Posts Tagged ‘oil’

Why I still boycott BP, and hate big oil…

Saturday, March 12th, 2011

If you watch the ads on TV, then the spill in the Gulf is no big deal.  It is mostly cleaned up and BP has done everything it can to make it right.  Think again.  While we are spending all our energy worrying about DOMA, gays in the military, and whether or not Obama has a US birth certificate, oil companies are raping America.  Harsh words, but I mean them.

Let’s start with BP.  Now, we all need gas, so oil is a necessary evil at this point.  Until the infrastructure is in place, we will all be driving gas powered vehicles for a while.  Even if I could get an all electric vehicle, I could never go on a road trip.  That does not mean that I have to buy from BP.  While I have made my line in the sand, BP doesn’t care one whit about me and the 5,000 miles that I drove last year.  Still, when you are wrong, you are wrong.  Yeah, local franchisees are the ones who suffer most from a boycott, but until they realize that there franchise fees are big money to a company that has no real heart, I do not pity them.  If they had switched their allegiance a long time ago, they would have my support.

So what is the story with BP?  Aren’t they doing everything they can to clean up the spill?  Aren’t they helping local fishermen and repairing the environment?  Sure… if you ask them.  They spend millions on spin and advertising.  Want to know the truth? Here are a few videos that outline the TRUE state of affairs in the Gulf.

A gulf resident made this heartfelt video:

This video is from a news station that shows how BP is trying to get away from clean up, before it is cleaned up.

Enough said.  If you want to see more videos or blog posts from hundred, perhaps thousands, or people who live in the area, just use Google and you could spend all day.  I think it is clear that BP is shameful.  Especially if you see all the videos that they have posted of their own to counteract the nay sayers.

But BP is not alone.  Chevron bought out Texaco a long while back.  With it, they bought Texaco’s problems.  One such problem is the oil mess left behind in Ecuador. Finally, in a landmark decision, Chevron has lost in a landmark case.  It has been ordered to pay a $9 Billion settlement with Ecuadorian farmers who have lost their health, their land, their lives.

So, what does a big oil company like Chevron do when it loses a landmark case?  Appeal, of course.  It doesn’t matter that with record breaking profits, this figure represents a drop in the bucket of Chevron’s revenue.  Instead of taking their lumps and paying out, they appeal and drag the case out further.  Seeing as how this case has been in the making for what seems like forever, I am sure that the legal fees alone are more than the settlement.   They have even gone so far as to sue each of the impoverished farmers in the lawsuit for damages, and threated the judge in the case.

Can you tell that I don’t like big oil?  In Alaska, the Exxon Valdez spill was over 20 years ago.  Still, there are reports that some of the habitats (like herring) have never fully recovered.  So what do you do with big corporations with big money that are determined to make more big money?  You give them the right to give limitless donations to political candidates.  They are not likely to overdo it, right?

The American Petroleum Institute is made up of big oil companies like Chevron and Exxon.  They already spend millions every year in lobbying efforts and have pledged to begin direct donations starting later this year.  API spent $6.7 million in lobbying last year, following ConocoPhillips, Chevron, Exxon-Mobil, Shell, Koch Industries and BP who spent even more.  According to records, they mainly support Republican candidates, who are supportive of their efforts to open new wilderness areas for oil exploration, keep government tax breaks despite record breaking profits, and allow fewer restrictions in off shore drilling.

When government oil subsidies could promote clean energy technology, creating new jobs and strengthen the economy, we keep doling them out to industries that take the money and spend it on lobbying efforts and now campaigns.  Yeah…

Drill, baby.  Drill.

Amplify

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Count yourselves lucky.

Thursday, June 24th, 2010

Sometimes we like to complain, or maybe we feel down, or we are fed up with the government on any level.  So as the week draws to a close, I just wanted to share a couple of sites with you to help you put things in perspective.

