#oiligarchy — Public Fediverse posts
Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #oiligarchy, aggregated by home.social.
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Boo hiss...
Controversial #JackdawGasField set to be approved in weeks, sources say
Simon Jack, 3 September 2026
"The #UK government is set to give the go-ahead for a controversial new #GasField off the coast of #Aberdeen, the BBC understands.
"Approval for the Jackdaw project could come in mid-September, just before #Parliament breaks for party conference season, according to government and industry sources.
"The gas field was approved by the former #ConservativeGovernment in 2022 but was delayed by a legal ruling from a #ScottishCourt, after #EnvironmentalGroups argued consent was given without fully considering the #ClimateImpact.
"Jackdaw's owner says it will account for 6% of UK gas output when at peak production but environmental groups say it will provide only 2% of UK use when imports are included.
"Campaigners launched legal challenges after Jackdaw was approved in 2022 and when the #RosebankOilField off #Shetland was given the green light in 2023.
"The Court of Session in Edinburgh ruled last year that #Rosebank and Jackdaw had been unlawfully approved because the government had failed to take into account the climate impact of burning extracted #OilAndGas from the sites.
"A judge ruled that more detailed climate assessments had to be published, and further estimates were put out for consultation in July.
"Both Jackdaw and Rosebank are operated by #Adura, a joint venture between energy giants #ShellOil and Norway's #Equinor. Aberdeen-based firm Ithaca also owns 20% of Rosebank.
"Adura has estimated that Jackdaw could produce 35.8m tonnes of carbon over its 11-year lifetime, the equivalent of 90% of Scotland's emissions for 2023. But it said a more likely estimate was about 23.6m tonnes - equivalent to 60% of the 2023 figure.
" #Environmentalists insist that more #drilling would be unconscionable, hampering efforts to cut planet-warming carbon emissions as deadly #heatwaves and #ExtremeWeather affect billions across the globe.
"They also say starting production would not protect energy security and that transitioning sooner to #GreenerTechnologies would be better for supporting jobs."
Read more:
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cj9xe09jz4eo#RenewablesNow #NoDrilling #NorthSea #ScottishCoast #UKNews #UKPol #Scotland #BigOilAndGas #ShellLies #Oiligarchy
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The world inches toward catastrophic climate events: ‘Bigger shocks are on the way’
The risks have been known, and building, for over 150 years
By PETER PRENGAMAN
Updated 9:55 AM EDT, August 24, 2026NEW YORK (AP) — "In the opening scene of American writer #KimStanleyRobinson ’s 'The Ministry for the Future,' a #HeatWave combined with a breakdown of the electrical grid in India kills 20 million people. The devastation causes the world’s nations to unite to combat #ClimateChange .
"Scientists have long warned that the world will experience more intense #ExtremeWeather events like #heatwaves, #storms, #floods and #droughts. But what once seemed like the realm of fiction is now discussed as a possibility, even an inevitability.
"Warning about an 'extreme of extremes' or the 'Other Big One,' a play off the California reference of a big future earthquake, can be fraught. After all, nobody can say for sure when a weather catastrophe may happen. But in the last few years, the planetary ingredients needed for a massive disturbance have been building. And alarm is growing.
'The risk is that people just think you are exaggerating,' said #DanielSwain, a climate scientist with the California Institute for Water Resources. 'It’s the ‘Boy Who Cried Wolf’ problem. Sometimes wolves are real. If it’s outside the door, wouldn’t you want to know?' "https://apnews.com/article/climate-change-disaster-big-one-threat-5b062254250a759483c94376d32ae478
Archived version:
https://archive.ph/ahELv#Oiligarchy #BigOilAndGas #BigOilKnew #Polycrisis #HungerGames #Wildfires #ClimateCrisis #ClimateChange
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For #Indigenous communities in ‘#Alberta,’ the #OilIndustry has left an ugly stain
Facing #OilSpills, evacuations and #illness — nations downstream of the #OilSands grieve their way of life, as the #corporations polluting their water get richer
By Brandi Morin, December 7, 2023
Excerpt: "The rush of the wind and sprays of water add to the thrill as Jason Castor guides his riverboat through a stretch of #LakeAthabasca near #FortChipewyan, in #Treaty8 territories. If he slows down, his boat could get stuck in the mud or even flip over because the water levels in this spot are remarkably low. He steers around buoys, dodges logs and other debris while accelerating to the mouth of the channel, which he knows should be deep enough to navigate at an average speed.
