The underground activist group Anonymous has announced "Operation Green Rights/Project Tarmaggedon," a new campaign targeting the Oil Companies developing oil production from Canada's Tar Sands.
Brian Merchant writes at Treehugger:
"Anonymous" Hackers Attack Monsanto, Tar Sands Oil Companies
Anonymous Takes on the Tar Sands
Regardless, Anonymous has already announced it's next target: anyone and everyone supporting the expansion of the Canadian tar sands project in Alberta. The tar sands, of course, has been called "the most destructive project on earth". CNET reports that "Anonymous also announced "Operation Green Rights/Project Tarmaggedon," against Exxon Mobil, ConocoPhillips, Canada Oil Sands, Imperial Oil, the Royal Bank of Scotland, and others."
Anonymous also made Monsanto the target of a hacking attack.
In addition, the hacking collective bombarded the company's international websites and succeeded in shutting them down for nearly three days.
I have to agree with what Brian Merchant wrote about the relationship more mainstream activists have with Anonymous.
Clearly, Anonymous's support for both issues will cause some serious ambivalence amongst the numerous activists and concerned citizens already working to secure a GMO-free label and to push back against the tar sands -- the vocal support of a radical, high-profile hacker's collective doesn't exactly spur solidarity for the causes in middle America. That said, it's pretty clear that Anonymous acts of its own accord, and its extreme independence, even fickleness, is well-known.
Nobody in the green movement will condone these illegal breaches -- but few will be feeling too sorry for Monsanto or the oil companies involved in the tar sands, either.
I won't feel sorry for Exxon Mobil, ConocoPhillips, Suncor, Imperial Oil, if their skullduggery, and their disregard for the dramatic effects that developing tar sands will have on Climate Change, all comes to light.
Why Unions Should Reconsider Support for Tar Sands Oil Pipeline
The Keystone Pipeline -a 1500 Mile Fuse to the Biggest Carbon Bomb on the Continent -Triggering the Final Overheating of Our Planet
The Keystone Pipeline -a 1500 Mile Fuse to the Biggest Carbon Bomb on the Continent -Triggering the Final Overheating of Our Planet. As the climatologist Jim Hansen (one of the signatories to this letter) explained, if we have any chance of getting back to a stable climate “the principal requirement is that coal emissions must be phased out by 2030 and unconventional fossil fuels, such as tar sands, must be left in the ground.” In other words, he added, “if the tar sands are thrown into the mix it is essentially game over.” The Keystone pipeline is an essential part of the game. "Unless we get increased market access, like with Keystone XL, we're going to be stuck," said Ralph Glass, an economist and vice-president at AJM Petroleum Consultants in Calgary, told a Canadian newspaper last week.
Maude Barlow
Wendell Berry
Tom Goldtooth
Danny Glover
James Hansen
Wes Jackson
Naomi Klein
Bill McKibben
George Poitras
David Suzuki
Gus Speth
Are we ready to say Game Over?
I'm not ready to say that.
If you have a chance to attend one of the State Department's public hearings on the Keystone Pipeline please take the time to do so. We need to send an unmistakable message that Americans don't want this destructive pipeline.