That was in 2007. This year, Damon pledged to avoid using the bathroom in a satirical stunt designed to call attention to worldwide water and sanitation concerns. Drinking even two beers would make the toilet-avoidance pledge difficult to keep for even an hour.

Damon might have needed a second six pack when considering the tremendous flop his most recent theatrical movie was. It was called “Promised Land,” a fictional treatment of some of the same themes covered in a 2010 “documentary” called “Gasland.”

We’ll avoid relating that title to Damon’s bathroom pledge except to say that cheap celebrity stunts are often full of sound and fury, signifying little or nothing.

Protesters in Oklahoma (but not necessarily from Oklahoma) this week continued their childish antics of fastening themselves to construction equipment, getting arrested for it and — no doubt — tweeting about their heroics. Monday’s protest came on the final day of the U.S. State Department’s formal comment period for the project.

Also this week, the Environmental Protection Agency weighed in with the dog-bites-man news that it has major concerns about Keystone’s link between Cushing and Canada’s vast oil sands reserves. And a survey was released showing that nearly 75 percent of Americans support the project. This exceeds the 68 percent support registered in Canada.

While the Obama administration continues to dawdle on the northern leg, the route from Cushing to the Gulf Coast has the blessing of Barack Obama himself. He made a campaign stop near Cushing last year to announce his approval of the project. Yet the protesters keep showing up in southern Oklahoma to take a stand.

This week marked the fifth such effort. One protester said he came from Ames, Iowa, to defend the Red River. Really? Defend it from what? A Texas invasion?

The remark illustrates the mindlessness of this effort. Irrelevant comparisons to a pipeline break in Arkansas are about the only thing the protesters have going for them. We suggest that the Iowan head home and help defend Mississippi River towns from an extant flooding threat.

That would be productive and heroic.

A group that opposes the pipeline quoted the woman as saying she couldn’t sit still while “toxic tar sands are pumped down from Canada into our communities.” Zorn’s hope was that she might inspire others to join the fight.

She shouldn’t hold her breath.

Oklahomans strongly favor construction of the Keystone pipeline. They understand that building the pipeline means jobs, and that worries about pipeline safety are red herrings offered by anti-fossil fuel zealots.

Zorn is left with a story to tell her grandchildren, but not much else. The pipeline is coming, and it should.

Gasoline prices are relatively low and were a nonissue in the presidential election. What could have been a major hurdle for Barack Obama wasn’t, another election-year stroke of luck for Obama.

Yet 2012 set a record for the highest average gasoline price — $3.60 a gallon, or 9 cents higher than the previous record set the year before. Not so long ago, motorists were complaining about soaring gas prices and grumbling about Obama’s connection to it. Truth is, presidents have little ability to do much about gas prices. Their energy policies can affect exploration and production of oil, but gas prices typically rise because of international conflicts, refinery problems and disruptions caused by weather.

Supply and demand also play a key role. The highest one-day price — $4.11 per gallon in July 2008 — was blamed on global demand. The subsequent recession deflated demand; prices began to fall. Last year, though, the price started edging up and stayed high enough to set a record for an average price for the year.

But that’s a distant memory as 2013 begins. It may not be distant for long, but whether a record will be reached this year will relate to demand, weather and refinery issues, not to the supposed greed of Big Oil.

Note that we said “oil” not “oil and gas.” Exploration companies are hot on the trail of oil because that’s where the money is. Natural gas prices are so depressed that it’s no longer the hot commodity it was just three years ago.

Oklahoma-based energy firms explore for oil and gas throughout the continent, but they aren’t ignoring their own back yard. The Oklahoman’s Jay Marks reports that 2012 intent-to-drill applications hit 3,912 through November, more than the entire 2011 total. To put things in perspective, the figure was 22,685 in 1981. Not long after, a boom became a bust from which the industry slowly recovered.

One industry executive described current activity as “measured but steady.” That’s not a term normally associated with a heritage industry known for spectacular booms and devastating busts. Measured but steady is a good thing.

Now Hamm has donated $10 million to the University of North Dakota’s school of geology to enhance educational offerings in petroleum geology and related fields.It is the largest gift ever from someone who is not an alumnus of the school.

President Barack Obama claims people like Hamm need to pay “a little more” in taxes as a matter of supposed fairness. But Hamm’s success in creating jobs and associated philanthropy far exceeds anything done by Obama in spite of the billions he’s wasted in stimulus funding.

