eglin Air Force Base in Florida on June 23. This is just another setback in what’s become the costliest weapons program in U.S. history.

The development of the F-35 started in 2001. It was originally supposed to be completed by 2007; it’s now seven years behind schedule and approximately 70 percent overbudget, despite the U. S. cutting back on orders for the plane.

To understand how something like this could happen, you need only to look at the infamous second engine project. All early F-35s were to be powered by Pratt & Whitney F135 engines, with competitive bidding on engines taking place for later lots of production. The competitors in this case were GE and Rolls-Royce, working together in a joint project called the F136. In 2005, GE and Rolls-Royce were awarded a $2.4 billion contract by the DoD to develop their engine.

However, starting in 2006, the Defense Department’s budget requests only included the Pratt & Whitney engine, and not the GE/Rolls-Royce one. This didn’t deter Congress for adding appropriations for the engine to the budget every year, though. Maybe this was because a GE plant in then Minority Leader and now Speaker of the House John Boehner’s district in Ohio was building the engines, as was a Rolls-Royce engine plant in then Representative and now Indiana Governor Mike Pence’s district, The Indiana contract was ironic considering Pence’s publicly avowed stance on earmark reform at the time, but I digress…

In February 2011, a bipartisan coalition of Tea Party Republicans and Democrats killed funding for the second engine. However, in May of that year, the House Armed Services Committee added a provision that limited spending for improvements to the F-35 Lightning II propulsion system, which focused only on Pratt & Whitney engines, unless the secretary of defense continued with the General Electric engine project. Finally, in December of 2011, GE and Rolls-Royce discontinued development of the F136 engine.

So far, the F-35 project has cost us almost $400 billion, with estimated operating and maintenance expenses over the projected 55 year life-cycle in the $1 trillion range. In case you haven’t noticed, that’s a lot of money. To put it in perspective, the whole Manhattan Project cost $55 billion in today’s dollars. Or, to put it in a more humanitarian way, with the full amount spent on the F-35 at our disposal, we could buy every homeless person in America a $664,000 home.

I know where I’d rather see the money go…

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Workplace And Community Safety News – Facepalm Edition

Greg Abbott. Photo by Gage Skidmore [CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Greg Abbott. Photo by Gage Skidmore [CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Workplace and community safety are things we’d like to be able to take for granted. Being able to go to your job knowing that you won’t be put in unnecessary danger because of a boss’s or company’s desire to cut costs and/or speed up production is something that most of us have become used to. The same applies to our communities; we like to know when an industry in our community has chemicals or other items that could directly impact our health if an accident occurs. Today, we’ll look at two of the more cringeworthy stories of the past week dealing with safety concerns.

The first is from a place that always seems to be in the news; the great state of Texas. And, as usual with Texas, there’s another story that was hidden from the public behind this story. On May 22, the Texas Attorney General’s office ruled that the Department of State Health Services  was required by a 2003 Texas law dealing with homeland security to withhold its database of chemical inventories from the public. This didn’t become known until three weeks later, when both a local TV station and the Dallas News reported it. A spokesperson for the AG’s office told the News at that time that the state health department will no longer release its inventory reports unless told otherwise by the AG. 

After receiving a lot of criticism for this decision, last Tuesday Attorney General (and candidate for Texas governor) Greg Abbott told reporters: “You know where they are if you drive around. ou can ask every facility whether or not they have chemicals or not. You can ask them if they do, and they can tell you, well, we do have chemicals or we don’t have chemicals, and if they do, they tell which ones they have.” So, what happens when a citizen takes his advice? We urge you to read this story from the Burnt Orange Report, and watch the videos in the story. 

Yesterday, Abbott compared supporting the release of information about where dangerous chemicals are stored, which was publicly available until recently, to adding terrorism. Why the change in the law? It could have something to do with the $75,000 in campaign donations from the Koch brothers plus a ride in a Koch company jet to a meet and greet with wealthy donors. The Kochs have significant holdings in various chemical firms, and such a law would be to their advantage.

