China, having served Obama’s speechifying purposes as the
jobs-stealing boogeyman, then becomes a prop for presidential
self-congratulation on the environment. “In Beijing,” he said, “we made
an historic announcement. The United States will double the pace at
which we cut carbon pollution, and China committed, for the first time,
to limiting their emissions.” This is Obama, Enviro-Man. But, wait! Here
comes Obama as Frack-Man, who has overseen the hyper-production of U.S.
oil and gas and turned the White House into PR central for the fracking
industry. “We believed we could reduce our dependence on foreign oil
and protect our planet. And today, America is number one in oil and
gas.” One million new barrels of U.S. oil per day have flooded world
markets, further encouraging fossil fuel-intensive development and
global warming. He is a super-fracking enviro-marvel.
Weaponized U.S. oil production threatens to destabilize Russia, Iran
and Venezuela – and possibly the entire global economy, which is
slumping and does not need the extra fuel. But oil warfare is clearly
Obama’s purpose. Sanctions are just gravy. “We’re upholding the
principle that bigger nations can’t bully the small by opposing Russian
aggression and supporting Ukraine’s democracy, and reassuring our NATO
allies,” he said, celebrating his alliance with Ukrainian Nazis.
-- Glen Ford, "State of the Union 2015: Lethal, Predatory, Delusional" (Black Agenda Report).