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Local politics, the county, and the world, as viewed by Tammy Maygra
Tammy's views are her own, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Bill Eagle,his pastor, Tammy's neighbors, Earl Fisher, Betsy Johnson, Joe Corsiglia, Rita Bernhard, her grand kids, Tony Hyde, Corsiglia's dog, or Claudia Eagle's Cat.
This Tammy's Take (with the exception of this disclaimer) is not paid for or written by, or reviewed by anyone but Tammy and she wont' take crap off of anyone.
See Standard Disclaimer.
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Oil pipeline in the rainforest
With the current censure and boycott of Shell over its activities in Nigeria, conscience consumers may be looking for someone else to buy their fuel from. Regardless of which Oil Company you choose to purchase oil products from, each company comes with excessive baggage of human rights violations and assaults on the environment.
SHELL OIL
The petroleum industry is derived from fossil fuels and has a tremendous impact on the environment. By products of waste that is often let spill on adjacent land during the drilling process leaves the land a dead zone, these companies usually are drilling in poor undeveloped countries who are eager for what they can get from the companies, although there are some poor farmers who have refused to sell out to the oil companies so the companies knowingly allow their waste products to run on to the poor farmers land rendering it useless, the farmer then has to move on, leaving their useless land to the greedy oil company who will continue on drilling.
Ken Saro Wiwa, the leader of a minority ethnic protest group along with 8 others were executed on trumped up murder charges in the Nigerian region called the Ogoni. The execution was to end Ken Saro Wiwa campaigned against Shell Oil. Saro Wiwa played an important part in leading the protest against the exploitation of Ogoni lands and Ogoni people by the oil giants such as Shell. Shell knew about the military regime and their actions but stood by and did nothing, Shell wanted the protest to end so they could go back to Ogoni to continue to exploit the oil reserves, the environment and the local people Afterward it became public when Shell Oil admitted that they had supplied guns to the Nigerian government. This is the same government that executed the anti- Shell Oil protesters.
Shell owns Brent Spar, an obsolete oil storage platform in the North Sea. Shell Oil asked the British government for permission to dump Brent Spar in a deep-water trench and the British government gave them permission to do so. Green peace opposed this action and campaigned against the dumping and shell oil finally backed down and decided to remove the platform like oil companies do that operate in th Gulf of Mexico
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The issue was not about Shell or Brent Spar individually, but about setting a precedent that would allow hundreds of other similar oil installations that Shell and other oil companies own, to be disposed of in the same way there are over 50 due for decommissioning in the next 10 years. To allow these companies to use the oceans as their own personal garbage dump is unconscionable.
Another sinister act of Shell Oil include their anti-trade union activities that include playing a leading role in moves by the Oil Industry to de-recognition of trade unions in the UK.
BP
(British Petroleum)
Made Green peace Filthy Fifty list and in Friends of the Earth's Secret Polluters list. In 1991, a 300,000-gallon spill from a BP oil tanker spread for twenty square miles and severely disrupted the environment of nearby Huntingdon beach in California.
BP has been criticized for operations in the Amazon, where a number of Indian Reserves have been affected, but continues on exploring for oil.
BP also has had several mishaps on their oil rigs due to the influx of non-union workers to replace union workers who were striking for safer working conditions after many came down with pulmonary silicosis as a result of inhaling silica dust. BP fought against safer working conditions.
TEXACO
Texaco pumped oil from the Ecuadorian rainforest, for twenty years, and home to 300,000 Quichua, Siona, Secoya, Cofan, Shuar, and Huaorani Indigenous people. After taking more than one billion barrels of crude oil, Texaco washed its hands and pulled out of Ecuador in 1992, leaving behind a colossal mess of toxic waste pits, oil spills, and poisoned communities. Skin diseases, stomach ailments, respiratory diseases, headaches, malnutrition, and cancer have surfaced in Native communities affected by Texaco's operations, diseases that were virtually unheard of until Texaco came to the area. Texaco has refused to help these people in any way.
Texaco is also in Burma, and acts as a team with the Burmese military dictatorship, these two have agreed to shoot and kill anyone in their way as they build a gas pipeline through the rainforest. They have forced indigenous people to clear forests for the exploration and construction of pipelines. In Indonesia, pollution from Texaco's Caltex operations have killed the fish in the Siak River tributaries, killed the rubber trees along the banks of the river and has caused skin diseases among Sungai Limau villagers.
There is NO reason to exploit people, create disease in populations through pollutants, filthy work sites or through poor work standards and ruin the environment to boot. These huge oil companies have been allowed to partake in these kinds of actions for years with out any repercussions, they have been making record profits at the expense of human life and the life of the planet. The oil companies have been allowed to run amuck. Crude oil is at record highs, the oil companies are controlling the economy of the United States, controlling third world governments, exploiting the people of all countries. Our leaders have allowed this to happen; in fact many of our elected leaders are friends of the oil companies, receiving campaign contributions for special favors later on. I say we must stop this exploitation in all ways; we need to concentrate on alternative fuels for our cars, stop tax incentives, and tax breaks for huge oil companies, we must force gas prices down so our economy will prosper for all, not just for the wealthy few.
It is shameful that people must do with out food in this day and age just so they can buy gas for their car so they can get to work.
TAMMY
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