The second story takes us to West Virginia and Freedom Industries. The January 9 disaster that spilled 7500 gallons of crude MCHM into the Elk River and shut down the fresh water supply for 350,000 West Virginians was well reported, as was the news that Freedom Industries declared bankruptcy within two weeks of the spill. The last time we reported on Freedom Industries, they had managed to spill into the Elk River again by letting storm water collection trenches overflow – two days in a row.

On July 3, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) fined Freedom Industries a whopping $11,000 for a pair of workplace safety violations. There was a $7000 fine for keeping storage tanks containing crude MCHM behind a diked wall that was not liquid tight. The leaky wall combined with a leaking tank were the causes of the January 9 spill. They were also fined $4000 for failing to have standard railings on an elevated platform. They were also cited (but not fined) for an improperly labeled tank; the tank’s label said glycol, and instead contained MCHM.

We have in both these stories a case of industries not being held responsible for their actions. The fact that in Texas, you don’t have the right to know what hazardous materials are in your community, and instead are labeled as supporting terrorism for wanting disclosure is stunning. And OSHA’s fines? I’d be willing to bet that the wives and/or girlfriends of Freedom’s former executives (now the owners of Lexycon) have coats that are more expensive than that.

Once again, the corporations walk away from any responsibility, leaving us to clean up the mess and bury the dead after the inevitable accident.

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Whole Lotta Shaking Going On

OIl refinery near Enid, Oklahoma. Photo by John from Tulsa, USA (Flickr) [CC-BY-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

OIl refinery near Enid, Oklahoma. Photo by John from Tulsa, USA (Flickr) [CC-BY-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

We’ve commented a number of times on the apparent link between wastewater injection wells (used to dispose of wastewater from fracking) and earthquakes. We’ve especially focused on Texas and Oklahoma as evidence of this link. A new study dealing with the increased tectonic activity in Oklahoma was published in the July 4 issue of Scienceand the findings are even more conclusive.

Before 2008, the state averaged one quake a year with a magnitude greater than 3.0. However, this year alone has seen more than 230 such quakes; an increase of 22,900 percent. The study, co-authored by Katie Keranen of Cornell University and Geoffery Abers of Columbia University, explains how wastewater injection sites could be the factor driving the spike in seismic activity. “It really is unprecedented to have this many earthquakes over a broad region like this. Most big sequences of earthquakes that we see are either a main shock and a lot of aftershocks or it might be right at the middle of a volcano in a volcanic system or geothermal system. So you might see little swarms but nothing really this distributed and this persistent,” Abers explained to Nature.

The study analyzed four wastewater disposal wells in southeast Oklahoma City, that collectively inject four million barrels into the ground each month. The research showed that the fluids from the well were migrating along fault lines. Abers observes that “The important thing is that we are seeing earthquakes that are much more widely distributed, much farther from wells and in a lot of different directions. Some of these earthquakes are as much as 20 miles away from what seems to be the primary wells that are increasing the pressure.”

Oil industry leaders were quick to point out that the study doesn’t make a definite link between oil and gas drilling and earthquakes; mainly because the sub-surface pressure data that would confirm the relationship is mostly unavailable. And Mike Terry, president of the Oklahoma Independent Petroleum Association,, points out that disposal wells have been used in the state for more than half a century — sometimes exceeding current disposal rates. “Because crude oil and natural gas is produced in 70 of Oklahoma’s 77 counties, any seismic activity within the state is likely to occur near oil and natural gas activity,” he said. “We have also seen increased seismic activity in North America, including Idaho, Virginia, Arizona and northern Mexico, where dewatering projects and unconventional oil and gas development are nonexistent.”

However, Oklahoma isn’t the only state seeing a dramatic increase in small to medium sized quakes at the same time that fracking has increased in the area. Ohio, Arkansas, Kansas and of course, Texas, have all seen such increases as well. And, I wouldn’t call fracking “unconventional oil and gas development” these days either.

The industry leaders may claim there’s not a definite link – yet. But, when every new study reinforces the idea that fracking is indeed responsible for the spike in earthquakes in these areas, we think it’s only a matter of time.

