Oil

By Elias Cabrera / Inter Press Service & Corpwatch A thick fog flows over the eastern range of the Colombian Andes. Here and there, the constant wind lifts the clouds to reveal lagoons, cloud forests, and páramo, an Andean alpine ecosystem known as a “mountaintop sponge” for its massive water-holding capacity. Descending lower into the Upper Magdalena Valley, about 400 kilometres southwest of Bogotá, rural communities farm a wide variety of fruit and vegetable crops, and raise animals that not only sustain families, but help feed Colombia’s major cities. ...

From Occupy the Machine In Honor of Struggles Against the Extraction Industry Everywhere In Memory of the Workers Whose Lives Were Taken By BP Two Years Ago, Join Us In Saying: “ CLEAN AIR AND WATER FOR ALL” “ TAKE BACK EARTH DAY!” LET’S SHUT DOWN THE TAR SANDS AND BLOCKADE AN OIL REFINERY! Download this Call in pamphlet form to distribute What: A festival of resistance and alternatives to the fossil fuel economy, in the shadow of the Houston Valero refinery, culminating in a refinery blockade. When: April 19th – 24th Where: Hartmann Park, Manchester Neighborhood, Houston, TX Why: The Alberta Tar Sands project is uprooting and poisoning Indigenous people in Canada while destroying the ancient boreal forests that are their home. The huge amount of carbon released will seriously worsen global climate change. The Keystone XL Pipeline will take oil from one of the most ecologically devastating projects on the face of the planet to Houston. In Houston it will be refined by Valero and other companies. These refineries are surrounded by working-class neighborhoods throughout the Gulf, bringing cancer-causing toxins directly into their backyards. The majority of the Tar Sands oil processed in these refineries will be shipped overseas, ensuring that North American oil workers and those whose rights and lives have been uprooted by these companies won’t even see any long-term benefit for themselves. Meanwhile, two years after the Deepwater Horizon explosion that killed 11 workers and devastated the communities of the Gulf, BP has had a record year of profits. BP has escaped justice yet again in its recent legal victory against the shrimpers and fishermen who they’ve put out of work and the families of the workers who died under their watch. We invite those who oppose the Tar Sands Project and who want clean air, water and soil for all to come down to Houston for a festival of resistance and alternatives to the fossil fuel economy. Let’s continue to build the power of our communities, amplify the voices of those most affected by companies like Valero, and join together in nonviolent direct action to blockade a refinery.

By Dahr Jamail, Al Jazeera Oil touches nearly every single aspect of the lives of those in the industrialised world. Most of our food, clothing, electronics, hygiene products and transportation simply would not exist without this resource. There is a reason why oil giants such as ExxonMobile, BP, Total and Royal Dutch Shell, year in and year out, generate more profit than most other companies on the planet. Our current global economy is based on continual growth, and that growth depends on cheap energy. ...

By Hernán Scandizzo, Latinamerica Press Members of the Mapuche community say the Argentine government’s aggressive push to increase energy supplies by allowing oil companies to explore in their lands will cause irreversible environmental and social damage. According to Argentina´s Energy Secretariat, close to 87 percent of Argentina’s energy is generated from fossil fuels. The government agency said that in 1988 Argentina had enough gas supplies for 36 years. But by 2009, this outlook was slashed to seven years. Oil supplies fell from 14 to nine in the same period. ...

By Amazon Defense Coalition With its options dwindling and the mistakes of its legal team mounting, Chevron has suffered another courtroom setback in its eleventh-hour attempt to block indigenous rainforest communities from enforcing their $18 billion judgment against the oil giant´s assets around the world. A three-judge appellate panel in Ecuador on Friday ruled that a Chevron request for a special bond waiver had no basis in Ecuadorian law, thereby paving the way for the commencement of enforcement actions. Chevron has stripped its assets from Ecuador, forcing the rainforest communities to consider standard judgment collection lawsuits against the oil giant in other countries. ...

By the Associated Press CARACAS, Venezuela — Crude oil that spilled from a ruptured pipeline has blackened a river in eastern Venezuela, and the state oil company said workers are containing the spill. Workers have removed a “good percentage of the crude” from the Guarapiche River in Monagas state, said Ramiro Ramirez, environmental director of state oil company Petroleos de Venezuela SA. Ramirez told the state-run Venezuelan News Agency on Friday that workers have been using absorbent barriers to block the crude in the river. He said they have also shut off water intakes along the river, where a drinking water purification plant is located. ...

Over three decades of oil drilling in the Ecuadorian Amazon, Chevron dumped more than 18 billion gallons of toxic wastewater into the rainforest, leaving local people suffering a wave of cancers, miscarriages and birth defects. Now, with the support of an international campaign for justice, the communities affected by Chevron’s negligence are holding one of the world’s largest oil companies to account. [vimeo http://www.vimeo.com/36423706 w=800&h=450] From Intercontinental Cry: http://intercontinentalcry.org/the-true-story-of-chevrons-ecuador-disaster/