Two Chevron protesters arrested at oil spill hearing

[Robbien]

Source: McClatchy Newspapers

WASHINGTON — Two protesters were taken into custody Tuesday by Capitol Police during a hearing of a subcommittee of the House Energy and Commerce Committee at which the chairmen of five major U.S. oil companies testified.

The detentions came just moments after the hearing was adjourned, when a woman tried to approach the chairman of Chevron, John Watson, and hand him a bottle of dark liquid. Police stopped the protester.

The five oil executives, including Lamar McKay of BP America, were quickly escorted out by police.

The two detained women were identified as Ginger Cassidy and Kaitlin Finneran. They were described as part of the "Change Chevron" campaign run by Rainforest Action Network, according to another member of the group, Brianna Cayo Cotter.

Cotter said that the dark liquid in the bottle was contaminated water from Ecuador, where Change Chevron claims the oil company dumped 18.5 billion gallons of toxic waste sludge from 1964 to 1990. Chevron is disputing the charges in an Ecuadoran court.

Chevron spokesman Kent Robertson denied that Chevron was responsible.

"The people of Ecuador's Amazon face real challenges due to their government's failures," he said in an email. "Regrettably, there are those who seek to profit from the situation. Exploiting the Gulf spill is an unfortunate commentary on just how far some people will go in trying to legitimize an illegitimate lawsuit."

Read more: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2010/06/15/95949/two-chevron...

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Only a handful of the nearly 40 members of the public who had waited since 5:00am this morning were allowed inside today’s hearing because the oil industry's lobbyists, lawyers, and private security forces occupied most of the "public" seats.

http://uk.oneworld.net/article/view/165386/1 /



Chevron keeps insisting that Ecuador is at fault because Ecuador allowed Chevron to pollute (after much dough was passed under the table). Of course they believe people are trying to "profit" from this crisis. In their minds no one does anything unless it is for profit.

[mrbarber]

1. "Private security forces"

Jesus, that's the scary statement.

[Robbien]

2. Mercs

they are everywhere now.

Even the Secret Service is being outsourced.

[burnsei sensei]

4. Where is Cardinal Richelieu

now that we need him so badly?

[awoke_in_2003]

3. "were quickly escorted out by police"

how brave- someone approaches you with oily water and you run like a bunch of chickens. Too bad the wildlife in the gulf can't run from you fuckers

[No Elephants]

5. But they created jobs!

[Nihil]

6. Woah ...

> ... the oil company dumped 18.5 billion gallons of toxic waste sludge
> from 1964 to 1990. Chevron is disputing the charges in an Ecuadoran court.

> Chevron keeps insisting that Ecuador is at fault because Ecuador allowed
> Chevron to pollute (after much dough was passed under the table).

That's going to be an interesting one ...

Do the US government back the oil company (Chevron) against the
peasants (Ecuador) or they will be handing out a "get out of jail free"
card in another oil company (BP) against the peasants (US) case ...!

[CanonRay]

7. I think the wrong people got arrested

as usual

[Peace Patriot]

8. Chevron blames the Ecuadoran gov't because the prior (rightwing) gov't was a gov't they could buy.

The situation has many similarities to the BP spill, including Bush-Cheney deregulation of the oil industry--i.e., the Bush Junta was a bought and paid for oil industry government. Does this exonerate BP--that the Bushwhacks excluded them from environmental regulations and made a lobbyist-type joke of safety regulations, and the Obama administration hadn't caught up with this yet (to clean house and re-regulate)? Ecuador now has a leftist government that supports the lawsuit brought by 30,000 Indigenous people. The Chevron-Texaco oil spill in Ecuador has frequently been called the "Rainforest Chernoybl." The spill covers an area the size of Rhode Island, with wide swaths of toxic goo oozing out of the ground, poisoning people, fisheries, wildlife and vegetation and destroying a way of life. Children are still taking oily showers. Children are still drinking oily water. There are high rates of cancer and spontaneous abortions. The Indigenous fishing and hunting culture and economy have been destroyed. The stream and river pollution extends all the way to Peru. That, too, is similar to the Gulf--it is vast and the corporation that did it, Chevron (which absorbed Texaco when Texaco became liable for this spill in Ecuador's courts, in a typical corporate board room shuffle) DOESN'T GIVE A GODDAMN FOR THE LIVES DESTROYED BY THEIR HORRID GREED!

Some day the people of the world will muster the strength to throw off these corporate monsters who are killing the planet and destroying democracy. Let it be now. Let it begin here. May the people of this once fabled democracy, the United States of America, arise and join with our brothers and sisters throughout the Americas, in a common effort to achieve peace, social justice and protection of Mother Earth.

[mbperrin]

9. Heaven forfend the chairman of Chevron have to handle a bottle of

dark liquid!!!!












In a just world, he'd have to drink the whole 18.5 billion gallons.....