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News From The Eastern Front

Ukrainian pipelines. Map by Victor Korniyenko (own work) via Wikimedia Commons

Ukrainian pipelines. Map by Victor Korniyenko (own work) via Wikimedia Commons

We’ve written about Ukraine on numerous occasions; the most recent being about reports claiming Academi mercenaries are operating in east Ukraine. However, we haven’t written about the situation there recently, and there’s been lots going on.

There was a ceasefire in eastern Ukraine at the end of June, which led to the Russian parliament revoking its ruling from March permitting the use of Russian troops in Ukrainian territory  The ceasefire ended, as these things tend to do, with both sides blaming the other for an attack on a village in the Luthansk region in which nine civilians were reported dead.

On Thursday of last week, French President Francois Hollande and German Chancellor Angela Merkel urged Russian President Vladmir Putin to encourage pro-Russian separatists to accept a new ceasefire deal negotiated by the foreign ministers of France, Germany, Russia and Ukraine. But, on Saturday, Ukrainian troops retook the city of Slavyansk; their biggest tactical victory in a “anti-terrorist operation” that’s done little more in three months than shelling separatist strongholds while inflicting large numbers of civilian casualties.

The separatists for their part vowed to keep on fighting. Ukraine’s President Petro Poroshenko said purging the city of the insurgents had “incredible symbolic importance,” while Igor Girken, defense minister of what separatists call the Donetsk People’s Republic, said: “We will continue the combat operations and will try not to make the same mistakes that we made in the past.” 

The U.S. has been silent for the most part, which is troubling considering the actions of neo-fascist supporters armed by the Ukraine government in Odessa and other places in southeast Ukraine. Svoboda and Right Sector, the two main neo-fascist organizations, call for an ethnically pure nation purged of the “Moscow-Jewish mafia” and “other scum,” including homosexuals, feminists and political leftists. The U.S. government and media’s official stance is that the neo-fascists are merely agitated nationalists and “garden-variety Euro-populists,” without enough popular support to be consequential. They tend to place all the blame at the feet of Vladmir Putin and former Ukrainian President Yanukovych, while neglecting the fact that the EU trade accord that started the whole independence movement was filled with austerity measures which would be even more punishment for the common Ukranian economically while the oligarchs would barely be touched. Sound familiar?

Or, perhaps this tells us all we need to know: In May, Hunter Biden, the son of Vice President Joe Biden, was named to the board of directors of Burisma Holdings Ltd, the largest private gas producer in Ukraine. When asked about the appointment during a White House press conference, Jay Carney, the White House press secretary at the time, said that where Hunter Biden works “does not reflect an endorsement by the administration, by the president or vice president.” Burisma’s chairman, Alan Apter, said:  “This is totally based on merit,”

If you’re thinking that Alan Apter doesn’t sound like a Ukrainian name, you’d be right. He’s an American, as is Hunter Biden (of course) and a man named Devon Archer who’s also on the board. Devon Archer’s place in this is interesting; not only does he work with Hunter Biden at Rosemount Seneca partners, but Rosemount Seneca is half owned by Rosemount Capital, which is a private equity firm founded by Archer and Christopher Heinz, who happens to be Secretary of State John Kerry’s stepson.

This really doesn’t surprise us that much. We discussed back in April how the U.S. policy in Syria is more about oil than any humanitarian instinct; why should we think Ukraine would be any different?

As always, follow the money…

 

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Isolation Nation

By Andrew Bardwell from Cleveland, Ohio, USA (Jail Cell) [CC-BY-SA-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

By Andrew Bardwell from Cleveland, Ohio, USA (Jail Cell) [CC-BY-SA-2.0], via Wikimedia Commons

Few victims of domestic violence ever get their day in court. When they actually do, it represents a person who has been attacked so heinously that the authorities who wish to dismiss domestic “disturbances” can not turn a blind eye. And the victim will sit through court, hearing the defense for the abuser attack personal character, behavior, values and judgement so as to cause the court to determine what was meted out was asked for, and the REAL victim is the person on trial, as if a marital contract or a “relationship” gave someone control over another.

