Remember when we told you about these O+G industry PR campaigns?
- Aug 2010:
Steven A. Shapiro / Certus Strategies documents: "Managing Community Resistance" and "Outrage management"?
http://chej.org/wp-content/uploads/Managing-Community-Resistance-to-Fracking.pdf
and http://www.certus-strategies.com/certus-services/community-resistance-and-outrage-management.html - Also Aug 2010:
Cabot Oil and Gas Co's "PR Picnic" where I found myself surrounded by George Stark (Cabot's PR guy in charge) and his team of armed off-duty Montrose PD and county sheriffs who were working as "private security" on public property:
http://williamahuston.blogspot.com/2010/08/cabots-guy-responsible-for-pr-picnic-in.html
- Sept 2010:
The PA Dept. of Homeland Security was apparently working with an Israel-based spy agency called ITRR, the Institute of Terrorism Research & Response, and PA Dept. of Homeland Security head James Powers, and were monitoring the activities of gas drilling activists? Remember when Powers, who was the author of the infamous "PA Intelligence Bulletin #131 CC'd emails to The Bravo Group, a PR firm founded by Chris Bravacos, one of Tom Ridge's top aides:
http://williamahuston.blogspot.com/2010/09/confirmedunbelievable-pahomeland.html - April 2011:
"Don't mention the chemicals":
Lessons from the Landman's Handbook:
http://williamahuston.blogspot.com/2011/04/lessons-from-landmans-handbook.html - Then, in Aug 2011, we told you about an upcoming PR conference in Houston:
http://williamahuston.blogspot.com/2011/08/pr-conference-for-gas-industry.html
This story was broken by Sharon Wilson a/k/a/ TXSharon who went to the conference and smuggled in a tape recorder.
http://www.cnbc.com/id/45208498
Oil Executive: Military-Style 'Psy Ops' Experience Applied
CNBC Washington, DC Correspondent
Last week's oil industry conference at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Houston was supposed to be an industry confab just like any other — a series of panel discussions, light refreshments and an exchange of ideas.
 |
Robert Nickelsberg | Getty Images |
But things took an unexpected twist.
CNBC has obtained audiotapes of the event, on which one presenter can be heard recommending that his colleagues download a copy of the Army and Marine Corps counterinsurgency manual. (Click below to hear the audio.) That's because, he said, the opposition facing the industry is an "insurgency."
Another told attendees that his company has several former military psychological operations, or "psy ops" specialists on staff, applying their skills in Pennsylvania. (Click below to hear.)
The comments were recorded by an environmental activist, who passed along audio files to CNBC. The activist, Sharon Wilson, is the director of the Oil & Gas Accountability Project for the nonprofit environmental group Earthworks. She said she paid full price to attend the two day event, and wore a nametag identifying her organization as she recorded the conference.
- http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/i/CNBC/Sections/News_And_Analysis/_News/_MP3_Files/600.mp3
- http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/i/CNBC/Sections/News_And_Analysis/_News/_MP3_Files/601.mp3
In a session entitled "Designing a Media Relations Strategy To Overcome Concerns Surrounding Hydraulic Fracturing," Range Resources communications director Matt Pitzarella spoke about "overcoming stakeholder concerns" about the fracking process.
"We have several former psy ops folks that work for us at Range because they're very comfortable in dealing with localized issues and local governments," Pitzarella said. "Really all they do is spend most of their time helping folks develop local ordinances and things like that. But very much having that understanding of psy ops in the Army and in the Middle East has applied very helpfully here for us in Pennsylvania."
At another session, Matt Carmichael, the manager of external affairs for Anadarko Petroleum, spoke on the topic of "Understanding How Unconventional Oil & Gas Operators are Developing a Comprehensive Media Relations Strategy to Engage Stakeholders and Educate the Public."
He said he had several recommendations for the oil industry media professionals at the event, one of which, he said, involved the military.
"Download the U.S. Army-slash-Marine Corps Counterinsurgency Manual, because we are dealing with an insurgency," Carmichael said. "There's a lot of good lessons in there and coming from a military background, I found the insight in that extremely remarkable." (That document is here: http://www.fas.org/irp/doddir/army/fm3-24fd.pdf -- also check out the US Army PSYOPS manual: http://www.fas.org/irp/doddir/army/fm3-05-301.pdf )
Reached by CNBC to provide context to his remarks about psychological operations, Range Resources' Matt Pitzarella explained that he was referring to one employee of the firm, whose military background makes him particularly good at handling emotional meetings with local representatives.
"Range employs dozens of veterans and active service men and women," Pitzarella said. "One employee who works with municipal governments in Pennsylvania has a background in psychological operations in the Army. Since the majority of his work is spent in local hearings and developing local regulations for drilling, we've found that his service in the Middle East is a real asset."
Pitzarella explained that Range operates transparently with local communities, and pointed out that it was the first company in the United States to fully disclose all the fracking fluids that it uses. He also took issue with Carmichael's comments about using Marine Corps tactics on opponents in an "insurgency."
