A big thank you to Dory for her tenacity in untangling the twisted web between the fracking shills, the fracking industry and our fracked Congress.
Energy-in-Depth (EID) “GAS”roots – 3
Part 2 – Energy-in-Depth (EID) “GAS”roots – 2: The birth of Energy in Depth
Part 1 – Energy-in-Depth (EID) “GAS”roots – 1
About Sharon Wilson
Sharon Wilson is considered a leading citizen expert on the impacts of shale oil and gas extraction. She is the go-to person whether it’s top EPA officials from D.C., national and international news networks, or residents facing the shock of eminent domain and the devastating environmental effects of natural gas development in their backyards.
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I encourage people to read this series. You really need to understand how these “public campaigns” work and who are the ones behind them.
Debating an industry front person is like debating the Talisman Energy coloring book character “Talisman Terry, your friendly Fracosaurus”.
(http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/391552/july-11-2011/anti-frack-attack)
TheTalisman Terry doesn’t care – it’s a fictional character used to promote a product.
The industry front person job is to memorize talking points and regurgitate them on command.
The industry front person does not run or fund the “public campaign”.
WHAT??? Talisman Terry doesn’t care??? <-sad face->
Talisman Terry is the Honey Badger
Neither does Frackasuarus Tex! Sorry 🙁
I can only hope and pray that the Dots are not done. How stupid did they think we were? First there was Gashole #1 (Matt Pitzarella) thinking that using Psyops was okay and a handy little business practice. Then the Gashole companies came to PA and darned if they didn’t buy the politicians before they bought a slice of leased land. And the best part is the bumbling idiots they employed to “spread the message of good will to all” and “get folks on their side”. Yes, I speak of EID!
Don’t think I’ve ever seen such a bunch of absolute MORONS in my life. Did they think we wouldn’t check their credentials? Did they think we would just ASSume they were legit and not fully funded by the Gasholes? A little bit of honesty would have went a long way from the very beginning. But since the Gasholes can’t tell the truth if it smacks them in the face (and we all know it), they had to hire a bunch of bumbling 2 bit idiots to do it…..except it STILL isn’t the truth. EID always was and always will be your number 1 enemy, from the top down, although I have to admit that Shepstone takes the cake. Wondering if they have “Moron of the Year” awards for EID. He would get it, hands down this year, for all his vicious attacks. The Gashole industry would do themselves great justice if they would disband EID altogether………..and they can do it!
Why, because they pay for it! What a waste of money!!
ps-EID. You can run, but you can’t hide. We know who you are!
pss- Great articles Dory Hippauf!
FTI, Dittus, a fart by any other name is still called Energy In Depth.
Why would the gas companies pay so much money to be so poorly represented? I once bought curtains that didn’t represent my living room very well. They looked real good at the store, but they were fugly in my house. I took them down to wash them for the first time and the dog just had his worm medicine. Needless to say he shit all over them and that was my excuse to throw them away.
Seems the staff at EID, FTI, Dittus has shit all over the gas companies with their poor representation. Wondering when they will get smart and throw EID away?
Just sayin’
Wonder if we will get Dots soon of the staff and management at FTI and DITTUS to see where the yarn ties them to? Don’t tell me now. I’m still absorbing and spreading the Dots on this one….. I’ll wait (eagerly)!
Wonder why Tom Shepstone hasn’t put out one of his famous “hit pieces” on Dory Hippauf yet? Surely his pencil is sharpened.
Keep going with the DOTS. It’s just starting to get good.
With no concerns except with the interests of those that will profit from leasing their lands or giving business support to the Natural gas industry EID will make up or promote anything imaginable to advance the drilling process even though they know that issues exist with drilling /fracking everywhere it is being done ,especially in the state of PA.In 3 counties alone (Bradford ,Susquehanna,and Wyoming ) in PA there will be 81,000,000 gallons of chemical pumped below the surface !Though they try to cover up what is possible of happening in the future the industry and EID staffers know that problems can happen ,and will !
Heck Bill. They can’t even cover up their roots. They have no chance at covering up the drilling problems. A little birdie told me that the best is yet to come , and very soon!