And every once in a great while, the abuse victim can still win. The abuser is sentenced according to the laws of the state and the federal government of that jurisdiction. The abuser spends time waiting for release so revenge can be taken somehow on the cause of all their troubles, since taking actual responsibility for one’s actions is completely foreign to this type of person.

In a recent article, The Price of Principle, we talked about a personal story with a much larger meaning. Following the posting of that story, I wrote a letter to the organization that oversees a competition, where the winners go on to represent their state in an international competition. When the organization awarded a spot in this competition to the convicted felon, they were not aware of his infractions with the law. When I notified them, their consultation with the parole officer resulted in the exact opposite of what I had hoped for, but points to the larger problem within our society.

The convicted felon’s parole officer was already aware that the felon was breaking the terms of his “extended supervision”; but also stated that he supported the felon in doing so. The parole officer felt it was important that the felon adjust and “be social” rather than live in isolation. As a result, the organization has decided they will take no action or withdraw this person from proceeding in the competition.

When the very authorities given the responsibility to see that the terms of parole and extended supervision are met, instead choose that the criminal be more “adjusted” and “social” in their world than the victims they have created, there is something seriously wrong. Not only with our criminal justice system, but also an obvious failing in the protection of public safety by those who can not or will not demonstrate enough remorse to fulfill the length of their sentence for the crime committed against another.

What we see as the REAL issue and the most fundamental part of the problem: Until our society begins to show more regard, respect and thus more protection of the VICTIMS of these crimes, NOTHING will ever change.

In this particular story, I again am forced back into a life of isolation so that the convicted felon can exercise his “right” to circulate in the very vicinity of where his actual victim, not myself, currently resides. SHE has no protection, even after winning in court and surviving her injuries. I am reacting to the panic disorder and PTSD left by my own abuser, who will never see the inside of a jail cell as a result of his abuse.

In cases such as these, where EXACTLY is justice served?

Victim’s Rights are Human Rights.

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Where Do You Stand?

I always wondered why I’ve never felt at home with any of the political parties in this country. The two main parties were in a battle for what they perceived was the center, and the other parties were either too radical or not radical enough. I thought it would be nice to see where the candidates actually stood in contrast to my own political beliefs. Then, I found the Political Compass.

The Political Compass is an amazing piece of work. It’s the brainchild of a professor of social history and a political journalist who saw that defining a person’s political identity as either left or right was only half the story; there was also the authoritarian-libertarian part. So, they came up with a test which asks questions about how you feel on a number of economic and social issues, and you say whether you strongly disagree, disagree, agree or strongly agree. At the end of the test, they plot your score on a graph, with the X axis being the economic scale and the Y axis being the social scale.

www.politicalcompass.org

www.politicalcompass.org

The first thing I noticed is that most of my friends who’ve taken the test turn out to be more economically liberal than they thought they were. One of my friends who considers himself conservative and thinks our current President is a “socialist” was both more economically liberal and more socially libertarian than either of the two main 2012 candidates by a long ways. Of course, he refuses to believe their charting of the 2012 candidates.

Charting of the 2012 candidates? Yes indeed. Their breakdown of the 2012 candidates is a must read. It’s absolutely brilliant, especially in regards to President Obama and how far to the right the American political system is, even with one side calling themselves “liberal”. The other fascinating takeaway is that by international standards, our politicians running for public office are either authoritarian or middle of the road. Why are they charted this way? As the creators of the Political Compass explain in their FAQs, they go by the person’s actions and voting records, and not what they say in public. There’s an overview of various historical and current international political figures on their analysis page, as well as having pages for various European governments.

Now, take the test. Where do you stand? Did any of the candidates in the last election even come remotely close to representing your political beliefs? In my case, the problem’s obvious:

ew's chart.

ew’s chart.

