Think The Gulf Spill Is Bad? Check Out Nigeria.

[babylonsister]

http://www.tnr.com/blog/the-vine/75010/think-the-gulf-spill-bad-check-out-nigeria


Think The Gulf Spill Is Bad? Check Out Nigeria.

Bradford Plumer



Here's some alarming perspective on big disastrous spills. Over the past 50 years, Shell and other companies have spilled an estimated 1.5 million tons of oil into the Niger Delta ecosystem. That's the equivalent of one Exxon Valdez accident per year, every single year, for five decades.

And this isn't just some long-gone problem that's now been fixed. Last year, Shell reported losing some 14,000 tons of crude around Nigeria, double what made its way into the delta in 2008. That was largely due to thieves damaging a wellhead and militants bombing a pipeline, but the amount is staggering no matter what the cause. And it underscores the point that banning new offshore drilling in the United States without doing anything about our underlying oil addiction doesn't really solve the environmental problem—it just pushes production to places like Nigeria, where devastating spills are a regular fact of life.

[Fridays Child]

1. k/r

[Oceansaway]

2. K&R...n/t

[Francisco]

3. Most Americans don't care

because its not America, sad

[panader0]

4. Welcome to DU Francisco

You'll have some fun here.

[Francisco]

24. Thanks!

I'm having fun already :)

[Uzybone]

13. American "Liberals": don't drill here, drill there

you are 100% correct.

[Lorien]

20. Bullshit. Liberals are the ones pushing for green renewable energy and an end to oil addiction

we're the ones who understand that peak oil has come, that fossil fuels cause climate change, and that THE TECHNOLOGY EXISTS to change it all-but the political will DOES NOT. People like you do nothing but misdirect and deceive. You are part of the problem, not part of the solution.

[Lorien]

21. Absolute bullshit. Go to the energy and environment forums

and educate yourself.

[hootinholler]

23. Most Americans don't know

It's not that they don't care, they simply don't know.

-Hoot

[IDemo]

5. Article here from National Geographic as well->

http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2007/02/nigerian-oil/oneill-text

[progressoid]

6. Makes me want to pimp my ride.

:sarcasm:

[Sheepshank]

7. And yet I'm still being bludgeoned

from Reps here that Corportations have always and will always include public best interests. It's in the nature of Capitalism that only those that do this will survive....what a bunch of bull!!!

[FLPanhandle]

22. Corporations only care about money.

Unfortunately for the average Nigerian, so do the government officials and politicians and military. Everyone is interested in lining their pockets and no one cares about the environment or the average person. The public institutions that should be controlling and protecting them are as bad as the corporations.

[uponit7771]

8. WOW!! WTF?!?!?!?!?

[Statistical]

9. Yeah the idea that there are any "good" oil companies is silly.

Shell hires these guys to keep the locals in line.



Shell has extracted billions of dollars from Nigeria a year. Over last 50 years it is nearly quarter trillion yet poverty is rampant, there is no clean water, enviroment destroyed.

A tiny few in Nigeria profit (corrupt govt officials, police, militias) while 99% suffer in poisoned earth.

Exxon, Chevron, BP, Shell, Hess, Sunoco they are all cut from the same cloth.

Sierra club has a good comparison of oil companies here:
http://www.sierraclub.org/sierra/pickyourpoison/

[redqueen]

10. K&R

[ConcernedCanuk]

11. SOMEONE has to feed the West it's lust for oil

.
.
.

It's too bad them people "over there" got the oil that the West wants . .

IMAGINE what a nice World it could be if all the oil had just been put under the USA to begin with??

AHA

lucky USA

cuz if THAT had happened

then the rest of the World would be invading the USA

hmmmmmm

makes one ponder

COULD the USA have a whack of oil underneath it that it decides not to share/use?

OH YEAH - I suspect the USA administration could be that devious.

oh yeah

(sigh)

[Soylent Brice]

12. K&R

[NJmaverick]

14. K & R!

[berni_mccoy]

15. Wow. K&R.

[Catherina]

16. Rec'd n/t

[KamaAina]

17. This is what Ken Saro-Wiwa was trying to tell us

before he was framed by Shell and its lackeys in the Nigerian government, and hanged.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ken_Saro-Wiwa#Arrest_and_death

Nearly all of the defendants' lawyers resigned in protest against the trial's cynical rigging by the Abacha regime. The resignations left the defendants to their own means against the tribunal, which continued to bring witnesses to testify against Saro-Wiwa and his peers. Many of these supposed witnesses later admitted that they had been bribed by the Nigerian government to support the criminal allegations. At least two witnesses who testified that Saro-Wiwa was involved in the murders of the Ogoni elders later recanted, stating that they had been bribed with money and offers of jobs with Shell to give false testimony – in the presence of Shell’s lawyer.

The trial was widely criticised by human rights organizations, and half a year later, Ken Saro-Wiwa received the Right Livelihood Award for his courage as well as the Goldman Environmental Prize.

Very few observers were surprised when the tribunal declared a "guilty" verdict, but most were shocked that the penalty would be death by hanging for all nine defendants. Many were skeptical that the punishments would actually occur, as the Nigerian government would face international outrage and possible sanctions and other legal action should the penalties be carried out. But on 10 November 1995, Saro-Wiwa and eight other MOSOP leaders (the "Ogoni Nine") were killed by hanging at the hands of military personnel. According to most accounts, Saro-Wiwa was the last person to be hanged and so was forced to watch the death of his colleagues. Information on the circumstances of Saro-Wiwa's own death are unclear, but it is generally agreed that multiple attempts were required before Saro-Wiwa died. His death provoked international outrage and the immediate suspension of Nigeria from the Commonwealth of Nations as well as the calling back of many foreign diplomats for consultation. The United States and other countries considered imposing economic sanctions on Nigeria because of its government's actions.

:cry:

[malaise]

18. Africa has been raped, looted and plundered

in every way possible

[Blue_In_AK]

19. Yes, and Shell is scheduled to begin offshore exploration

in the Chukchi Sea this July, with the full support and encouragement of Alaska's congressional delegation, including sometimes-a-Democrat Mark Begich. I'm pretty pissed at him this morning.