Pollution Recklessness Should Disqualify Shell And Exxon From Barbados Oil Bids

Oil Bids

TWENTY-FIVE OIL COMPANIES from countries such as Russia, Japan, Norway and Brazil are in the queue to drill for oil off Barbados.

The big names include Exxon, Shell, BHP Billiton of Australia, Hess Oil Company, Anadarko Petroleum Corporation, Marathon Oil and Murphy Oil, all of the United States, Norway’s state oil group Statoil, Petro-Canada, and Petrobras from Brazil.

They will all get the chance to put their money where their hearts appear to be on Friday, June 22, when Government officially opens the floor to bidding during a ceremony here. A second bid launch takes place in Houston, Texas, on Wednesday, June 27.

… read the rest at The Nation News (link here)

March 11, 2004 – Exxon Valdez Oil Still At Rua Cove, Alaska

Did You Think That The Exxon Valdez Incident Of 18 Years Ago Was Cleaned Up And All Over? Think Again!

Environment Minister Liz Thompson says Barbados is looking for companies “with best practices in environmental matters to explore for oil.”

We’d like to draw Minister Thompson’s attention to the fine folks in Prince William Sound, Alaska who have some experience with Exxon’s “best practices” in managing oil. (Greenpeace article Exxon Valdez Disaster – 15 Years Of Lies)

Eighteen years ago, a giant single-hulled oil carrier named the Exxon Valdez ran onto a charted shoal in pristine Prince William Sound, spilled 11 million gallons of oil into the water and immediately destroyed 500 miles of coastline. Eighteen years later you can lift any rock in the area and still see the mess. Wild animals have developed strange diseases and there are increasing concerns about the health of area residents.

EXXON is still dragging the case out in court 18 years later!

How about bribing a judge who is involved in hearing the Exxon Valdez case? Exxon had no problem with that, so it arranged three “seminars” held at luxury resorts for Judge Andrew Kleinfeld, one of the three Ninth Circuit Court judges “randomly assigned” to the Exxon Valdez damages case. (Alaska Report story: Short Circuiting Justice At The Ninth Circuit Court)

Eighteen years after the spill, the mess is still there both on the rocks and in the courts.

Tell us, Minister Thompson… does Exxon meet the government’s criteria for the type of company Barbados wants drilling off our beaches?

Let’s Talk About How Shell Responded To The Airport Pipeline Fuel Spills

Shell has thumbed it’s nose at Barbados for a decade of soil and water pollution surrounding it’s infamously leaky pipeline to the airport. Shell didn’t even bother keeping records to show how much fuel went into the pipe and how much came out. Not to mention that our Environment Ministry never required or asked for Shell to keep records. Banana Republic time at the Shell pipeline.

We’ll not repeat the whole story here, but take a few minutes to read our comprehensive article…

Shell 2006 Profits: US$2.9 Million Dollars PER HOUR! – Offers Barbados Farmers Less Than One Hour’s Profits For A Decade Of Pollution And A Deadly Future

Tell us, Minister Thompson… does Shell meet the government’s criteria for the type of company Barbados wants drilling off our beaches?

Prime Minister Owen Arthur Says Our Barbados Should Surrender Bajan Sovereignty To CARICOM Outsiders

How About Owen Arthur As CARICOM President?

“Each participating state exercises sovereignty and discretion over the implementation of decisions reached at the regional level. There has been no provision for the conferment of executive authority to supranational bodies to carry out decision pertaining to the creation of a regional economy.”

That approach was much too limiting, hence the need for “the devolution of executive authority to supranational bodies” in the region, he insisted.

“Proposals to that effect are now before the leadership of the region in the form of a task force report on regional governance. Its adoption is critical,” Arthur stressed.

… Prime Minister Owen Arthur as quoted in The Nation News (link here)

No Surprise Here!

For CARICOM to be effective Barbados will have to surrender sovereignty in various areas to a “Regional Government”.

Does Barbados benefit from surrendering our sovereignty as a country? Do we want to send our tax dollars to Haiti or provide unequal benefits to other islands while Barbados taxpayers pick up the cost?

Well… that’s never really been discussed, has it?

But Owen Arthur is saying all of the above in today’s Nation News.

No surprise from a government that already surrendered territorial sovereignty to foreign troops on Bajan soil for that oh-so-profitable Cricket World Cup fiasco – all without public debate.