I’ve read articles written by EID numerous times and find it rather sad that they don’t hold much truth or use half truths to further their own agenda. Anyone who has any understanding of how to use a search engine for the most part can quickly find which statements are erroneous. I give the people actually out there that see the problems with this industry and actually look for facts credit for sharing them with a basically ignorant public on this issue. The more people that have access to the full negative impact of this industry the better prepared we can be to change it. I give people like Dory and Sharon credit for standing up against and showing the truth about the devastation being caused by this type of drilling and the people it hurts with both their health and private investments .
The NICEST think you can say about an oil company is———-THEY ARE NOT NICE PEOPLE!
Surely, at some point, the Giants will realize that the old formula isn’t working.
If our work truly represents an “insurgent” movement; and if the Oily PR apparatus truly thinks that launching attacks against private citizens remains in their best interest . . . if they truly view their role as a counter-insurgency . . .
They simply need to pick up their game. They are sadly outclassed at this juncture. Money they’ve got. Talent is that they lack. I think this is finally beginning to sink in.
I believe we can all expect to see more re-shuffling on their side, and new faces, new advertising firms, trade groups, interactive media, etc. They clearly need to come up with something. Generally, I would expect to see much more in the way of sophistication from these groups. There is plenty of talent out there.
These people are parasitic, of course. If it weren’t for a strong and effective insurgency, good paying jobs for counter-insurgents wouldn’t exist. Besides, where else would you have an unemployed psy-Ops specialist look for work? We all need to eat.
They love to hate you Sharon. Dory too I bet! They love that you have become unstoppable. They need you and they need all of us. Everyone loves job security.
Will the new regime decide to take on the Sharon Wilsons of the world ? Will they focus on issues and engage in meaningful public debate? Will they decide that they are better off just to ignore some critics entirely?
Or maybe they will just continue on the present course, and try to silence citizens like Sharon through threats and intimidation. Maybe they still think this is their best move. Time will tell.
From where I sit, it seems like these guys just keep digging deeper holes for themselves to climb out of. It makes me want to hand them a bigger shovel, and pat them on the back. How could we do it better?
One way or another though; as long as we exist, the parasites will exist; and we can expect them to evolve and multiply accordingly. That’s all I’m getting at.
I’m proud that I’m helping the economy by providing jobs.
I don’t think their failure is due to a lack of talent although the do seem to be stuck on stupid. The reality of extreme energy extraction is what is kicking their a$$es.
I said from the start they would shoot themselves in the foot and they do it at least once a week, whether they need it, or not. They lack transparency and always will. People just won’t accept that. They lack responsibility and always will. If I came in and ruined your property or inconvenienced you, I would expect to pay for it. They don’t! Until they take responsibility for their actions, they will always have a bad reputation, which only increases every day with each person that learns of their terrible deeds and attempts at intimidation. I was talking to someone the other day about Chesapeake and they said; “Well, Range isn’t that bad, are they?” So I had to go into how they are attempting to intimidate you and Calvin. Poof! And they’ll tell two people, who will tell two people. That’s how it works. Wish I could say something nice, but they won’t permit that as long as they act like they do.
People only want to be treated fairly and with respect. I only know one person who was against fracking from the start. Everyone else thought it sounded like a good idea. They have created this mess.
So I looked up this FTI Consulting. The link is here:
http://www.fticonsulting.com/services/strategic-communications/index.aspx
This is a crying shame. Why on earth would they agree to front a group like EID. [Energy In Depth]? They seem like a legitimate group when you look at their website. That scares the H E double hockey sticks, out of me. Are they fooling us with their advertising for all those other industries? Seriously! They represent a lot of, what I thought, were upstanding industries. I’m going to be writing some letters to the editors. We all know what a farce EID is! I just don’t want the rest of these industries to be fooled into thinking this industry is legit! I work for an industry they represent. I’m not real happy now, but I will be happy when EID is shown for the liars they are. At that time, I will be 🙂
Frank,
There’s a big difference between what is legal and what is right. The two are not necessarily the same.
