Comments

111
The protest is actually against opening up a *new* oil field, when we already have 4 to 5 times more than we can safely burn. The protest is also against drilling in the Chuckchi sea, which is an incredibly risky and foolish place to do it. The danger we all face is from the CO2 released by *burning* oil, not from turning it into kayaks and other durable goods. Since the protesters are not burning their kayaks, their kayaks are actually sequestering carbon, not releasing it into the atmosphere. Duh!
112
@109, sorry but, wrong. According to a Alaska state oil map. There are several offshore wells that have been producing for years. But maybe, just maybe? You don't consider 10 miles off of the coast, the Northern most coast, North of the Arctic Circle North Coast to be considered "Offshore".

How many miles does a drill rig have to be from shore before YOU would consider it to be "Offshore" ?

I'm just guessing here. But if a drill rig is 10 miles in the water. 10 miles from shore. That seems like Offshore to me.
113
@109, I found it, so can you.
114
How come no one in this city is protesting to have a bottle and can deposit????
I think almost all of you people are hypocrites!!
115
BTW if this country keeps printing money you won't have to worry about people buying gas and oil!
116
The baseball bat comment is a bit off target. To clarify Mr. Herz's argument to make it apply, it would have to be, "If someone were getting beaten up -for making baseball bats, - with a baseball bat, is it immoral to use a baseball bat to fight back?" To this my answer would be, "It might not be immoral, but it would be hypocrisy."
117
If we stop doing good in the world because we are hypocrites, not much good is going to get done. Things are endlessly complex and the people who get called out for being hypocrites are usually those trying hardest to do the right thing. They often get called out because others feel guilty or want to justify their own inaction. If they admit that hypocrisy is no excuse for inaction they then are implicated. There are also the cases where people are paid by corporations to spread these kinds of memes in order to divide and conquer, this seems far fetched maybe but is a regular practice with climate change related stories.

These two strategies of stopping corporate exploitation and changing consumption behavior ARE NOT MUTUALLY EXCLUSIVE. We will never be perfect people acting perfectly but we can easily recognize when people are doing the right thing. Building the alternatives, so that next time we can all float out there on repurposed wood canoes or whatever would be great but that infrastructure just does not exist yet. In the meantime, and always, we will just have to do the best we can with what we have. Recognizing that we both need to change the way we are living and the systems that perpetuate it are both vital. Recognizing that we are on the same team in wanting to stop climate change is also completely vital.
118
@117

1) These actions are not stopping corporate exploitation. Moreover, actions exactly like this have not stopped corporate oil exploitation anywhere at any point the the past century.

2) Actions like this have done absolutely nothing to change consumption behavior, not even amongst the protestors themselves.

So what good are these protests doing, exactly, apart from bolstering the self-satisfied sense of moral superiority of the protesters and their sanctimonious defenders?
119
"If someone—or, say, the planet—is getting beaten up with a baseball bat, is it immoral to use a baseball bat to fight back? Inanimate objects that come from our inescapable oil-based economy are inanimate. They can be used for good or bad. We're using them for good, to move the economy away from oil and stop climate change." Replace the "BAT" with "GUN" A Gun is an Inanimate object that is partially made of Plastic and is used for Good & Bad, it also does good for the economy too. A gun may not stop Climate Change, but it will sure stop some Asshat from Breaking into my house or better, saving you from a beating with Ansel's BAT.
120
I kind of love how efficient right-wing trolls are with this canned messaging.

What really gets me is how willing people are to White Knight companies like Shell. Seriously? They already have a white knight. It's called the energy lobby.
121
@109: "I found it, so can you" is a pretty fucking stupid retort to someone who has linked to a reputable article that disproves your assertion. Adding 0s and 1s to your post doesn't cost money. If you can't do so, you've presumptively lost the debate.
122
@115: Yes, printing money has worked out so bad for us the past seven years, as we are the only country on the planet to pull out of depression and experience strong job growth and a stock market boom. Apparently we should have stuck with Republican policies and enjoyed even more economic and military collapse than W. Bush could manage. Wow. You'd think the uncountable billions in profits the petroleum industry extracts from the rest of us would buy better trolls.
123
Why do people think this is a republican/ democrat issue when it comes to big oil? Both parties are the same when it comes to big money! You can lie to yourself all you want but its true! I'm not for either one, I can see through the lies on both sides. More people need to open their eyes. BTW I'm not against the protesters. I'm all for constitutional rights, just don't stomp on mine!
124
I've seen many comments saying that a few people changing there driving or purchasing habits won't affect the bigger issue, and it made me wonder. How does waving a banner at an inanimate object hope to have an impact?

I'm one of those on the fence people, and it's not making me want to join the cause. I think people that care about the environment but want to do something meaningful, are looking for some direction toward real change, not pointless protests. You already have all the people who like protesting.

For those against just the wasteful uses of petroleum, i.e. Gasoline, why not protest at the refinery or gas station? For all you know, this rig could be designated to only produce oil for kayaks.

The point is, nobody has to drive an old pickup or have a kayak. A toothbrush is a reasonable compromise. Why not ride a bike to the protest and protest from the shore? Or get a kayak made from renewable resources? Get there on a hydrogen powered bus?

Better yet, write to your congressperson and suggest they steer resources toward finding renewable energy sources. You know, something that could actually make a difference.
125
@118 Sometimes protesting does work. If it didn't, Nelson Mandela surely would have died in a South African prison. One more example for you to chew upon: the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline was supposed to be up and running by now. It hasn't even been approved yet, and it may not be. That wasn't by accident... it is a result of organized protest and civil disobedience.
126
To the smug, self-important Ansel Herz who wrote the original piece: nice work, trolling for big oil. What a challenge that must be, to serve our corporate masters in such a brown nosed fashion. You will no doubt go far in the incestuous, sycophantic world of US corporate media.
127
The "Oil economy" isn't inescapable. You can make wooden kayaks. You choose not to because you want what the oil economy can give you, but you still want to bitch about it.

Oh and BTW I assume that since the left doesn't call this hypocritical that means they'll stop calling Ayn Rand a hypocritic for allegedly taking Social Security, that she never said you shouldn't take.
128
Pointus, isn't the reason the Keystone XL pipeline ia not up and running is because of active inputs to local, state and federal government representatives? Concerted citizen lobbying to all representatives? NOT one time flag waving. Mandela was not freed by onetime flag waving. They were released due to concerted lobbying by world governments brought about by citizens around the world telling their representatives to take action. One time drum beating only let's YOU sleep at night. Sustained, focused pressure on all your government representatives and personnel commitment. Shouting at a stone wall did not make it fall down. Shouting at an oil rig will not encourge moving to sustainable alternate energy. But, I am only repeating what has been said already several times. Now, attempt to attack what I have said by implying my gender, age or even race are important to this discussion.

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