"That's not something I think that we would do," Pitzarella said. "You're not dealing with insurgents, you're dealing with regular people who live in towns and want to know what you're doing."
Carmichael emailed a comment to CNBC, explaining his remarks. "The comment was simply suggesting industry embracing a broader move toward more active community engagement and increased transparency, as it's very important to build fact-based knowledge to maintain public trust amidst special interests that often use misinformation to create fear," he said.
Wilson, who recorded the remarks, said the comments reveal what the fracking industry thinks about people in the communities that are impacted by the industry.
"What's clear to me is that are having to use some very extreme measures in out neighborhoods," she said. "And it seems like they view it as an occupation."
She said she was surprised such military-style techniques would be discussed in an open forum.
"This was crossing a line — they considered it was on the American people, sort of like they are going in and occupying our land — which is what they are doing," Wilson said.
But another attendee saw the remarks differently.
Chris Tucker, a spokesman for the industry group Energy in Depth, said Carmichael's comments about facing an "insurgency," were simply meant as a joke.
"There are no black helicopters here," Tucker said. "No one's rappelling down from a helicopter at three a.m. looking through people's trash. We go to township meetings, and we hear what people have to say."
And here: http://www.texassharon.com/2011/11/08/yeah-i-recorded-the-big-gas-mafia-talking-about-psyops/
Nice Job Sharon Wilson and CNBC!!!
http://www.businessinsider.com/the-fracking-industry-admits-to-employing-military-psychologial-operations-on-american-citizens-2011-11
Fracking Insiders Admit To Employing Military 'Psychological Operations' On American Citizens
 Image: Wikimedia Commons |
Fracking is a contentious business. The process of injecting chemicals at high-pressure into the earth to pull out gas and oil has prompted as many reports condemning it as there are declaring it safe.
Homeowners concerned for the safety of their well water, and environmentalists, who believe the drilling even caused the Oklahoma earthquake, have formed movements against the practice, and it was these efforts that came up for discussion at last week's oil industry conference in Houston.
Filled with industry insiders all facing the same challenges and concerns, speakers lectured openly on how they handled the American public in communities where they drilled.
There, recording it all, was environmental activist Sharon Wilson, director of the Oil & Gas Accountability Project.
In the following recording, given to CNBC, one presenter tells the crowd to download a copy of the Army's counterinsurgency manual. "Because," he said, the movement opposing the industry is an "insurgency."
In this next recording (also given to CNBC) the speaker tells listeners that his organization maintains several military veterans who served as psychological warfare specialists. These former "psy ops" soldiers, he explains, are using their skills in Pennsylvania.
Wilson paid full price for attendance to the conference and wore a nametag identifying herself and her organization.
In his forum called “Designing a Media Relations Strategy To Overcome Concerns Surrounding Hydraulic Fracturing,” Range Resources communications director Matt Pitzarella explains how to "overcome stakeholder concerns" surrounding fracking.
“We have several former psy ops folks that work for us at Range because they’re very comfortable in dealing with localized issues and local governments,” Pitzarella said. “Really all they do is spend most of their time helping folks develop local ordinances and things like that. But very much having that understanding of psy ops in the Army and in the Middle East has applied very helpfully here for us in Pennsylvania.”
It was during Anadarko Petroleum's manager of external affairs, Matt Carmichael's, session on “Understanding How Unconventional Oil & Gas Operators are Developing a Comprehensive Media Relations Strategy to Engage Stakeholders and Educate the Public" that he suggested his colleagues:
“Download the U.S. Army-slash-Marine Corps Counterinsurgency Manual, because we are dealing with an insurgency,” Carmichael said. “There’s a lot of good lessons in there and coming from a military background, I found the insight in that extremely remarkable.”
To be clear on exactly what Carmichael meant when he said they're "dealing with an insurgency" we obtained a copy of the FM 3-24 — the final edition of the 2006 Counterinsurgency manual provided to psy ops soldiers. We substituted the word government with corporation.
" ... insurgency has been a common approach used by the weak to combat the strong. At the beginning of a conflict, insurgents have the strategic initiative ... the insurgents generally initiate the war. They may strive to disguise their intentions, and the potential counter-insurgent will be at a great disadvantage until [corporate] leaders recognize that an insurgency exists and are able to determine its makeup and characteristics to facilitate a coordinated reaction.
While the [corporation] prepares to respond, the insurgent is gaining strength and creating increasing disruptions throughout the state. The existing [corporation] normally has an initial advantage in resources, but that edge is counterbalanced by the requirement to maintain order. The insurgent succeeds by sowing chaos and disorder anywhere; the [corporation] fails unless it maintains order everywhere.
Check out FM 3-24 below, section 1-1 provides the overview of an "insurgency." It provides an interesting insight into how corporations impacting the daily lives of US citizens conduct policy.
http://www.scribd.com/doc/72148508/FM-3-24
Distortion! Jeremy Rishton on Military PsyOps - part 2 from Maverick Media on Vimeo.
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William Huston WilliamAHuston@gmail.com
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