Understanding an issue is more than understanding the facts being presented. You also need to understand WHO is presenting those “facts”.
Go to: http://www.desmogblog.com/energy-depth-was-created-major-oil-and-gas-companies-according-industry-memo
and click on the link for “Update 11:35am PST: IPAA link is broken again, so use this link to view the memo.”
If you read this memo, you will see “For months, IPAA’s government relations and communications teams have been working around-the-clock on a new industry-wide campaign – known as “Energy In Depth” (www.energyindepth.org) – to combat new environmental regulations, especially with regard to hydraulic fracturing.”
It states clearly the Independent Petroleum Association of America (IPAA) is behind EID. FTI Consulting was hired to run the “industry-wide campaign”.
EID is not the only industry backed “campaign”. These types of campaigns are typical for any industry or business sector.
For instance – Vote-4-Energy (http://vote4energy.org/) is a “… a project of the American Petroleum Institute representing more than 490 oil and natural gas companies, leaders of a technology-driven industry that supplies most of America’s energy, supports 9.2 million U.S. jobs and 7.7 percent of the U.S. economy, delivers more than $85 million a day in revenue to our government, and, since 2000, has invested more than $2 trillion in U.S. capital projects to advance all forms of energy, including alternatives.” (see http://vote4energy.org/about/ )
See: Big Oil’s “Vote 4 Energy” PR Blitz Funded by American Familieshttp://thinkprogress.org/climate/2012/01/05/398219/vote-4-energy-big-oil-pr-blitz-funded-by-american-families/?mobile=nc
and see: ‘I Vote 4 Energy’ Video Spoofs American Petroleum Institute Ad Campaign (VIDEO)
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/05/i-vote-4-energy-video-spoof-api_n_1186400.html
and : The American Petroleum Institute (API), and their PR firm Edelman, were filming a new series of TV commercials that we learned API plans to air nationally on CNN starting in January.
http://www.polluterwatch.com/blog/upcoming-american-petroleum-institute-vote-4-energy-tv-campaign-disrupted-undercover-activists
Scroll down to API BUSTED: Staging Grassroots Support for Dirty Energy, and click on the link for for the confidential memo [pdf]: “Over two years ago, Greenpeace obtained a confidential memo [pdf] from American Petroleum Institute CEO Jack Gerard, asking API member oil companies to support a campaign to fake a grassroots movement called “Energy Citizens.”
I strongly urge you and others to read: Trust Us, We’re Experts, How Industry Manipulates Science and Gambles with Your Future | by Sheldon Rampton and John Stauber
http://www.prwatch.org/books/experts.html
“In their new book, Trust Us, We’re Experts: How Industry Manipulates Science and Gambles with Your Future, Sheldon Rampton and John Stauber offer a chilling exposé on the manufacturing of “independent experts.” Public relations firms and corporations have seized upon a slick new way of getting you to buy what they have to sell: Let you hear it from a neutral “third party,” like a professor or a pediatrician or a soccer mom or a watchdog group. The problem is, these third parties are usually anything but neutral. They have been handpicked, cultivated, and meticulously packaged to make you believe what they have to say–preferably in an “objective” format like a news show or a letter to the editor. And in some cases, they have been paid handsomely for their “opinions.”
These O&G companies have always (in our corporate economy) spent a lot of money and hired all kinds of strange goons to simply put lipstick on the pig!
We should invest in lipstick.
or invest in chapstick?
Read the labels of your lipstick and chapstick,
most contain petroleum products,
1st step on the agenda:
buy less health, beauty and household products with petroleum products.
you complain about an energy supporter using name calling then what is it when you call someone a “shill”?
It’s the truth, that’s what it is.
As documented by blogger Dory Hippauf, EID consists of several interrelated fronts in several states, with ties to various PR firms, gas companies, and political lobbyists. The group has worked extensively to try discredit those who express concerns about fracking, targeting the New York Times and the Oscar-nominated documentary film “Gasland,” and its director Josh Fox.
http://www.prwatch.org/news/2012/08/11730/new-yorkers-rally-urge-gov-cuomo-reject-fracking