Thom Yorke on Obama and Tar Sands: ‘Real vs Astroturf?’

by on August 11, 2011 with 41 Comments in Radiohead News , Thom Yorke

Thom Yorke posted on Dead Air Space asking for support against Tar Sands as President Obama has to make a decision on a oil pipeline. Either way, more from Thom below.

President Obama is soon to make a decision on whether to press one of THE big red climate self destruct buttons..

and is under considerable pressure from a fake grassroots campaign funded by um
..certain interested parties (its called Astroturfing )
into allowing the Tar Sands nightmare to go ahead..
if you don’t know anything about the Tar Sands have a quick google…

as seems to be the way of politics this won’t happen unless a strong show of resistance can be seen to help obama say no.

Anyway there is a campaign of peaceful civil disobedience planned in washington..

TAR SANDS ACTION

AstroTurf- type tshit

thanks for reading this. more stuff about music laterrrrr


Radiohead news on this day..


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  • Amnesiac What?

    These Luciferians are not going to stop. They need prayer.
    They need the Almighty Father.
    Pray for these people and ask God to forgive them for they know not what they do.

    The tar sands are just another way to convince us(of a lie)
    that we are running out of oil and that we need to do this.
    Instead of just building mass amounts of solar panels and other technologies, the oil companies would rather suck every last drop out of the ground for profit.

    This world is over. Yes, will we still be here for a long time? Maybe. The truth is that these people want you and me dead. Through any means necessary.

    I would say don’t waste your time on these small issues.
    Get rid of the Federal Reserve. Eliminate the banking cartels in your country. Then we can have a chance at energy technologies.

    I say seek Jesus Christ because in a hundred years or less, we are all going to kneel before Jesus and admit we did or didn’t want him.

  • cps

    hopefully you can get the radiohead world tour juggernaut of planes trains and automobiles to run on wind power because if everyone keeps fighting oil/gas expansion there isn’t going to be anything to run it on.

  • harv

    one day, just one day, i want to turn on the news and they say “hey, everything is ok today”.

    that would be nice.

  • Emperor MAR

    If you don’t turn on the news often times everything is ok today.

  • Neal

    So sad that the big push for clean energy is also a money grab for giant corporations. They are making money hand over fist, increasing costs to customers all while raking in subsidies from governments to build inefficient, unreliable energy sources. I guess it all depends on which fat-cats you want to make richer; BP or GE?

  • neto

    what about the riots in London? I am in Texas and all this fracking is bringing needed jobs to the area at the expense of the environment.. I dont like it

  • primalchaos

    *** Get rid of the Federal Reserve. Eliminate the banking cartels in your country. Then we can have a chance at energy technologies. ***

    good point!

    i feel so powerless for such a colossal issue at times, our daily life is deeply incorporated with the infrastructure that are designed by overly ambitious profiteers, the only instant power i have is to conserve my use of gas, energy, doing the possible best of my part.

  • Bork Laser

    @ Amnesiac What? LOL Jesus and God are fictional characters in the most elaborate work of fiction ever written, The Bible.

    Fundies *Rolls eyes*

  • cps

    large corporations (bp, exxon, etc) don’t set oil prices. oil is a commodity the price of which is a function of supply and demand. demand is overtaking supply and prices are going up. inability to access the few large resources that are available, like the tar sands, is one big reason why. none of these big oil companies can grow production at all. they cannot get access to any of them. so don’t fight these things and then complain about what it costs to fill up your tank.

  • primalchaos

    It’s nearly impossible to keep up the employment rate and keep pumping up the economy, we’ll have to suck dry the earth in order for that to happen. Face it, the change is happening, and will get worse for what we have gotten used to since the industrialization.

    Why can’t we all be self sufficient, have a small land, grow our own food. I know trading has existed for eons, but over trading is not good.

  • primalchaos

    And WHY IN THE WORLD we need WALL STREET?? Human civilization has existed for thousands of years without stock markets. Stock market creates over trading, phony chaos…., those demand and supply theories can be fabricated by the masterminds behind the scenes. It happened in auto industries, it happens in all big industries.

  • primalchaos

    *** so don’t fight these things and then complain about what it costs to fill up your tank. ***

    yes or no, it’s like an addiction, they got you hooked on gas, but now it all comes back down to consumers’ pocket, a vicious cycle.

  • lynn

    This generation have lost it’s natural instinct to survive. We rely on modern technology to make our life easier and are dependent on it on a daily bases. The only way to really save this plant is for people to go back to a simpler way of life, such as farming and less travel. Which will never happen. As far as Tar Sands goes, Lets pray Obama see’s the truth in it and makes the right
    decision.

  • DUMPTRUCK

    Sorry thom americas got other things on its plate. cant be saving the world if we cant save ourselves.

    you say, “your kids will regret it when the climate ruins them”….. but id rather them not be in debt so they could atleast buy some Air Conditioning.