Now that you know where you stand politically, you hopefully have a much better idea of what you want in an elected official. Don’t have any even remotely close? Start grooming your own candidates; first on a local scale (city elections, state and federal representatives), If we can elect people who actually represent us at the local level, we’ve made a big first step towards having the government we want.

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We Hold These Truths To Be Self-Evident

Public domain via Wikimedia Commons

Public domain via Wikimedia Commons

Ah- the 4th of July! If you live in the United States, this means a long weekend (or at least a day off work) for most of us, featuring cookouts with family and friends, fireworks, and generally a relaxing day. But, where are we almost 240 years later? First, some background (and maybe a couple things you didn’t learn in school).

On July 2, 1776, the Second Constitutional Congress voted to approve a resolution of ring independence. John Adams had written a letter to his wife Abigail on July 3, saying:

“The second day of July, 1776, will be the most memorable epoch in the history of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival. It ought to be commemorated as the day of deliverance, by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and illuminations, from one end of this continent to the other, from this time forward forever more.”

However, we celebrate the day that the Declaration of Independence was ratified instead,  which was July 4. Although folklore has the Declaration being signed that day (and John Adams, Thomas Jefferson and Ben Franklin all later wrote that they had signed it that day), the copy that currently is displayed at the National Archives in Washington was actually signed on August 2, 1776.

The second sentence in the Declaration of Independence is, without a doubt, one of the most widely known statements about human rights:

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

So, how far have we come in pursuit of that admirable goal over the last 238 years? In theory, we’ve come a long ways. When the Constitution was first adopted, 13 years after the signing of the Declaration of Independence, only white, male property owners could vote. African-Americans were not only slaves; they were also considered to be only 3/5 of a person. Women were second class citizens. Gender, racial, religious and ethnic discrimination was the rule with hardly any exception, and heaven help you if you were gay. There weren’t any such thing as child labor laws, and 12 hour work days six days were the norm (on Sunday, you had the day off to go to church).

However, in practice, things aren’t so rosy. The median wealth of white families is 20 times that of black families, and the median income of whites is twice that of blacks. The unemployment rate in the black community is double that of the white community. Black men are six times more likely to be incarcerated as white men, and one of three blacks will spend time in prison. In fact, blacks make up 60% of our prison population, even though they only make up 30% of the population. Women still only make 77 cents for every dollar a man makes for doing the exact same work, and up until when the ACA passed, were spending more for the same health insurance coverage. Yet, corporations are considered people by the highest court in the land, and have more rights than the average citizen. How’s that equality thing working?

The Declaration’s next sentence is just as meaningful to us, especially in these post-Citizens United days where corporations are not only people, but have an overwhelming influence in government, and can also discriminate against others due to their owners’ religious beliefs:

That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.”

Corporations are not people. Money is not speech. A plutocracy is not a democracy.
We are the 99%

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The Rolling Bomb News

 Lac-Mégantic burning. Photo by Sûreté du Québec

Lac-Mégantic burning. Photo by Sûreté du Québec via Twitter

We’ve discussed the current oil production boom and its effects on the environment numerous times in the last few months. The environmental hazards in getting the oil out of the ground are obvious to anybody with half a brain, to be blunt about it. We’ve also discussed the various problems with transporting the oil via pipeline, and how people are resisting the companies who want to expand on the current system. But, we haven’t talked much about the most common way to carry the highly explosive oil coming out of the Bakken oil fields of North Dakota and Montana.

In the year since the Lac-Mégantic, Quebec derailment, where an unmanned train rolled down a hill and exploded, killing 47 people and burning 40 buildings to the ground, we’ve seen an exploding train in Alabama, a 400,000 gallon oil spill and evacuation of Casselton, North Dakota caused by a collision with another train outside of town, and most recently a derailment in Lynchburg, Virginia causing the evacuation of 300 people and spilling flames and oil into the James River, and other smaller incidents. 1.15 million gallons of oil were spilled in rail accidents last year; more than the previous 35 years combined.

