The Manipulation of Current Politics

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The ability multi-corporations have in influencing journalists who, in turn, manipulate the public through a ‘free press’ is disgusting. Mary Anastasia O’Grady of the Wall Street Journal recently gave an opinion piece entitled “Canada’s Oil Sands Are a Jobs Gusher” (downloadable at http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424053111904836104576560933917369412.html). To her credit, she rightly and fairly criticized President Obama’s ‘Jobs Speech,’ which had no concrete or tangible plan of creating jobs or improving the United States (US) economy. The author, however, took the opportunity after attacking Obama and his track history of supporting Environmental Protection Agency over energy exploration to promote energy companies interests under the guise of ‘job creation.’  

O’Grady promotes the construction of an oil pipeline from Alberta to the Gulf Coast, a project of TransCanada’s Keystone XL (a multinational energy corporation). She does this by displaying the achievements of Alberta’s Oil and Gas Industries (where over a quarter of a million people are directly employed), displaying Alberta’s low unemployment rate of 5.6%, and indicating the heavy involvement of United States in the exploitation of oil and gas through both the presence of both US Companies (totaling 960) and the US manufactured equipment used in construction, exploration and exploitation.

The positive spin O’Grady gives this Keystone XL project starts small and grows in size. She first mentions the oil production boom in the Bakken region of North Dakota, where unemployment is at 3.3%. She then brings in Keystone XL’s predictions of investment and job creation, 20 billion US dollars and 13,000 direct jobs respectively. To finish off any skepticism, O’Grady then brings in statistics from an interest group that is far from impartial, the American Petroleum Institute, who predicts the long-term economic benefits from pipeline construction amounting to possibly 1.4 million jobs with over 800 billion US dollars of investment.

Has O’Grady convinced you to support the Keystone XL pipeline project yet? Don’t be fooled. As someone who has visited and interviewed people involved in Alberta’s Oil and Natural Gas industries, I can say with confidence that there are social and environmental impacts that will result from the construction and operation of a pipeline from Alberta to the Gulf. For instance, a quick look at the volumes of water pulled from the Athabasca River, Alberta to extract oil from the Tar Sands is enough to shock anyone. First Nation peoples in Alberta are subject to air and water pollution from the oil and gas industries but are often paid off by the Canadian government or are too small a lobbying group to defend themselves from energy companies’ interests. Even if the Keystone XL pipeline creates 13,000 direct jobs and 100,000 indirect ones, this fails to reveal the differences in salaries, benefits, and safety standards that exist between Canadian and US workers. Currently those who work the derricks, who are known as ‘wildcatters’ in the United States and ‘riggers’ in Canada, have major differences in salaries and safety standards. Wildcatters are paid 14 to 18 US dollars starting, have inadequate breaks and lunches, and often work the derricks with a hardhat, pair of blue jeans and pack of cigarettes. Riggers are paid 35 to 40 Canadian dollars starting, have sufficient breaks, and wear protective eye gear and ear plugs. Given the Canadian dollar is at parity or slightly stronger than the US dollar these days, this shows that energy companies, and the authors promoting big business projects, are not acting in the interest of job creation and improvement of peoples’ lives. They are out for profit and ready to exploit a population that is not only suffering through a recession, but also manipulated by a ‘free press’ who market such corporate interests.

To be fair, if all the outcomes of the Keystone XL pipeline were given equal press, perhaps the US public would throw its support behind such a project. But when authors use terms like ‘job creation’ to spin the promotion of such projects without any consideration of social and environmental outcomes, it is deceitful and unethical. Even if O’Grady and many others like her promote projects like the pipeline, they should include a more balanced approach to what consequences there are if implemented. O’Grady criticized Obama for telling the general public nothing in his ‘Jobs Speech.’ I am criticizing O’Grady for promoting a vague economic portfolio if the Keystone XL pipeline is constructed. She omitted any discussion of the possible environmental and social outcomes of such a large scale project, not to mention what shortcomings or challenges that may exist in the financing, construction and maintenance of the pipeline. Policy makers, business leaders and journalists in alliance with business interests can show their sincerity in job creation and working for both profit and the common good if they are more transparent about the various potential outcomes that come from their policy goals and business practices.