  • Muldfeld

    Well said, Mr. Yorke. The Tar Sands is one of Canada’s massive shames undertaken by our fascist conservative government under Stephen Harper. Another is subsidizing the asbestos industry in Asbestos, Quebec simply to give jobs to 500 people; Canada is the only industrialized nation to still export asbestos and it has been shown to be used by poor Indians who obviously don’t or aren’t encouraged to read the instructions on how to use it safely.

    Harper is also sending lobbyists to Europe to prevent stricter environmental regulations on oil that would disfavor the tar sands.

    I’m ashamed of Canada, the mainstream Canadian media, and the Canadian public for allowing this to go ahead and turned down the former Liberal Party leader who presented a strong environmental plan, Stephane Dion.

  • earth

    *** The only way to really save this plant is for people to go back to a simpler way of life, such as farming and less travel. Which will never happen ***

    It may never happen “willingly”, but it might happen forcibly when we run out of option someday, just speculating….

  • Eme

    Why do we need to save the planet, we don’t do anything anyway, we just exist on a ball of rock and do things to entertain ourselves. If it all blows up tomorrow then, what?

    The earth is in a great position to support life so we have more variety than we have ever known exist elsewhere. It’s awesome, but when it comes to an end, it comes to an end.

    There’s this opinion that it’s important that the earth survives because we have some role in the universe which is bollocks quite frankly. We contribute nothing, and the universe is not heading anywhere anyway. It’s just there, we’re just here. Fuck it.

    We’re not “surviving” we’re “living” at the moment. If the oil runs out we’ll go back to surviving probably. But we’re animals like any other. We’ll find a way to adapt and survive or we’ll become extinct and someone else will take over.

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  • earth

    @ Eme

    Interesting, in a larger sense, I truly agree with you.

    But I guess the problem with me is, if I become aware of consequence of inaction or action, I try my best.

    Probably to most people, it’s an easier choice not to do anything about it when so much forces are being pushed against. I consider myself just another organism exists, I found my purpose of existence is to survive and cope with this life on earth (I only speak for the planet I’m living in), life to me, is about fighting for or against something (whatever the style we choose to), even that means reaching balance, harmony or freedom through fighting, constantly….

    One of the NOVA shows about our heart beats, we thought our normal heart beats should be regular, but they actually are not. With that said, the rhythm of life or universe is there regardlessly, but when we look close thru microscope of life, that’s us…., I don’t know, just rambling……

    :-)

  • earth

    ….and of course, there are times just let things take its own course, go with the flow….., the balance of acton/inaction, controlling/not controlling…..

    Cause if I do have a choice, I prefer to immerse myself in the ocean of music everyday….

  • Kid Amnesiac

    “…as seems to be the way of politics this won’t happen unless a strong show of resistance can be seen to help obama say no.”

    He meant to say “this WILL happen unless a strong show of resistance can be seen…” Right?

    Is he really taking this seriously? No matter how right he might be, it’s just another amusing show when millionaires put their two cents in

  • Muldfeld

    @KidAmnesiac, So, you’d rather he be a narcissistic materialist like Gene Simmons or the Koch brothers who fund the Tea Party?

    I’m proud of Yorke for giving a damn when he doesn’t have to. Most Ateasewebers are comfortably in the middle class and don’t give a damn, so what’s their excuse.

    Yorke cared before he was a millionaire, by the way.

  • primalchaos

    *** “…as seems to be the way of politics this won’t happen unless a strong show of resistance can be seen to help obama say no.” ***

    this statement does not trouble me stated by Yorke, what troubles me more is we have lost confidence in Obama.

  • Kid Amnesiac

    @ Mudfeld. shhh, no no, I didn’t say that. Don’t worry, I’m with you. I think you, Yorke, and me all care quite a bit heavy enough. I can’t help but notice tar sand is neither tar nor sand. But you and me probably need our two cents for bills more than DJ Caresalot there. These are all our twisted words but I am so sick of just talking. Can’t we do something more than recycle?blah blah Most of the ways we work together through energy-expending technology contributes to what’s scaring us. And it is scary. Tar sand takes more energy in extracting the fuel than that it creates. The desperation in playing pretend functioning society is a good bad sign of going out of biz. What does giving a damn now help any. Nilsson’s coalition to stop gun violence didn’t do fuck all but at least he gave a damn. Right?

  • You and whose army?

    Solution:

    1.) Stop Fucking

    2.) Kill the rich

  • You and whose army?

