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No corner of the world is left untouched by the effects of petroleum extraction and use. Many negative effects are well documented, such as global warming, habitat destruction, and political conflicts over oil supplies. But the petroleum economy extends its often hidden reach into many other aspects of life on our planet. Petroleum, used for transportation, industry, and mechanized agriculture, is the backbone of globalization. Institutions of global trade, such as the World Trade Organization (WTO), work hand in hand with oil companies, while militaries provide the armed backup to protect these interests. Examine this map to find the connections between worldwide militarization, environmental racism, and displacement of indigenous peoples, as well as the toxic consequences of extraction, use, and disposal of petrochemicals and plastics.
1. Alaska — The infamous 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill contaminated over 700 miles of coastline and devastated the ecosystems in its wake. The Valdez spill may have faded from the public’s memory, but the fact remains that some wildlife populations are still not recovering. Since the 1970s, the extraction of crude oil from Alaska's North Slope has resulted in a host of environmental problems, including an average of at least one oil spill per day, the release of approximately 24,000 tons of methane gas (which contributes to global warming), noise from seismic exploration that has displaced migrations of bowhead whales, and mining and road building that disrupts river flows, negatively impacting fish and wildlife. Like indigenous people all over the world, the Gwich'in have resisted these disruptions of the natural systems on which they depend. In addition to enduring the effects of existing operations, the North Slope faces the constant threat of future expansion, including attempts to open the Alaska National Wildlife Refuge to drilling. Source: Alaska Wilderness League, www.alaskawild.org.
2. Washington, D.C. — The effects of the petroleum industry on U.S. politics are hard to miss. President Bush II founded his own oil company in the 1970s, and he and his family have connections with numerous Texas oil ventures. These connections pay off in politics. In the 2000 election, Bush received major financial contributions from energy companies and from the auto sector. Bush’s cabinet contains a record number of “oil people.” Vice President Cheney left Bush Sr.’s administration for Dallas, Texas to head up the world's biggest oil-services company, Halliburton. Since 1992, Halliburton has contributed US$1.6 billion to the campaigns of Washington-bound politicians. National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice spent a decade on the Board of oil giant Chevron Corporation, a service that earned her the honor of having one of its supertankers named "Condoleezza." Meanwhile, Gail Norton, secretary of the interior, replaced office pictures of national parks with a photo of an oil derrick off the U.S. coast. Source: Project Underground.
3. Cancer Alley — "Cancer Alley" is the 80-mile toxic stretch along the Mississippi River between New Orleans and Baton Rouge, where over 100 oil refineries, petrochemical plants, and other industries pollute the air, ground, and water. PVC-plastic production, vinyl manufacturing, and agricultural petrochemical processing are aspects of the world-wide petroleum industry that are often overlooked. As with the oil extraction and shipping industries, it is communities of color and low-income communities that bear the brunt of toxic pollution. One study documented that 80 percent of residents of Cancer Alley have respiratory problems. But residents — often led by elder women — are organizing to resist environmental racism. From the small grassroots groups filing lawsuits against polluters, to university study programs, to the first ever statewide government agency to deal with environmental justice issues, people are demanding that the petrochemical industry be held accountable to the communities it poisons. Source: Chatham College, Women’s Environmental Leadership and Legacy.
4. Mexico — When NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement) went into effect in 1994, environmental, safety, and labor regulations became subject to challenge when they interfere with "free trade." The agreement provided for the opening of the US-Mexico border to cross-border trucking, but the U.S.'s diesel-discharge standards could not be applied to Mexican trucking firms. The US delayed opening its borders, and a NAFTA dispute between Mexico and the US persisted until President Bush signed an executive order allowing international trucking to begin without regard for environmental standards. Source: www.worldtradelaw.net, www.latimes.com.
5. Ecuador — In Ecuador, as in many countries, resource extraction is promoted by international lenders as a solution to foreign debt. Ecuador covers 80% of their payments on foreign debts with oil revenues. To keep up these revenues, the government is pushing into new oil frontiers on indigenous lands, creating devastated ecosystems and suffering communities. Oil companies exploit resources tax-free, extracting oil and profits for foreign investors, leaving Ecuador with the pollution. Between 1971 and 1991, Texaco extracted more than 1.5 billion barrels of oil from the Ecuadoran Amazon. In order to save millions of dollars, Texaco simply dumped the toxic wastes from its operations into the pristine rivers, forest streams and wetlands, ignoring industry standards. Texaco's oil operations devastated one of the most biologically fragile places on earth; 2.5 million acres of rainforest were lost. Now local Ecuadoran activists have joined with people affected by Chevron-Texaco’s operations in Nigeria and in Richmond, CA, in an international campaign and lawsuit demanding that the company clean up and pay up. Source: Amazon Watch, Project Underground.
