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Big Oil SIG: BP
Big Oil is a global disaster hiding behind many masks.
BP was chosen by Multinational Monitor as one of the "10 worst corporations of 2007" ... and of 2005: "BP is a giant multinational oil company. It spends a lot of money trying to get us to believe that it is something else: a decent, clean, conscientious corporation. It is not. It kills workers in Texas. It pollutes Alaska. It manipulates markets. And it uses the tricks of the corporate criminal class to escape penalties commensurate with the seriousness of the harm it causes."
Meanwhile, this is what BP has to say about itself on its own web site: “To promote good practice for environmental management, we are sharing the ERNP [Environmental Requirements for New Projects] with industry partners... We continue to share information on the ERNP with non-governmental organizations, who were involved in their development. BP is also working to ensure that appropriate consideration is given to social issues, such as worker welfare, including child and forced labour; security and human rights; community health; community engagement; community investment; involuntary resettlement; and indigenous people.”
"What does BP stand for these days? Beyond Propaganda? ByeBye Planet? Bad Pollution? We just aren't certain anymore, now that it is spending $3 billion to buy into the stupid fuel, oil from the Alberta Tar Sands, global warming's new Ground Zero. Each barrel of oil out of the tar sands generates about a two thirds of a tonne of CO2, so BP's 200,000 barrels a day will generate about 127,000 tonnes of CO2 per day."
On the other hand: The Independent reported in 2006: "A group of Colombian farmers has won a multimillion pound settlement from BP after the British oil and gas company was accused of benefiting from a regime of terror carried out by Colombian government paramilitaries to protect a 450-mile pipeline. Many of the 1,000 farmers and their family members who worked on 52 farms affected by the development, say they have been since been forced to live in destitution in the surrounding towns. They alleged that BP benefited from harassment and intimidation meted out by Colombian paramilitaries employed by the government to guard the pipeline."
BP was a "Major Sponsor" of the PNWER (Pacific Northwest Economic Region) Summit in Vancouver, July 20-24, 2008. |
