Memo Reveals The Two Faces of Oil
posted by: Dave R. 98 days ago
Chevron invites us to join them in "one of the most important issues of our time - using less energy." Exxon encourages us to "protect tomorrow, today."
Yet a new memo obtained by Greenpeace and given to the Financial Times from the American Petroleum Institute (API) encourages it members - which include most major oil companies - to commit to providing significant attendance at rallies around the country to defeat the Waxman Markey cap and trade bill. They exhort members to "please include all vendors, suppliers, contractors, and retirees" and promise to "provide the up-front resources to make the event a success."
The API is more or less a real life equivalent of the fictional Academy of Tobacco Studies from the movie Thank You For Smoking, which, according to the movie's main character Nick Naylor "protects the disenfranchised corporations that have been abandoned by their very own consumers."
The oil industry should certainly be weighing in on this issue. They know quite a bit about the supply and demand for petroleum, and they transport, refine and deliver the 20 million barrels of oil we use every day. But this attempt to create the appearance of a grassroots movement against climate action, rather than simply weighing in as the oil industry lacks transparency. Jack Gerard, the head of the API asks that members "treat this information as sensitive and ask those in your company to do so as well - we don't want critics to know our game plan."
This "action" has caused a bit of a rift. Several oil companies are members of the United States Climate Action Partnership (USCAP) - a group of corporate reformist which developed a blueprint for change in conjunction with the NRDC and other NGOs. Others are going to great lengths to brand themselves as part of the solution rather than the problem. Yet they all fund the API and make billions of dollars selling fossil fuels.
We are the ones addicted to oil, they are just the dealer. But do they want to make sure we stay hooked, or do they really want us to "go straight"? The messages are mixed...what should we believe?
Read more: global warming
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We really need to break this strangle hold "Big Oil" has on the world.The power they have is frightening. My husband is always complaining about the price of gas. It really doesn't matter what the $ per barreal is at, gas will never follow that curve again. They will manipulate the market, one way or another, either by building up reserves or slowing down refineries.Gas should be priced accordingly to the price of Oil, not on false, contrived shortages and on long holiday weekends.
Now, the greedy GIANTS are all lathering at the mouth anticipating their spoils in the Artic. "SPOILS" is an appropriate description of what these companies will do once allowed to start exploration or drilling at or near the North Pole.
"KISS" the Polar Bear GOOD-BYE.
Personally I think this part of the world should be kept PRISTINE. We don't belong there. We will only DESTROY it, as we have with everything else touched by "man". Let GREED sink it's teeth into somewhere less vulnerable.
Oil companies and Tobacco Co. are the same vermin. Step to the "back of the line".
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i agree with everyone big oil is BS!!!!!!!!!!
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i still want to know why gas is still to high its so ridiculous we all struggle to pay it while the rich just keep getting richer{in the oil industry}home heating fuel is crazy expensive also! why are these not going down like they need to!
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I don't think they understand that money doesn't drive the ozone we as all do.
So they have no idea what grassroots really mean because they are so high in the sky they can't really breathe without oxygen.
The thing is all of us finally woke up and started smelling the roses and realized if we don't stop doing the damage there will be no roses to smell.
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It's time to remove exxon's charter. Corporations were not trusted by our forefathers, and limits were placed on them, time to revoke all their charters. Shut them down and take their money, then use the money to compensate all those hurt by "big oil". Prince William Sound residents would be a worthy recipient. All those who lose their jobs could be put to work cleaning up the mess they made.
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By their deeds we know oil companies quite well by now. Every thing else is pure PR bla bla bla with lots of BS.
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The money their lobbyists spend tells us the truth. All for profit. I wouldn't believe an oil company if my life depended on it. They are in it for the "Money". Addiction is sick.
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I see the 2 faces of oil as the environment they destroy and the people they kill. So few times do we ever mention the times that protesters in local communities around the world have been silenced forever because Big Oil sent in local militias, foreign armies or opposing groups to kill off any protest. The destruction they wreak in the US is nothing compared to the total annihilation of communities and their source of sustainability. There is a book called the "Scramble for Africa's Oil" that sheds some light on what Oil has brought to many countries while it has brought huge profit to Chevron, Exxon or Total. Unfortunately Big Oil is as adept at hiding the truth as are many of the pharmaceutical giants, that is why you never hear about the chaos they cause around the world.
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