"While trawling his boat further down the river, Castor points to odd-looking clusters resembling dirty foam floating by.
" 'There’s just a slurry of a foam that looks like #oil or some kind of #chemical in there,' says Castor, a 42-year-old father, construction business owner and member of the #AthabascaChipewyan #FirstNation (#ACFN).
"He’s been a traditional hunter, trapper and fisherman for nearly 20 years and has documented strange changes in the water, the land and animals.
"Something’s going on in the river, he says.
" 'They say that it’s natural, well, I know that that’s not natural because I’ve been on the river my whole life,' he explains as he points to brown and #WhiteFoam, #OilSheens and other discoloured formations floating on the river.
"Nowadays, it’s risky to navigate these waterways because of industrial intakes like the #WACBennettDam to the west in B.C.; the #AlbertaOilSands just up the river and impacts from #ClimateChange.
"The #PeaceAthabascaDelta is the second-largest #freshwater delta in the world.
"The #AthabascaRiver, and the larger delta, also sit atop the world’s largest known reservoir of #CrudeBitumen.
"The industry that has sprung up around it drives Alberta’s and Canada’s economy, employing about 138,000 people. In 2021, crude bitumen production totaled approximately 3.3 million barrels per day. The oil sands energy sector including oil sands, conventional #OilAndGas, mining and quarrying is valued at about $18 billion.
"But while Canada prospers off the oil sands industry, #Indigenous communities downstream are dealing with its #toxic impacts.
"Not only are the water levels fluctuating, but the health of the water flowing through the Athabasca River is jeopardized."
#CanPol #CanadaPol #Alberta #TarSands #BigOilAndGas #OilSands #WaterIsLife #Pollution #Environment #Oiligarchy
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#Iran war #EnergyCrisis is a #renewable energy wake-up call
By Aniruddha Ghosal, March 20, 2026
HANOI, Vietnam (AP) — "The war in Iran is exposing the world’s reliance on fragile #FossilFuel routes, lending urgency to calls for hastening the shift to renewable energy.
Fighting has all but halted oil exports through the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow waterway that carries about a fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas, or LNG. The disruption has jolted energy markets, pushing up prices and straining import-dependent economies.
Asia, where most of the oil was headed, has been hit hardest, but the disruptions also are a strain for Europe, where policymakers are looking for ways to cut energy demand, and for Africa, which is bracing for rising fuel costs and inflation.
Unlike during previous oil shocks, renewable power is now competitive with fossil fuels in many places. More than 90% of new renewable power projects worldwide in 2024 were cheaper than fossil-fuel alternatives, according to the International Renewable Energy Agency."
Read more:
https://apnews.com/article/middle-east-wars-renewable-energy-asia-4b5fe0693ce5816472c905db85f7da6e#FossillFools #Oiligarchy #RenewablesNow #WarOnIran #WorldPol
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Spin the #ClimateChangeWeatherWheel and see where it lands!
US weather to go nuts with blizzard, polar vortex, heat dome, atmospheric river all at once
By SETH BORENSTEIN
Updated 12:03 AM EDT, March 13, 2026"Nearly every part of the United States is getting walloped by wild weather or just about to be.