We can often get so wrapped up in our own little lives that we forget that we are a pretty small part of humanity and that the planet has a lot going on outside of ourselves.  Enter Foreign Policy magazine.   They continuously show us how diverse and big the world is and how we fit into it.  This month is a failed states issue, focused on dictators and countries who are barely even still existing-with an enlightening article about Ronald Reagan, too.   They have complied a photo essay of the world’s most failed states, called Postcards From Hell.  While we are worried about the cost of gas, many countries are falling apart completely.  Take some time and check it out, it is a beautiful pictorial and merits time and attention. Thanks to Fellow blogger Joe.My.God. for pointing this out to me.

The other is Huffington Post.  There are a great many images here of the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.  Right now, a scene is being played out in the Gulf that is likely to be the worst economic, environmental and political disaster of our lifetimes.  It has already bigger than Exxon Valdez in scope.  What it will do to the economy of Gulf states and the livelihood of those living there is yet to be seen.  The ramifications on foreign policy, energy legislation, and economic recovery cannot even be calculated.  This with has great images of not just a bunch of animals, but politicians, hearings, oil, beaches, people…. all sorts of things that are being affected here.  My hope is that somehow the price of shrimp and gas may finally wake up many to the real problems with a fossil fuel based lifestyle, since environmental destruction doesn’t seem to be nearly as important as comfort, or we would never had started selling Hummers.

I can talk all day, but the images on these sties speak louder than I ever could, so take some time to look some of them over.

Amplify

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Who gives a damn about the Gulf anyway?

Friday, May 14th, 2010

Save the oil and not the ocean.  That seems to be the standpoint of BP.

First off, let me say that there is a lot of speculation about this issue.  I personally do not know the truth in cold hard facts.  That, however, will not stop me from ranting on about this horrible mess that we have created in the Gulf of Mexico.

Step one, hide the severity of the problem.  I was listening to NPR and one official from Mississippi (I think it was a senator) said that this problem is being blown completely out of proportion and that this was nothing like the Exxon Valdez spill in Alaska.  He cited his clean Mississippi beaches as proof that there is really nothing to worry about-his beaches are just as clean and beautiful as they were months ago.  This is the type of short sighted viewpoint that got us into this mess.  He and his cohorts that are big in the oil industry states continue to suggest that no matter how big this problem gets, we should not let it stop us from continuing to drill for our own oil-even if it is offshore.  This was a statement at a congressional hearing on the matter.  This is really no big surprise.  Lobbyists have major power in the gulf states and big oil companies have deep pockets for lobbying efforts.  Remember they made record smashing profits as the price of gasoline rose to obscene levels for no good reason.  Say what you want, the price has dropped by as much as $1.50 and nothing has changed, so there was no good reason.  From the very beginning, media has downplayed the true severity of the problem going on in the gulf.  Every day THOUSANDS of gallons of oil are spilling into the ocean.  I read on the Huffington Post: Don’t worry about that pesky oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, BP CEO Tony Hayward says: It’s “relatively tiny” compared to the “very big ocean.” At the same time, Sweden has offered up the use of oil skimming vessels, but as of yet we have not asked them to send them out.  They are weeks away, and we continue to watch the problem and evaluate proposals of help form Europe and the UN.  Step One, check.

In reality, we cannot accurately measure the amount of oil spilling into the ocean every day.  Some say 5000 gallons a day, but most speculate that it is more than this.  In fact, NPR reports that it could be as much as 70,000 barrels a day-the equivalent of an Exxon Valdez every 4 days.  No one can really be sure, because part of the problem is that the oil doesn’t always rise straight to the surface.  Much of it is lingering below the surface and that cannot be accurately tracked.  All tracking fo the oil spill is being done by air and satellite and that may or may not be giving us an accurate picture.  What is clear, is that using the most conservative estimates, this is an ecological disaster.  Huge amounts of oil are heading to Louisiana and the wildlife refuge that is home to life seen in relatively few places in the world and how this will effect the ecosystem of the southern US remains to be seen.  To get a glimpse at the estimates and how this slick is moving toward shore, check out this interactive map on the NY Times website. If conservative estimates are to be believed, then this is a disaster, but it is likely to be a catastrophe unlike anything we have seen in recent history.  To top it off, oil pockets go hand in hand with methane, which is also being released into the atmosphere at an alarming rate.  No one seems concerned about this at all, because in relation to the amount of oil flowing into the Gulf waters, it is merely an inconvenience.  Oh, and by the way, tar balls of oil are starting to show up on beaches, and states are scrambling to keep the oil at bay.

