Chevron & Ecuador: The Real Story
Last week, The New York Times reported: Chevron won a major victory. A federal judge in Manhattan ruled that a two-decade legal effort to punish the company was marred by fraud and corruption, making it increasingly likely that the oil company would be ultimately successful in beating back the legal and financial challenge. There’s $9.5 billion up in the air, and the oil giant Chevron will do anything to make sure it doesn’t have to pay up. Greg Palast, who has covered the story for BBC Television says,“The judge is completely, utterly full of s**t.” Palast, who investigated the story for…
Open Thread: BP Continues to Leak [only water…]
I found this photo on reddit titled “Water bottle leaked and ruined my laptop. Definitely should’ve seen that one coming…” It made me think about the fact that while all the Federal Parks are closed to normal citizens, they’ll continued to be open to drilling. From ThinkProgress: ….because Congress allocates resources to federal agencies through a complex mix of funding sources, public lands and waters would likely remain open to most oil, gas, and mining operations. This is even true for national parks. Drilling is currently happening in 12 national parks, including in Padre Island National Seashore in Texas and…
Coast Guard Intrigue.
There are frustratingly few details on the story that broke today about Coast Guard Captain Mark Hamilton. The Anchorage Sector Commander was abruptly relieved of duty yesterday morning for “alleged misconduct and loss of confidence in the officer’s ability to command,” according to the press release issued by the Coast Guard. Reached Monday night, [Rear Admiral Arthur C.] Brooks said the investigation of Hamilton, who held the third-highest billet in the state, has been going for about a month and is likely to continue for another month or two. The investigation, conducted by the Coast Guard Investigative Service, has produced…
Ballast and BS, Brought to You By Chevron.
It’s Earth Day, and according to the latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey, only 31% of American adults believe their fellow countrymen are environmentally aware. Sounds about right. Fifty-seven percent (57%) of Americans rate Earth Day as at least somewhat important, including 28% for whom it is Very Important. Yet while most Americans value Earth Day, just 21% plan to do something special to celebrate Earth Day. I am among the 21%. I am going to celebrate Earth Day by talking about … water ballast in oil tanks! You just knew I couldn’t let Earth Day pass without talking about Drift…
Question of the Day from Drift River.
The legislative session in Juneau is over, and there’s sort of a “sigh of relief” vibe going around. But some things just won’t go away. There is still the question of oil. Actually, there are many questions about oil. The questions may not be as “provocative” as our governor in Arctic Cat leathers, or as entertaining as the filling of our vacant senate seat, but they are there, constantly, like a big dark spectre hanging over our heads. Chevron has millions of gallons of crude oil stored in tanks sitting in between the slopes of an active volcano, and a large…