We discussed last month how Federal officials are requiring that railroads carrying more than 1 million gallons of highly flammable oil from the Bakken area in a single train – about 35 tank cars – disclose details of volatile oil shipments to the states, and how the railways are asking states to sign agreements saying that they won’t disclose the information to the public. In fact, BNSF Railway Co. and Union Pacific have asked the states of Washington and Oregon to sign agreements that the routes and amount of oil would only be disclosed “for bonafide emergency planning and emergency response activities.” The railroads are fined $175,000 per day and prohibited from carrying Bakken oil until they comply with disclosing the information.

Last week, officials in California, Florida, Montana and North Dakota released information on oil trains running through their states. In North Dakota, oil is being transported by rail through 30 of its 53 counties,, with the largest city in the state (Fargo) averaging more than 40 trains a week last month. Montana had somewhat less traffic, followed by California and then Florida. However, some states, including New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Minnesota, have signed confidentiality agreements or have pledged not to release the information publicly.

However, all is not lost in our fair state. On July 1, stricter safety laws for railways carrying oil or other hazardous materials went into effect in Minnesota. These include the railroads having enough equipment to clean up any spills or leaks within a specified time limit and holds those responsible accountable in the event of an accident or disaster. The railroads must also provide emergency training every three years to every fire department along the route.

Governor Mark Dayton said in a statement: “Trains carrying crude oil pass through our communities every day. We have learned from dangerous accidents in other states that without proper safety measures, that cargo could pose a very real risk to our citizens.” What he didn’t mention was the hard work done by various Occupy Mpls and MN350 people over the last two years in getting these laws passed. Occupy World Writes says thank you and job well done to them; they’ve proved what people united for a worthwhile goal can accomplish.

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A Yearly Tradition

Hong Kong protest, July 1, 2010. Photo via Silvermetals (Own work) via Wikimedia Commons

Hong Kong protest, July 1, 2010. Photo via Silvermetals (Own work) via Wikimedia Commons

On July 1, 1997, Hong Kong ended 156 years of British colonial rule, and became the first Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China. According to the Sino-British Joint Declaration of 1985;  “The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region will enjoy a high degree of autonomy, except in foreign and defence affairs which, are the responsibilities of the Central People’s Government.” The agreement allows more civil liberties to Hong Kong residents than people living on the mainland, such as freedom of speech and the right to protest. In what’s become an annual tradition, protests take place on the anniversary of the transfer of sovereignty. This year was no exception; an estimated 500,000+ people marched, with 511 arrests being made. Why so many?

Three weeks before, the Chinese cabinet released a “white paper” that had asserted “broad central government authority” over Hong Kong, which had angered the residents. Then, on June 29, a ten day unofficial referendum ended, in which nearly 800,000 people (22% of the voters) had voted to be able to select the city’s leader in 2017. Currently, the candidates for leader are selected by a nominating committee, which consists of corporate representatives and members of the upper class, and appointed by the central government.

On Monday, the Hong Kong and Macao State Affairs Office said the referendum was “illegal” and “invalid.” And on July 1, the day of the march, a state-run newspaper published an editorial saying that recent pro-democracy actions such as the referendum, the march and planned sit-ins in the upcoming days are polarizing Chinese society.

The other issues that spurred the protests will sound familiar to us all. Income inequality’s become much worse under Chinese control; it’s now the 12th highest in the world. One in five residents live under the poverty line. Hong Kong had always been oligarchic, and with Communist Party leaders buying up property as a way to launder millions of dollars, real estate prices went through the roof as well. Government officials and business executives alike get their positions through patronage, not skill. With the Chinese lax environmental standards, pollution’s become worse. Sounds just like home, eh?

And, like here at home, there’s an Occupy movement. Occupy Central With Love and Peace, better known as Occupy Central, was the main group who organized the referendum, and is calling for a mass sit-in later in the year and engage in a campaign of civil disobedience until the central government comes up with an acceptable plan to ensure greater democracy.

Occupy World Writes stands in solidarity with Occupy Central and the people of Hong Kong. We see your struggle and once again realize that underneath the differing cultures and the like we are all the same.

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