Step two, pass the buck.  What exactly went wrong, no one is entirely sure.  What we do know is that everyone is blaming someone else.  TrasOcean Ltd is the company that owns the actual rig.  They blame BP for failing to keep up on safety measures.  BP is shifting as much blame as it can onto others.  Here is how I understand this mess:  Regulators failed to monitor the situation.  That department needs to be fired and experience what unemployment is like instead of the high life of doing nothing and looking the other way and probably taking perks in the process.  BP is responsible for not following up on its back up systems.  It has been determined that all the back up systems were a mess-there was faulty wiring, dead batteries, untested equipment, and the like.  This is mainly their problem and they will have to foot the bill.  The fact that they are not owning up to it, means I have to find another gas station to buy my gas from.  At the same time, they are blaming the concrete for failing-a product of Haliburton.  Every time I hear that name, I cringe.  Haliburton alleges that BP was drilling deeper than reported and that affected the quality of the concrete they provided.  TransOcean lays the blame on BP who operated the rig.  They must know they have some blame, as they have filed a claim i court to limit their liability, before the oil even is stopped from gushing.  This move will also allow all the lawsuits against them to be consolidated before a single judge.  Step Two, check.

I have a simple solution to the entire problem.  Make everyone involved pay the full amount for the oil spill.  This will ensure that every entity will work 10 times harder to make sure that they are not at fault in any future accidents-likely reducing the chances of future accidents.  Excess moneys can be used for rebuilding efforts as we can never have enough money to try and rebuild fish and wildlife populations that are demolished by this kind of disaster.  Leave the players involved open for civil suits.  We can never be done with this mess, as we find out how many fishermen lose their livelihood, how many tourist attractions end up closed, and what ever else will happen.  stop coddling big business who are only after profits, not caring about the ramifications.  Considering the amount of money paid out by Exxon Mobile and what they make in profits, they have done just fine while Alaska still suffers from issues surrounding that oil spill.

Step three, save the oil.  This is really going to have to go into another post.  But it seems that all the efforts surrounding stopping the spill involve siphoning off the oil.  Great it you can save it, but that is secondary to the actual STOPPING THE SPILL.  I will be reading more about this side of it and writing again, but it seems that we are not working hard enough at stopping the release of oil at all costs.  That should be our #1 priority.

Amplify

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Why I will never buy gas from Chevron…

Thursday, March 11th, 2010

Big corporations are supposed to make a profit.  Got it.  That is their mandate and their responsibility to their shareholders.  No problem.  But any profit that is squeezed out at the expense of a less educated and resourceful populace is shameful and wrong.  That is why I am boycotting Chevron in perpetuity.  If you want to really know what is going on and what has been going on in Ecuador, then you must get your hands on a copy of CRUDE: THE REAL PRICE OF OIL.

Let me lay it out for you in a nutshell-at least my interpretation of it.  In the 1970′s we had an oil crisis.  I have to remind people about this, because when I say it to many folks, they are too young to remember that it happened.  Carter was in office and we could not get enough oil.  There simply wasn’t any.  We had rationing.  Most states had a program where you could only buy gasoline on certain days based on your licence plate numbers (i.e. if your plate number ended in an odd number, you might only be able to fill up on M, W, F).  Some places limited the amount of gasoline you could buy at a time.  Prices started to skyrocket. Gas supplies ran out at stations and so on your day, you might spend half the day waiting in line to get a fill up for your big American made car.  Oh, and we were in a recession.   This was a crisis that the American people had no control over and nothing could be done.  We were at the mercy of the oil companies.  Truth is, there was no crisis.  It is clear now, in retrospect, that there was never any risk of running out of oil.  We had plenty of gas, and rationing was a construct to create panic and make us pay more for our gasoline.  Similar to the tactics used every time there is a natural disaster and the price of gas seems to spike.  Those of you who are under 40 are not likely to remember this era and many may not even know that it happened.  I tell this as the backdrop to make you understand the lengths that big corporations will go to to make a buck.