If Obama gets his way, it will be students and job seekers currently benefiting from the vision of the Harold Hamms of the world who will ultimately pay the price.

It’s the largest gift ever from someone who is not an alumnus of the school. President Barack Obama claims people like Hamm need to pay “a little more” in taxes as a matter of supposed fairness. But Hamm’s success in creating jobs and associated philanthropy far exceed anything done by Obama in spite of the billions he’s wasted in stimulus funding.

If the president gets his way, it will be students and job seekers currently benefiting from the vision of the Harold Hamms of the world who will ultimately pay the price.

Oh what a tangled web we weave when first we practice to … write about state revenue.

So we won’t let ourselves get off Walter Scott-free for an editorial in The Oklahoman this week that discussed a big drop in gross production tax revenue during August and the need for the administration to get busy building more liquefied natural gas export facilities.

We noted that gross production taxes totaled just $154,000, compared with $36.1 million in August 2011. That prompted one reader to call and point out that his energy company alone wrote a tax check larger than $154,000 last month.

We should have spelled out, as the state finance director did in the report we used as the basis of the editorial, that natural gas generated about $14 million in gross production tax revenue, but most of that was eaten up by “refunds and other required distributions.”

August was a down month for the state’s energy sector, yes. But cataclysmic? No.

The administration says the changes will leave us less reliant on foreign energy, save motorists money at the fuel pump and cutting greenhouse gas emissions. But Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney correctly points out that meeting the new standards will require more-expensive vehicles that will cancel out the savings consumers realize from filling up less frequently.

The gas mileage rules will be phased in gradually and will be reviewed in 2018. Perhaps by then we’ll be well on our way, under different leadership in the White House, to reaching oil independence through smart drilling and exploration programs instead of gimmicks.

The Wall Street Journal reports that oil production in Brazil has also been hampered by short-sighted regulations. Brazil has been ranked fourth in the world in terms of ability to boost oil output over the next decade, yet the country isn’t living up to its potential.

In Brazil, the red tape is created by regulations to benefit local business and discourage foreign capital. The result is development efforts have been slowed and inefficiencies are embedded, driving up production costs.

In Colombia, policies have been relaxed to encourage foreign investment. It’s ranked third in “ease of doing business” in Latin American (Brazil is 26th). Surprise, surprise: Columbia production is growing 6.5 percent annually.

The Republican-run committee has been digging into the Solyndra debacle for months, targeting one of the Obama administration’s most notorious mistakes — funding a solar panels manufacturer that had little or no chance of succeeding.

The proposed bill would end the U.S. Department of Energy loan guarantee program that was used for the Solyndra black hole. A committee press release says the bill would “ensure taxpayers are never again stuck paying hundreds of millions of dollars because of the Obama administration’s risky bets.”

Any bets that this legislation won’t gain any ground in the Senate?

The Associated Press reports that Williston, N.D., has seen its population double in the past decade, and the average annual wage has surged from $32,000 to $80,000. Because of that rapid growth, housing is in short supply and the cost of buying or renting is increasing as well. That’s especially challenging for those not directly involved in the oil industry, such as teachers who have starting salaries of $31,500. The town’s school is expected to see student growth of 46 percent this year alone.

So far, though, it appears those challenges aren’t deterring teacher applicants. And the problems of rapid population and wage growth are preferable to dealing with struggling local economies and low wages. We suspect many small communities in Oklahoma would gladly trade places with Williston.

Stories about the adverse environmental impact of wind energy are made in media heaven. What could be more toothsome than reports tying wind farms to bird deaths, scenery stealing and disturbance of animal habitat? Aren’t these things in the exclusive realm of oil, gas and coal? Apparently not. The latest news, from an academic journal called Nature Climate Change, says the massive windmills contribute to global warming by heating up the earth around the base of the 250-ft. towers. This is particularly true at night. Since many large wind farms are in the drier western states, this should be of concern, right? No worries. Parking lots, roofs and highways have an impact on local area heating. Many activities of daily human living do. Whatever adverse impact wind farms have in the small area around them is not that significant and is certainly offset by the benefits of wind energy. In today’s world, there’s no such thing as a free lunch or a free range.

Photo by David McDaniel, The Oklahoman Archives

Above: Public Service Co. of Oklahoma’s Northeastern Station coal-fired power plant in Oologah. Photo provided by Public Service Co. of Oklahoma

CNG station in Norman, Okla. Photo by Steve Sisney, The Oklahoman