All oil companies care about is profit. The environment, the health and safety of people, is not a priority of theirs. Only profits, no matter who is hurt in the process. Oil companies are psychopathic, dangerously addicted to money at the expense of all else, and like drug dealers they are trying to keep the world hooked on oil, regardless of the environmental or social consequences.
Tribal people in Ecuador - in the Amazon rain forest - are pitched in a "David versus Goliath" battle against the oil companies which threaten to destroy their way of life along with delicate ecosystems. They're facing off against the bull-dozers and modern equipment of the oil companies with spears and darts. The exploitation of native people and the stealing of their land continues in our day and age.
Elsewhere in the world, there are similar situations, where oil companies care only about profit, not people's lives or the environment, and are causing untold destruction in the name of profit.
From NBC: "Wauroni tribesmen, who live in the rainforest of Ecuador, are getting ready to challenge the Ecuadorian government’s plan to auction as much as 8 million acres of rainforest for oil drilling, saying they are prepared to fight to the death to protect the land. NBC’s Ann Curry reports."
Check out the video below, for NBC's report on the oil companies' exploitation of Ecuador's rainforests.
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Reports like this break my heart, LeDaro. No matter how good our intentions might be, two undeniable facts have to be faced: with our bloated and self-indulgent lifestyles, we in the first world are responsible for this kind of despoliation and exploitation; as well, as average citizens, we have little power to prevent further damage, other than to disseminate this information as widely as possible.
ReplyDeleteLorne, you're quite right that all we can do is "to disseminate this information as widely as possible."
ReplyDeleteAnd we should.
Look what Harper is doing with Tar Sands. He has not only sold it to Chinese but also gave them all the powers to do whatever the Chinese want. If we Canadian wish to sue for pollution, in case of Chinese owned Tar Sands, we will have to fight it in Chinese courts. We all know where that will take us- nowhere.