While we in America are rationing our gas consumption, corporate giant Texaco is drilling and pumping away in the Amazon rainforest of Ecuador.  Technology is not what it is today, but even by standards of that time, they are doing a shoddy job of protecting the environment.  Who cares, when a poor underdeveloped country like Ecuador is taking the money we are giving them happily, like the Native Americans who sold Manhattan for a stash of glass beads.  The government of Ecuador at the time knew little of oil and technology and had no idea that Texaco was polluting the streams, rivers, water tables, even the ground surrounding the wells they drilled.  The locals were indigenous peoples who knew little of technology or oil and had no idea what was happening.  Some 15 or so years later, and a consortium owned by the government of Ecuador takes over the oil fields as Texaco’s contracts expire.  More spills, more problems.

But that was years ago, and things have been cleaned up by now, right?  Sorry.  Texaco was sold to Chevron years ago, and they have been doing everything in their power to distance themselves from the problems created by Texaco in Ecuador.  A giant class action lawsuit was filed to make Chevron pony up for the problems they inherited from Texaco.  And now things get downright sleazy…

First, let me tell you that this case has been going on for YEARS.  In an effort to make things easier, Chevron first petitioned and was granted the right to move the trial from the US to Ecuador.  While I agree that the problem exists in Ecuador and there is some standing that an Ecuadorian court to rule on this subject, it is a US company that is being sued and thus there is standing for the case to move forward in America.  Let’s face it, this petition was made, because Chevron felt it would be easier to win in Ecuador, by means legal or not.  Then take hot shot corporate lawyers working for big oil and pit them against the legal system of a country like Ecuador and you obviously have an upper hand.  Then they took every track they could to delay the process.  Chevron has deep pockets, they know the longer the suit drags out the better their chances of bankrupting the opposition.  When the team, on behalf of the Ecuadorian people, start getting help from Amazon Watch and eventually legal bankroll from NY based law firms, they cry foul.  Sure the NY legal backers want a profit on their investment, but Chevron is the one that took it down this road, so how they can claim that this is all for the benefit of hotshot NY lawyers?

Then there are the experts.  Chevron hires consulting scientists to claim there is no real issue with the region.  It always disturbs me when anyone can come forward like scientist, Sara McMillen and say that the data does not support that there is any problem with contamination.  In the movie, you can see these pits of tar and petroleum sludge that were built as toxic dams to hold pollution.  When there are rains, overflows of tainted water run into the local watershed of streams and rivers.  This watershed is the water supply for all the villages and towns of the region.  McMillen has the nerve to blame the disproportionate amount of illness, disease and death on poor sanitation, when the only thing that has really changed in the last 40 years is the pollution of the oil drilling operations.  When there is a risk that this tactic may not work, they shift to not being able to pinpoint the actual cause of the pollution.  Rather than take responsibility, they try to shift blame to the consortium that took over after Texaco, even though they simply continued the operations that were set up by Texaco itself.

So this is just a tiny glimpse into the issue.  Let’s face it, I cannot tell a story that it took a 2 hour movie (CRUDE), a spread in Vanity Fair, grassroots organizations, and countless lawyers and trial hours to tell in just a single blog post.  Please check out some of the above links and if you can, watch the movie CRUDE.  We already know that we need to fix the damages of the past 50 years, but this is a crises that is 30 times the damage of the Exxon Valdez spill.  You can sign a petition to the Chevron CEO asking him to clean up this mess.  If you have ever bought a gallon of gas from a Chevron  or Texaco station in you rlife, then you owe it to the people of Ecuador to sign this petition.

My problem is that this company has spent millions of dollars, if not a billion over the course of many years fighting this lawsuit.  While they do so, people are dying and suffering.  If this time, energy, and money were spent trying to fix the problem instead, it would be well on its way to being cleaned up by now.  THAT is why I will never buy gas from Chevron.  After watching this movie, I understand why the president of Venezuela hates America.

Amplify

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