Hypocrisy Watch

HYPOCRISY WATCH: Joe Biden Changes His Tune On Energy

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In a recent town hall, former Vice President Joe Biden said of fossil fuel company executives: “We should put them in jail.” In the same town hall, Biden also alleged “we’re all dead” if we don’t stop using fossil fuels.

It wasn’t so long ago that Biden was talking up the role of American energy companies in promoting global security and energy independence for our allies.

From the Tampa Bay Business Journal in 2016:

Biden …  lamented periodic brown and blackouts in areas of that country and others in Latin America where energy shortages are not uncommon. He

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HYPOCRISY WATCH: Environmental groups get what they want – and cry foul

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Environmental groups in Pennsylvania and New Jersey say the US Department of Transportation’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) is “reckless” for allowing the transport of liquified natural gas by train.

Empower NJ, a coalition of environmental groups, used the phrase “bomb trains” to describe the plan. Rep. Peter DeFazio of Oregon, the chairman of the U.S. House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, called the approval “deeply disturbing” and “irresponsible.”

Complaints about the use of trains to transport energy products may carry more weight if these very same groups had not opposed the construction of safe, modern pipelines like …

HYPOCRISY WATCH: Governor Cuomo Accuses Utility of Mishandling Gas Supply – After Denying Permits That Would Increase Gas Supply

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On the coldest day of the season yet, Governor Andrew Cuomo yesterday laid the blame for limited natural gas supplies in southern New York at the feet of utility companies – even though his administration has refused to approve permits for a pipeline project that would provide enough energy to fuel about 2.3 million homes in the region.

First, let’s look at the timeline around the governor’s handling of the Williams Pipeline:

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Hypocrisy Watch: Sen. Whitehouse Attacks Energy Companies Months After Constituents Left Out in Cold

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The State of Rhode Island is suing 21 oil and gas producers in an attempt to force these companies to pay for road and bridge repairs caused by extreme weather.

On Twitter, the state’s junior senator, Sheldon Whitehouse, signaled support for the lawsuit, writing that the companies “aided and abetted the ‘beclouding’ of the science.”

His attack against energy producers comes during the same year Rhode Island was forced to declare a state of emergency and evacuate thousands of residents due to a shortage of natural gas during a cold snap. On January 22, Governor Gina Raimondo stated, …

HYPOCRISY WATCH: Saving the Environment One Private Jet at a Time

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“We must set an example now and move environmentalist from being the philosophy of a passionate minority … to a way of life that automatically integrates ecology into governmental policy and normal living standards.” – Google Camp attendee Leonardo DiCaprio.

Recently, high-profile celebrities descended to Italy for this year’s private Google event on the environment.  As we have seen before, the world’s elite are traveling in style – on private planes. Lots of them:

Their three-day summer camp will cost the tech giant some $20 million, sources said.

Many of the guests, including Obama and DiCaprio —

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HYPOCRISY WATCH: Great Moments in Environmentalism

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Electric vehicles are great, and we strongly support anyone who wants to buy one. But …

This diesel generator-powered station was spotted in Australia – and it is little different than the charging stations here in the United States that are powered by natural gas.

According to General Motors, the annual energy use of a Chevy Volt is an estimated 2,520 kilowatt-hours a year. That compares to about 340 kilowatt-hours for a television, 657 for a refrigerator and roughly 3,000 for an air conditioner.…

HYPOCRISY WATCH: Politician’s Investments Don’t Match Anti-Pipeline Rhetoric

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A news report in Massachusetts is shining a bright light on state lawmakers who strongly support anti-pipeline policies that would make energy delivery more expensive, less safe and less reliable – all the while profiting from those companies they purport to oppose.

The Daily Hampshire Gazette examined the financial disclosures of their local state lawmakers and found that staunch opponents to pipelines had invested in energy infrastructure companies.

For example, Sen. Jo Comerford, a “staunch opponent of fossil fuel pipeline projects,” owns stock in Kinder Morgan Inc. and Energy Transfer Partners, despite saying on her website, ““I’ll fight for … …

Hypocrisy Watch: Sen. Sanders, Gov. Inslee Call for Line 5 Shutdown

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In his campaign literature, Sen. Bernie Sanders talks a lot about the need for affordable energy sources – something we can all get behind as we work to keep energy bills low for hard-working American families.

That’s why it is curious that Sen. Sanders joined Washington Gov. Jay Inslee in calling for the shutdown of the Line 5 pipeline, a source of affordable energy that benefits the Great Lakes region and Canada.

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HYPOCRISY WATCH: Big Money, Big Jets and the Promise to Protect

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The Hill published an op-ed this week from a member of the Promise to Protect coalition, a group dedicated to training and organizing protests designed to disrupt pipeline projects across the country. The op-ed portrays the organization as a scrappy little mom and pop start-up led by Native American tribes:

In creating prayer camps and putting our bodies on the line to defend our planet, we’ve learned a great deal about taking peaceful and direct action for a cause you believe in. Native leaders are now offering guidance and perspective to communities already working to stop oil and gas extraction

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HYPOCRISY WATCH: Drake Buys a Great Big Jet

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Drake, the rapper who has been praised in recent years for his “epiphany about climate change,” seems to have lost his way.

The formerly eco-friendly superstar took to Instagram last week to show off his new plane. It’s not a Cessna Citation X. It’s not a Learjet 60. It’s not a Gulfstream G550.

Nope. Drake got himself a 767.

Depending on the model, a 767 has a fuel burn rate of 17 to 21 pounds a minute. NBC reported that a 767 burns about 9,000 gallons of jet fuel on a cross country flight (or about …