Comments on ED KASHI WEBLOG: San Francisco Board of Supervisors vs. Chevron

Anon....you are dead on in your comments...and thi...

2008-06-10T18:02:00.000-04:00

Anon....you are dead on in your comments...and this is the problem with polemical dialogue and debates. Usually the answers and progress come from bringing people together to make change, not alienating and pushing people to more extreme positions. I hope other people join this important conversation. You remind me of work I did in the Redwoods year ago, where I had the rare chance to photograph and watch a 1500 year old ancient old growth redwood cut down by Pacific Lumber. As you can imagine, my liberal/environmental skin was singed by this. Yet the lumberjacks, who were second and third generation workers in this field, who were brought up in awe of their fathers and granddads, and who were raised to believe what they did was admirable and necessary, were living in a new world where logs were being spiked and causing terrible injuries, they were jeered and made to feel like demons. And then I thought about how everyone wants redwood decks and hot tubs, and where do those come from?? Sometimes life doesn't reconcile itself so easily. Things to consider....

I completely agree that these issues need to be ra...

2008-06-10T17:49:00.000-04:00

I completely agree that these issues need to be raised. I wouldn't say that the SF supervisor's resolution is pointless but it does lay the blame at the wrong door. My other concern here is that this is a tenuous situation here - too much pressure on a US oil company and they simply pull out. I sincerely believe that we need to do all we can to KEEP US and European companies operating in countries like Nigeria. At least there's some control and hope of ecological moderation. The alternatives are Chinese and Russian companies and heaven-help the local ecology and human rights then!

I am most concerned that openly condemning US companies in this way is a dangerous approach. The potential to backfire is significant and that can only ultimately hurt the local population not help them.

As you point out, in the Niger Delta, exploitation of the area has been going on for centuries with the likes of the oba of Benin. Knowledge in the West only goes as far back as 1471 when the Portuguese were introduced to a new profitable venture which by then was already centuries old locally - namely slavery! With close to a millennium of human rights and corrupt practices to overcome - that's a tough road to tackle over there. Having said that - just because it's tough doesn't mean we shouldn't try :)

The only viable way forward for places like Nigera can be through extensive education, non-corrupt business nurturing, population control, healthcare and societal change on a gargantuan scale. Unfortunately there seems to be more countries that are already in, or falling (often being pushed) into the same quagmire.

Dear Anonymous,thanks so much for writing in. Your...

2008-06-10T16:02:00.000-04:00

Dear Anonymous,

thanks so much for writing in. Your voice in incredibly valuable and I agree with a lot of what you're saying. My personal feeling is that it's primarily the Nigerian government's responsibility to protect their land, resources and people. And they have done a terrible job of it for the past 50 years. The oil companies are doing work, when one sees it up close, that is nearly "man on the moon" stuff in terms of the engineering, skills, dangers and immense physical challenges of bringing oil out of the earth and seas. Whatever I may feel about the evils of oil from where and who it comes out of the earth, to the end results of distribution and consumption of this resource, the bottom line is we are dependent on it and must appreciate the super human efforts to get this precious resource to market safely. I don't blame the oil workers and realize the companies are often doing the best they can in a hostile and difficult physical environment.

What are your suggestions for solving this vexing issue? Do you feel resolution like the one SF is considering to be pointless and places the blame at the wrong culprits? What do you do now? Don't you see how the oil companies have/can take advantage of this disfunction in the Nigerian government? Don't the oil companies bear some responsibility? I certainly saw my fair share of situations where I thought the oil companies could have taken greater care of the environment or helped host communities more. I saw many villages and communities without schools, clinics, running water, etc. I saw "community development programs financed by the oil companies that lay abandoned, unfinished and or in ruins. I realize working with the host communities can often be an impossible task due to the corruption and mistrust that has developed over the years in the Niger Delta. We must also remember the historical significance of this place. Outsiders have been coming to the Delta for centuries, first to take slaves, then palm oil and now petroleum. There is a very, very long tradition of outsiders coming to take local resources, so likewise, there have been centuries of corrupt local leaders who have learned that they can profit from these activities. It's very troubling to witness this dynamic, but we mustn't turn our backs on it. That is why I posted this notice about the SF resolution. Anything that can draw attention to this terrible situation, where people will hopefully educate themselves, is a positive step forward.

Thanks again for writing and sharing your valuable experience and thoughts.

I worked for three years as an oilfield services t...

2008-06-10T14:39:00.000-04:00

I worked for three years as an oilfield services technician in Nigera, I have seen myself the squalid conditions of many of the communities there. All of the oil company employees I worked with try to spend time helping these communities, special school classes, building a clinic, fixing up a road but we never seem to see this reported in the news :( I know its hard to feel any sympathy for "BIG OIL" but looking at it from their POV they are governed by very strict guidelines that when in another country they must only deal with whatever passes as the "legititimate" government and community leaders such as tribal chiefs. For most western countries there are few problems. Unfortunately, in the case of Nigeria the corruption is rife, the money never reaches those who need it most forcing them to take action, often very dangerous. Most of my work involved patching up broken facilities where locals had attempted to steal equipment or tap pipelines. I have to give Chevron their due, whenever we were called in to work there, the priority was always to attend to people first, equipment later, i.e. assist any of the injured locals and get them medical attention before all else! Seeing this blatant attack on Chevron saddens me that people get so blinded and can be so ignorant of all the facts - they simply want to lash out or provide ammunition for a political agenda :(

Ye gods! Only half the facts there, you have to wo...

2008-06-10T14:13:00.000-04:00

Ye gods! Only half the facts there, you have to wonder, didn't Texaco stop operating in Ecuador 18 years ago? Wasn't it a joint venture? Wasn't Petro Ecuador (i.e. the Ecuador government)a 2/3 majority stakeholder for most of the alleged "abuse" - don't they still as 100% owners keep polluting - WTH has that got to do with Chevron other than "DEEP POCKETS"? As for Nigeria - while I can empathize that there is suffering - I'm afraid their major export is NOT oil but Fraud and 419 Scams thus I unfortunately discount rhetoric from there? Is this simply a "Big Oil" US company demonization project. OK let's all jump on the bandwagon, hobble the US companies, drive them out of business and lose more jobs and foul up the economy some more while we boost the profits of Royal DUTCH Shell, BRITISH Petroleum, and CHINA National Oil. Yeah that'll help get the US to 3rd world status even faster!!!!

What planet is SF from and how the hell did they g...

2008-06-09T22:13:00.000-04:00

What planet is SF from and how the hell did they get here. Just goes to show how ignorant politicians are and how f'd up SF has become.