"Days of downpours have begun in #Hawaii. The #Southwest will soon bake with day after day of record 100-degree-plus (38 Celsius-plus) #heat. Two storms will dump snow by the foot over northern #GreatLakes states. And the dreaded #PolarVortex will again invade the Midwest and East with soul-crushing #ArcticChill.
"This forecast of extremes comes as weather whiplash already hit much of the East. On Wednesday, Washington, D.C. residents walked around in shorts in record-breaking 86 degrees Fahrenheit (about 30 Celsius). On Thursday, it snowed.
" 'All of the country, even if you’re not necessarily seeing extremes, are going to see generally changing from cold to warm, or warm to cold to warm,' said meteorologist Marc Chenard of the weather service’s Weather Prediction Center in Maryland.
"Former National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration chief scientist Ryan Maue said he expects extreme weather in all 50 states."
#ExtremeWeather #USWeather #USWx #TemperatureSwings #RecordHeat #Blizzards #ClimateChange #ClimateChangeIsReal
#ThanksExxon! #BigOilAndGas #Oiligarchy -
The #DoomsdayGlacier Is Getting Closer and Closer to Irreversible Collapse
An analysis of the expansion of cracks in the #ThwaitesGlacier over the past 20 years suggests that a total collapse could be only a matter of time.
by Ritsuko Kawai, Dec 22, 2025 9:43 AM
Excerpt: "Known as the '#Doomsday Glacier,' the Thwaites Glacier in #Antarctica is one of the most rapidly changing glaciers on Earth, and its future evolution is one of the biggest unknowns when it comes to predicting global sea level rise.
"The eastern ice shelf of the Thwaites Glacier is supported at its northern end by a ridge of the ocean floor. However, over the past two decades, cracks in the upper reaches of the glacier have increased rapidly, weakening its structural stability. A new study by the International Thwaites Glacier Collaboration (ITGC) presents a detailed record of this gradual collapse process.
"Researchers at the Centre for Earth Observation and Science at the University of Manitoba, Canada, analyzed observational data from 2002 to 2022 to track the formation and propagation of cracks in the ice shelf shear zone. They discovered that as the cracks grew, the connection between the ice shelf and the mid-ocean ridge weakened, accelerating the upstream flow of ice."
Archived version:
https://archive.ph/fNNm0#DoomsdayGlacier #GlobalWarming #SeaLevelRise #Oiligarchy #ClimateChangeIsRead #ClimateScience #Thwaites #GlobalSeaLevelRise
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From 2021: #Palestine’s forgotten oil and gas resources
A fair distribution of #Oil and gas resources in the Levant Basin will be needed to achieve a lasting political and economic settlement between Israel and Palestine.
by Mahmoud Elkhafif
Published On 21 Jun 2021Excerpt: "The prolonged closure and recurrent military operations in Gaza have left more than half the territory’s population living below the poverty line and cost $16.7bn in lost GDP annually. This figure does not account for the huge opportunity cost of preventing the Palestinian people from using their natural gas field off the shores of Gaza.
"The 1995 Israeli-Palestinian Interim Agreement on the #WestBank and #GazaStrip, known as the #OsloII Accord, gave the #PalestinianAuthority (PA) maritime jurisdiction over its waters up to 20 nautical miles from the coast. The PA signed a 25-year contract for gas exploration with the#BritishGas Group in 1999, and a large gas field, #GazaMarine, was discovered at 17 to 21 nautical miles off the coast of Gaza the same year. However, despite initial discussions between the Israeli government, the PA and British Gas on the sale of gas from this field and the provision of much-needed revenue to the occupied Palestinian territories, the Palestinians have not realised any benefits.
"Since the blockade of Gaza in 2007, the Israeli government has established de facto control over Gaza’s offshore natural gas reserves. The contractor, British Gas, has since been dealing with the Israeli government, effectively bypassing the Palestinian government regarding exploration and development rights.
"Israel has also taken control of the #Meged oil and natural gas field, located inside the occupied #WestBank. Israel states that the field lies west of the armistice line of 1948, yet most of the reservoir is situated beneath the #PalestinianTerritory occupied since 1967.
