Where's your pro-enviro golden child now?
Friday, May 09, 2008
Interesting.........
US presidential candidate Al Gore has carefully cultivated his image
as an environmentalist.
But now he is under fire over his close links to the oil company,
Occidental Petroleum, which has begun looking for oil in the Amazon
against the wishes of a tiny local tribe called the U'wa.
The tribe is threatening to commit mass suicide if the drilling goes ahead.
The U'wa tribe is trying to stop Occidental Petroleum, from drilling
on its sacred land.
But Occidental is undeterred. It has started moving its heavy
equipment in, backed by the Colombian Government.
Last year, three American environmental activists were killed by
guerrillas while trying to defend the U'wa. They included Terence
Freitas. During an interview in March 1998, he explained what was at
stake for the U'wa people. "The struggle now is simply life or death,"
he explained at the time.
Gore reputation at stake
This dispute is threatening Al Gore's reputation as an environmentalist.
He has close ties and a large financial stake in Occidental Petroleum,
despite its poor environmental image.
His father, Al Gore senior, was on Occidental's board for three decades.
Charles Lewis, of the Center for Public Integrity, has examined the
ties between Al Gore and Occidental. "We have looked at the records
for 25 years around Al Gore," he says. "We've followed every penny he
has ever received and I'm telling you that the company he is beholden
to, the one company that has helped make him financially whole and has
helped him politically is Occidental Petroleum."
US presidential candidate Al Gore has carefully cultivated his image
as an environmentalist.
But now he is under fire over his close links to the oil company,
Occidental Petroleum, which has begun looking for oil in the Amazon
against the wishes of a tiny local tribe called the U'wa.
The tribe is threatening to commit mass suicide if the drilling goes ahead.
The U'wa tribe is trying to stop Occidental Petroleum, from drilling
on its sacred land.
But Occidental is undeterred. It has started moving its heavy
equipment in, backed by the Colombian Government.
Last year, three American environmental activists were killed by
guerrillas while trying to defend the U'wa. They included Terence
Freitas. During an interview in March 1998, he explained what was at
stake for the U'wa people. "The struggle now is simply life or death,"
he explained at the time.
Gore reputation at stake
This dispute is threatening Al Gore's reputation as an environmentalist.
He has close ties and a large financial stake in Occidental Petroleum,
despite its poor environmental image.
His father, Al Gore senior, was on Occidental's board for three decades.
Charles Lewis, of the Center for Public Integrity, has examined the
ties between Al Gore and Occidental. "We have looked at the records
for 25 years around Al Gore," he says. "We've followed every penny he
has ever received and I'm telling you that the company he is beholden
to, the one company that has helped make him financially whole and has
helped him politically is Occidental Petroleum."
1 Comments:
Your news is several years old. The well has long been drilled and abandoned and the U'wa didn't commit mass sucide.
commented by 
Anonymous, 10:53 pm
Anonymous, 10:53 pm