6. Colombia — Colombia has been torn for decades by wars that often intertwine with corporate quests for oil. Here’s one example: In 1996, British Petroleum (BP) paid $US60 million to Colombia's Ministry of Defense. In return, the army agreed to supply soldiers to monitor construction of an oil pipeline that would speed up the transfer of crude oil (and vast profits) to the coast. BP provided training for soldiers through a private British “security” firm called Defense Systems Limited. According to a report commissioned by the Colombian government, BP also collaborated with local soldiers in kidnappings, torture, and murder. BP compiled photos and videotapes of local people protesting oil activities, to pass on to the Colombian military, which then arrested or kidnapped demonstrators. The U.S. government’s “War on Drugs” has also facilitated oil exploration and extraction in Colombia. The aerial spraying of vast areas with highly toxic chemical defoliants, themselves products of the petrochemical industry, clears out cocaine crops, but also opens up large areas for petroleum exploration. People are resisting this destruction. The indigenous U’wa people recently succeeded in a 10-year-long, non-violent struggle to protect their land from multinational giant Shell Oil. Source: Project Underground.
7. Antarctica — Numerous scientific studies have shown that accelerated global climate change — a result of burning carbon fuels like petroleum and of industrial discharges associated with petroleum extraction and refining—has already begun to occur. One result of this trend is the melting and breaking up of polar ice caps. This, in turn, leads to a rise in sea level, which could flood cities and ecosystems in coastal areas. Scientists from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) call this trend “an unintended, uncontrolled, globally pervasive experiment whose ultimate consequences could be second only to a global nuclear war." A long-term solution to the climate change problem will require a global transition away from fossil fuels. Sources: Greenpeace, Rainforest Action Network.
8. Spain — On November 19, 2002, the oil tanker Prestige broke in two and sank off the Spanish coast. The vessel was carrying 77,000 tons of fuel oil. Ecologists fear that the 26-year-old Prestige is an environmental time bomb resting 130 miles off the Spanish coast and two miles below the surface. Not only does the disaster threaten wildlife and public health, it also devastates local fisherpeople. It’s unlikely that the oil companies will take responsibility. "The oil industry spares no opportunity to hide behind a legal structure so complex that liability for their actions is almost impossible to enforce," says Ian Wilmore of Friends of the Earth. Source: Earthjustice, Project Underground.
9. Nigeria — Since the 1960s, drilling in the Niger Delta has caused hundreds of oil spills annually, as well as massive flaring from the extraction operations. Meanwhile, thousands of Ogoni and other indigenous peoples of the Niger delta have been massacred by the Nigerian army and police after speaking out against the destruction caused by the oil extraction. Oil companies like Shell and ChevronTexaco are closely entwined with the brutal government regime. Companies pay the government for drilling rights, while supplying the army with weapons, training and forces. Still, resistance is strong. In 2002, thousands of women from Itsekiri, Ilaje and Ijaw communities came together to demand environmental and economic justice. They occupied ChevronTexaco’s facilities and demanded an end to pollution, economic reparations for damages, support for local economic development, and jobs for their sons. The women met with violent repression, but succeeded in stalling ChevronTexaco’s operations, leading to negotiations and concessions by the company. Source: Project Underground.
10. The Agricultural Heartland — From petroleum-derived fertilizers, pesticides, and plastic packaging to transportation and refrigeration, our food system depends on massive consumption of fossil fuels, mainly oil. About 17 percent of all energy used in this country each year goes into growing, processing and delivering food. To meet the basic food needs of the eleven billion people who are expected to be alive in 2040, we'll need to triple the global food supply. Doing so with today's conventional methods, experts estimate, would require a 1,000-percent increase in the total energy expended in food production. Even if we could tolerate the global warming and pollution that would produce, it simply can't happen — there's nowhere near enough oil in the world to make it possible. Sustainable agricultural methods, including local and organic production, along with diet changes away from resource intensive, meat-heavy foods, offer the only real solution.
11. Afghanistan — To the north of Afghanistan, on the eastern shores of the Caspian Sea, lie some of the richest natural gas and oil fields in the world. Since 1996, a consortium led by Unocal had been negotiating with the Taliban government to build a natural gas pipeline through the country, but were unable to broker a deal. Conveniently enough for US oil companies, the US attacks on Afghanistan in 2002 led to a change in leadership. Afghanistan's new president, Hamid Karzai, a former Unocal consultant, has since lobbied for what he called the "pipeline for peace." Source: EurasiaNet.org, HiPakistan.com.
12. Saudi Arabia — As the country with the largest oil reserves in the world, Saudi Arabia’s internal struggle reflects the conflicting pressures of the oil economy. Because the oil industry requires enormous initial investments of capital, and because petroleum extraction is too expensive to be profitable if land and labor are fairly paid for, oil economies like Saudi Arabia’s tend to be built on vast inequalities. As local elites join forces with multi-national corporations and foreign governments, “cultural imperialism” tends to replace traditional ways of life with those modeled on a consumeristic, westernized lifestyle. In an attempt to maintain power, the Saudi establishment, caught between U.S. pressure and a rebellious population, has been pulling its investments out of the U.S. and wavering in its acceptance of war in Iraq. Source: Project Underground.