"More recently, Israel has begun to develop new oil and gas finds in the Eastern Mediterranean, solely for its own benefit.
"In commandeering and exploiting Palestinian oil and gas resources, Israel is acting in violation of the letter and the spirit of #TheHague Regulations, the Fourth #GenevaConvention and a body of international #humanitarian and #HumanRights law that addresses the exploitation of common resources by an occupying power, without regard for the interest, rights and shares of the #occupied population."
https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2021/6/21/palestines-forgotten-oil-and-gas-resources
#OccupiedPalestine #FreePalestine #WorldPol #FreeGaza #FreePalestine #EndTheBlockade #GazaGenocide #RoyalDutchShell #IsraeliWarCrimes #BibiIsAWarCriminal #IsraeliIsAPetroState #BritishGas #PetroCriminals #ShellOil #BigOilAndGas #Oiligarchy #LevantBasin #Starvation #WarCrimes #StolenLand
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Behind #Israel’s ‘#EndGame’ for #Gaza: Theft of #OffshoreGas reserves
By Betsey Piette
November 14, 2023"In 1999, #BritishGas (BG) discovered the existence of natural gas in the Gaza Marine fields, 20 nautical miles off the coast of Gaza, at a depth of 610 meters below the surface. Further exploration by BG through two successful wells — Gaza Marine 1 and Gaza Marine 2 — determined the field could contain up to 1 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. (EgyptOil-Gas.com, April 5, 2018)
"The Palestinian Authority was 'granted' the right to exercise sovereignty over its own maritime territory by the Oslo Accords in 1995. Four years later, following the findings of the offshore natural gas, the PA gave the international consortium BG a 25-year, 90% stake in a license to explore, develop any discovered fields, and install the required infrastructure. Since that time Israel has consistently blocked this development.
"In 2002, the PA approved BG’s proposals to construct a pipeline to a processing facility in Gaza. However, the Israeli state delayed this development, arguing that the pipeline should run to an Israeli-controlled port, and that Palestinians would have to supply Gaza Marine surplus fuel to Israel at far below market price.
"When Hamas won the Palestinian legislative elections in Gaza in 2007, Israel established a militarized naval blockade, prohibiting further offshore development. Around the same time, #YamThetis, an Israeli gas consortium, challenged the awarding of the contract to BG, further delaying the process.
"In December 2008, in total contravention of international laws, Israel declared sovereignty over the Gaza Marine area, and BG closed its offices in Tel Aviv.
"#RoyalDutchShell bought out BG’s interests in the #GazaMarineFields for $52 million in 2016. By March 2018, Royal Dutch Shell backed out of their investment, leaving the PA to search for a replacement company to develop the field. (EgyptOil-Gas.com, April 5, 2018)."
Read more:
https://iacenter.org/2023/11/15/behind-israels-end-game-for-gaza-theft-of-offshore-gas-reserves/#WorldPol #FreeGaza #FreePalestine #EndTheBlockade #GazaGenocide
#IsraeliWarCrimes #BibiIsAWarCriminal #IsraeliIsAPetroState #BritishGas #PetroCriminals #ShellOil #BigOilAndGas #Oiligarchy #LevantBasin #Starvation #WarCrimes #StolenLand -
YIKES! Please read and share this!
via @UnicornRiot
"We’ve been forced to spend around $55,000 to date because of Energy Transfer’s legal campaign against our freedom of the press.
"We’ve only raised back $38,916 of this so far.