    …exchanging one pleasure for another…

  • Captain America

    Whether you agree with it or not, in the short term ,Oil Sands Exploration is going to happen. Yes it is a very inefficient and environmentally unfriendly process of getting petroleum but we live in an industrial /global economic age that dictates that we get it as fast as we can. The little bit I know about it I don’t like it but I understand why we try to get at it. Is greed is a part of it? Sure. Economics/Supply and Demand is a part of it? Yes. More reasons I don’t have time to mention. Of course.
    Although I don’t completely know Thom Yorke’s intentions(although I think he is a somewhat leftist liberal which is fine- I am more of a centrist), I commend him for leveraging his fame to at the very least inform a good amount of people about it and ,in turn, possibly create a larger dialogue about it.
    Moreover, I was initially very intrigued by Eme’s post but essentially they are just proposing a hedonist stance which in theory sounds good until you start to try to apply it to other situations. Having a “Fuck It” attitude may work in the short term for someone but it isn’t substainable no matter what walk of life you are in or come from.
    My personal human view is, for reaons I am not aware of at the moment, that we are “wired” to survive on this planet as long as possible. To do that we must do our best to be in peace and harmony with the planet and each other. It is going to take while to get there. And there will be some minor and major stumbles along the way ,but I have hope that someday(probably long after I am gone unfortunately) we will get there as a human race.

  • inspired by your thought

    Captain America, your post is well put in all aspects, but somehow a centrist can zero out opportunity for solutions. There’s difference between being a centrist of views/opinions, and being a centrist using necessary radical but gradual measure to shift things to center/balance, two different approaches. Practicality is the final goal, imo.

    :-)

  • inspired by your thought

    May I add:

    With practicality, less ideal political rhetorics is more productive.

  • inspired by your thought

    above comments are in literal political sense.

  • Captain America

    inspired by your thought: I never felt the need to offer any kind of solutions in this forum. Just because I am centrist doesn’t imply I can’t offer any solutions. I didn’t think it was appropriate given the context of the conversation. I(among many other centrists) have many ideas, thoughts, and opinions about energy. I will tell you where I sit(right now) before I tell you where I stand(which will come later): I am ok with getting at fossils fuels in the short term with the assumption that we can do it in a minimally invasive way to the environment and we continue to put huge investements(both private and public) into more Substainable(aka “Green”) energies. My hope is that the world can be off Fossil Fuels completely in the next 50 to 100 years. At least Petroluem maybe? I dunno, Natural Gas is actually a fairly “Carbon Footprint” friendly fossil fuel that can get even better with the use of new technologies. Even though it has some problems that exist outside of a Carbon Footprint(i.e. Fracking and Water pollution). That may seem like a long time to some but it really isn’t in the grand scope of human history and how fast we have been advancing in the last 100-150 years(since the beginning of the industrial age basically). Some(“The Clock” on the The Eraser comes to mind-love that song) may believe we don’t have time, but I think that is debatable to a certain degree.

  • inspired by your thought

    Captain America, it wasn’t my intent to press you for solution, I was referring to Obama being a centrist in executing issues, or other politicians with certain authority to offer solutions.

    Frankly, there’s no simple solutions to this issue, in the sense of a complicated bus. world/infrastructures we’ve built and fed on over centuries. I view it as simply like any substance abuse/addiction, we’ve waited too long, smooth transition has been long overdue, the process of rehabilitation won’t be painless and easy.

    I won’t say this is solution, but imo, for as far as we can see the consequence, we have no time to depend on technology to pull us out of this, not yet with current technology, they all sound over promising to me. Most instant effective but inconvenient/painful solution is to change our lifestyle, if we are all heading for the same goal.

    But in a colossal sense, this planet runs its own course, if we don’t do anything about it, this planet will, so there…..

    :-)

  • Captain America

    True. This planet will run it’s course EVEN if we do the RIGHT thing by it. But let’s at least give ourselves(and our generations to follow) a fighting chance even if some planetary catastrophe is to come(which scientifically speaking is likely in the long long term).
    Lastly, I like the analogy of rehab. Just like rehab it takes a long time (if not a lifetime) to fight that addiction and that same kind of thought process and dedication will need to be applied to getting away from fossil fuels. The 1st step is to recognize our addiction which I think the masses already have(especially as gas prices tend upwards faster than inflation). When my generation(Gen X) starts to take power, I think you will see major changes politically and socially. Even my right leaning/republican/conservative Gen X friends aren’t as right leaning as my old school conservative father(love him to pieces by the way). My take is that a mass consciousness shift has already begun and it is only a matter of time that we see action from it .Enough said for now. I have enjoyed the conversation……..

  • inspired by your thought

    Our future lies in Gen X, thanks for such a positive determination, I can smell fresh air and see blue sky……, I too enjoyed the conversation…

    :-)

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  • inspired by your thought

    thank you!

  • Isaac

    Thank You Thom, thank you!!!
    Sign here for a little direct action againts Tar Sands…

    http://act.350.org/sign/tar-sands/

  • question, always

    i wonder how much those signed petitions can really impact the future outcome?

  • question, always

    i mean, of course, you know, i signed those all the time, as many as i can, but still they don’t seem to be the most direct route to me. and then, of course, i don’t want to jump on the plane burning more carbons flying to DC every time there’s an environmental protest…, that just seems silly to me. so what do i do? i just stay home do nothing, you know, nothing…. the beauty of Taoism’s “inaction”. :D

  • What a waste

    Who cares what a singer thinks about anything. Spout off all day about every issue in the book, but you can’t play Creep live anymore?

    Piss off

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