13. Iraq — This nation of 24 million people rests on the world’s second-largest oil reserves. Whoever controls access to Iraq’s reserves not only gains huge profits, but holds key leveraging power in world politics. The current war on Iraq, considered by many as a struggle to control those vast oil reserves, will cost U.S. taxpayers a minimum of $75 billion for the undefined length of the war, and will be followed by a “U.S. military presence” for ten to twenty years, according to Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. As Iraq's entire civilian infrastructure is restructured, Iraqi oil — which was once regulated by the Iraqi government — will be opened to foreign multinational ownership. U.S. government and corporate leaders are already drawing up plans for profiting on the rebuilding of Iraq, including contracting out rebuilding operations to "logistical" multinationals, like Halliburton, the world’s largest oil and gas services corporation, formerly run by Vice President Dick Cheney. Source: Project Underground.
14. Kuwait — The site of the last Bush v. Iraq war, this tiny nation offers a glimpse at the environmental horrors of war. Oil slicks, uncontrolled oil fires, toxic air pollution, and habitat destruction resulted from Iraqi sabotage and American bombings. Pollution from hundreds of oil well fires exceeded the daily emissions of U.S. industrial facilities and power plants combined, and were not fully contained until 8 months after the war ended. Fuel-air explosives — conventional weapons of mass destruction used in the Gulf War and in Afghanistan — ignite massive amounts of fuel above their targets. Militaries also consume vast quantities of fuel in their normal operations — 100,000 gallons per day for a single aircraft carrier. The very oil that is being fought over fuels the war machine, and is itself used as a weapon. Source: Project Underground.
15. California Offshore Drilling — Offshore drilling activities produce a steady stream of pollution; the industry has been marked by rampant spills and toxic releases. Lead, chromium, and mercury, along with potent carcinogens like toluene, benzene and xylene, flow into the ocean. Drilling activities also destroy kelp beds, reefs and coastal wetlands. During the ‘80s and ‘90s, coastline communities won many local struggles to regulate and restrict drilling. In 1994, California enacted a ban on new off-shore oil leasing. But in 1999, a federal agency renewed drilling contracts at 36 previously un-drilled sites along the coast. State officials and environmental groups sued, and courts have so far ruled that the lease extension is illegal. But industry and their governmental allies haven’t given up, and the struggle over off-shore drilling continues on both grassroots and legislative levels. Source: Environment California.
16. Pacific Rim — Plastic waste, an often overlooked aspect of the petroleum economy, is piling up in Pacific Rim countries, creating environmental and labor rights catastrophes. Though much of the waste is plastic packaging used in the U.S., it is frequently shipped overseas due to more lax pollution standards, combined with lower wages and health protections for workers. Much of this waste, including plastics sorted for "recycling," is eventually dumped or incinerated — over 50% of what's shipped, according to Greenpeace. Workers who process these materials receive substandard wages and are often exposed directly to the slew of toxins released when petroleum products are refined. Source: Ecology Center, Greenpeace.
17. Philippines — In the Philippines, people are finding creative and effective ways to protect their health against petroleum polluters. In Manila, residents living near a giant multi-company oil storage facility have formed a “bucket brigade” to collect air quality samples and document pollution using 5-gallon buckets. On ex-U.S. military bases, people have joined forces with the Filipino/American Coalition for Environmental Solutions to pressure the U.S. military to clean up the former bases, which are contaminated with petrochemicals and other toxins. Also in the Philippines, as in other countries around the world, people are organizing to ban the burning of plastics and other waste. Burning plastics and other petroleum products produces persistent pollutants like dioxin that seriously impact people’s health. The Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives (GAIA), an organization with members in 60 countries around the world, has been extremely active in the Philippines, which this year became the first country to implement a nation-wide ban on waste incineration. Source: Filipino American Coalition for Environmental Solutions.
18. Kyoto Oilwatch Declaration — Fossil fuel production has destructive consequences at every stage, from extraction to atmospheric pollution. If we want to protect public health, maintain biological and cultural diversity, and stabilize the global climate, we must kick the fossil fuel habit. During the Kyoto negotiations, a coalition of more than 200 leading organizations from 52 countries drafted the Oilwatch Declaration, which calls for an immediate moratorium on all new fossil fuel exploration (see http://www.ran.org/oilreport/kyoto.html). Usually, the biggest stumbling block to such international solutions is the U.S., which often refuses to sign or implement such treaties. Source: Rainforest Action Network.
19. Siberia — In the Khant-Mansy Autonomous District of Western Siberia, as many as 1,000 oil spills occur every year, according to the Regional Ecological Committee. Many indigenous families have lost their access to adequate pastures for reindeer herding, a cornerstone of their economic and cultural well-being. The situation in Siberia is part of “the oil industry's systematic violation of indigenous peoples' right to forge their own development path on their own cultural terms.” Source: Project Underground.
Project Underground, www.moles.org
International Forum on Globalization,
www.ifg.org
Global Alliance for Incinerator
Alternatives, www.no-burn.org
International Plastics Task Force, www.ecologycenter.org/iptf/
Food First, www.foodfirst.org
Greenpeace, www.greenpeace.org
Amazon Watch, www.amazonwatch.org
Rainforest Action Network, www.ran.org
Environmentalists Against
War, www.envirosagainstwar.org
Updated July, 2003