"Your donation helps us keep operating despite corporate attempts to silence us"
https://donorbox.org/unicorn-riot-nodapl-legal-defense
#EnergyTransfer #SLAPPs #NoDAPL #WaterIsLife #MutualAid #LegalDefenseFund #SilencingDissent #Resistance #CorporateColonialism #Oiligarchy #CriminalizingDissent #CriminalizingProtest #Authoritarianism #EnergyTransfer #StandWithStandingRock #StandingRockSioux #IndigenousResistance #IndigenousAllies #DAPL #NorthDakota #StandWithStandingRock #SLAPPsLawsuits #FossilFuel #BigOilAndGas #Academi #ErikPrince #Blackwater #ACAB #PrivateSecurity #BigOil #KelcyWarren #Oiligarchy #WaterProtectors #CorporateFascism #StandingRockReservation
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#StandingRock Chair on #Greenpeace Verdict -- False, Self-serving Narrative in Insulting Lawsuit
"If Greenpeace can be held liable for telling the truth about #SiouxNation Treaty rights, then we are all in trouble."
By Standing Rock Chairwoman Janet Alkire, via #CensoredNews, March 27, 2025
"As Chairwoman of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, I take offense to the jury verdict in the #EnergyTransfer #SLAPP lawsuit against Greenpeace. We expect more from #NorthDakota judges and members of the jury from our neighboring communities.
"#EnergyTransfer’s claims in this case were ridiculous. They were wholly disrespectful of the #StandingRockSioux Tribe, our ancestors, and our youth, who started the movement in 2016 to protect our water from an oil spill from #DAPL. Neither Greenpeace nor anyone else paid or persuaded Standing Rock to oppose DAPL.
"Our young people and our elders urged us to protect our water and #UnciMakah (grandmother earth). That is what happened, and is happening still. Energy Transfer’s false and self-serving narrative that Greenpeace manipulated Standing Rock into protesting DAPL is patronizing and disrespectful to our people.
"We understand that many Morton County residents support the #OilIndustry, even out-of-state #pipeline companies such as Energy Transfer. But we are your neighbors, and you should not be fooled that easily. Energy Transfer does not know us. They don’t know who we are – an Indigenous Nation that has survived every attack because our ancestors are with us.
"Greenpeace did not manipulate Standing Rock, but #EnergyTransfer has manipulated #MortonCounty. DAPL crosses our Treaty and aboriginal land for hundreds of miles.
"Our ancestors occupied this land for thousands of years before #NorthDakota came into existence. The land between the Heart and Missouri River are our #unceded Treaty lands under the 1868 and 1851 Fort Laramie Treaties. Our aboriginally-occupied territories extend east to the James River and beyond. That is a historical truth. If Greenpeace can be held liable for telling the truth about Sioux Nation Treaty rights, then we are all in trouble."The construction of Fort Rice on our northern boundary in 1864 was a violation of the Fort Laramie Treaties. This required our Tribe to be vigilant. No one should be surprised that warrior society burials are found in this area, near the pipeline route.
"And do not insult our cultural experts, who have wisdom over matters most residents of Morton County or bureaucrats at the State Historical Society know absolutely nothing about. Energy Transfer and its lawyers should be ashamed of themselves. Everyday North Dakotans on the jury should know better.
"When it comes to the excessive police and private security response to the generally peaceful protests at #CannonBall, believe your eyes. The scenes of guard dogs menacing Tribal members are reminiscent of the violence of #WhiteSupremacists in the #DeepSouth during the 1950’s and 60’s, but it was in North Dakota, in this day and age. It was on the news and on the internet.
"Many of the protesters were Native American veterans of the United States armed forces. Energy Transfer used attack dogs against peaceful protesters and war heroes. But the jury sided with the out-of-state, unlicensed security with the attack dogs, instead of North Dakota veterans who supported Standing Rock.
"A Texas oil company has come to North Dakota, and its lawyers and propaganda machine are weaving stories about how the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and our supporters have lied, and how the poor pipeline company, a trillion dollars richer than in 2016 when this all started, should receive extra millions from non-profit organizations. It’s a funny thing about liars – they always accuse everyone else of lying. The Greenpeace trial was marked by secrecy.
"The court is not making the transcript public. The documents obtained by Greenpeace about Energy Transfer’s terrible safety record are protected by a secrecy order and are not available to the public. The judge exhibited so much bias in favor of Energy Transfer that a team of international human rights lawyers felt compelled to monitor the trial. One prominent monitor stated 'In my six decades of legal practice, I have never witnessed a trial as unfair as the one against Greenpeace that just ended in the courts of North Dakota.'
"Standing Rock has tried to work for greater transparency on DAPL. It is our experience with the Army Corps of Engineers and Energy Transfer that all documents relating to DAPL pipeline safety are heavily redacted, and kept secret. What are they hiding? Who is looking out for the communities that may be affected by an oil spill? And why didn’t the North Dakota court allow Greenpeace to address these questions at the trial?
"DAPL is a dangerous pipeline. It crosses our unceded Treaty and aboriginal land. Energy Transfer destroyed Tribal burials as identified by our cultural experts, and committed violence against our people. That is the history that North Dakota and Morton County must reckon with. After the Greenpeace verdict, that day seems farther off than ever."Source:
https://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2025/03/standing-rock-chair-on-greenpeace.html
#StandWithStandingRock #SLAPPsLawsuits #SLAPPs #FossilFuel #BigOilAndGas #Academi #EricPrince #Blackwater #ACAB #PrivateSecurity #BigOil #KelcyWarren #Oiligarchy #CorporateColonialism #WaterProtectors #StevenDonziger #EnvironmentalRacism #ReaderSupportedNews #CorporateFascism #SilencingDissent #StandingRockReservation -
Trump taps #OilIndustry insider to oversee drilling on #PublicLands
#BureauOfLandManagement nominee #KathleenSgamma heads a #FossilFuel industry trade group that sued the Biden administration over a landmark #conservation rule.
By Maxine Joselow
"President Donald #Trump has nominated oil and gas advocate #KathleenSgamma to lead the Interior Department’s Bureau of Land Management, the agency tasked with managing millions of acres of public lands and waters for the benefit of all Americans.
"The nomination of Sgamma, who heads a Denver-based oil and gas industry trade group called the #WesternEnergyAlliance, heralds a seismic shift in the management of roughly 245 million acres of public property — about one-tenth of the nation’s land mass.
"If confirmed by the Senate, she would be a key architect of Trump’s #DrillBabyDrill agenda alongside Interior Secretary and '#EnergyCzar' #DougBurgum. An MIT graduate who previously worked in consulting, she has advocated for the BLM to prioritize oil and gas drilling, #HardrockMining and #livestock grazing on public lands nationwide.
"A spokesman for Sgamma did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
"During his first term, Trump tapped conservative lawyer William Perry Pendley to lead the BLM on an acting basis. But Trump never nominated Pendley, a vocal advocate of selling off public lands, to helm the agency on a permanent basis, prompting a rebuke from a federal judge.
"President Joe Biden in 2021 chose Tracy Stone-Manning, a prominent Montana-based #environmentalist, to lead the BLM. Earlier in her career, Stone-Manning worked on conservation policy at the #NationalWildlifeFederation and led Montana’s Department of Environmental Quality.
"Under Biden, the BLM finalized a landmark rule that sought to put conservation, #recreation and #RenewableEnergy development on equal footing with #ResourceExtraction on public lands. Sgamma’s Western Energy Alliance filed a lawsuit challenging that rule, which the Trump administration is expected to overturn.
"In an interview with The Washington Post in April, Sgamma criticized the regulation for allowing ranchers, renewable-energy developers and other interests to lease federal lands for the purpose of #conservation and #HabitatRestoration.
"We have no choice but to litigate,' she said. 'These conservation leases seem to be designed to preclude energy development on federal lands.'
#Environmentalists criticized #Sgamma’s nomination.
"'This choice shows that the new administration will leave no favor ungranted for the oil and gas industry and the wealthy #FossilFuel #executives who funded Trump’s campaign,' #AlanZibel, oil and gas research director with the liberal advocacy group #PublicCitizen, said in an email.
"#JeffEshelman, president and #CEO of the Independent Petroleum Association of America, which represents small oil producers, praised Sgamma’s selection while critiquing the Biden administration."
Original article:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2025/02/12/trump-bureau-land-management-kathleen-sgamma/Archived version:
https://archive.ph/tmTH6#selection-645.0-724.1
#USPol #BigOilAndGas #Oiligarchy #Oligarchy #BigOilAndGas #BigOilKnew #KillCapitalism #WaterIsLife #LandIsLife #CorporateColonialism #Corporatocracy #BigOilCriminals #ClimateEmergency #ClimateCatastrophe #ClimateCrisis
#NoMiningWithoutConsent #NoMiningOnConservationLands #DrainTheSwamp? More like, #OilUpTheSwamp!#IndepdendentPetroleumAssociationOfAmerica -
#DemocracyNow: Will #Biden Pardon #StevenDonziger, Who Faced Retaliation for Suing #Chevron over #OilSpill in Amazon?
January 08, 2025
"Massachusetts Congressmember Jim McGovern calls on President Biden to pardon environmental activist Steven Donziger, who has been targeted for years by oil and gas giant Chevron. Donziger sued Chevron on behalf of farmers and Indigenous peoples who suffered the adverse health effects of oil drilling in the #EcuadorianAmazon. 'I visited Ecuador. I saw what Chevron did. It is disgusting' and 'grotesque,' says McGovern. 'Donziger stood up for these people who had no voice.' In return, Chevron has spent millions prosecuting him instead of holding itself to account, he adds, while a pardon from the president would show that the system can still 'stand up to #CorporateGreed and excesses.'"
https://www.democracynow.org/2025/1/8/steven_donziger_jim_mcgovern
#ViewerSupportedNews #ClimateJustice #EnvironmentalActivists #SilencingDissent #BigOilAndGas #Oiligarchy #CorporateGreen #CorporateColonialism #Ecuador #AmazonRainforest #FreeStevenDonziger -
ICYMI - From 2011: Secret memos expose link between #BigOil firms and invasion of #Iraq
Paul Bignell, Tuesday 19 April 2011
"Five months before the March 2003 invasion, Baroness Symons, then the Trade Minister, told #BP that the Government believed British energy firms should be given a share of Iraq's enormous oil and gas reserves as a reward for #TonyBlair's military commitment to US plans for regime change.
"The papers show that Lady Symons agreed to lobby the Bush administration on BP's behalf because the oil giant feared it was being 'locked out' of deals that Washington was quietly striking with US, French and Russian governments and their energy firms.
"Minutes of a meeting with BP, #Shell and BG (formerly #BritishGas) on 31 October 2002 read: 'Baroness Symons agreed that it would be difficult to justify British companies losing out in Iraq in that way if the UK had itself been a conspicuous supporter of the US government throughout the crisis.'
"The minister then promised to "report back to the companies before Christmas" on her lobbying efforts.
"The Foreign Office invited BP in on 6 November 2002 to talk about opportunities in Iraq 'post #RegimeChange'. Its minutes state: "Iraq is the big oil prospect. BP is desperate to get in there and anxious that political deals should not deny them the opportunity.'
"After another meeting, this one in October 2002, the Foreign Office's Middle East director at the time, Edward Chaplin, noted: 'Shell and BP could not afford not to have a stake in [Iraq] for the sake of their long-term future... We were determined to get a fair slice of the action for UK companies in a post-Saddam Iraq."'
Read more:
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/secret-memos-expose-link-between-oil-firms-and-invasion-of-iraq-2269610.html
#BigOilAndGas #EndlessWars #BPKnew #Oiligarchy #AbolishTheMonarchy #NoWar #IraqWar #ShellOil