newprotest.org: BP'S OIL TRIFECTA

BP'S OIL TRIFECTA

August 08, 2006
by: jovial_cynic
BP announced the closure of the Alaska Pipeline due to corrosion, raising the prices of oil by $2.22 the moment the news came out. What brilliant timing.

Summer + Middle East Crisis + Pipeline Closure = BIG BUCKS for BP.

According to Greg Palast, energy economist, investigative reporter and author of "Exxon Valdez: A Well-Designed Disaster," BP has been aware of corrosion in the Alaska Pipeline for the last 15 years, and has destroyed the careers of whistleblowers who have warned of the corrosion during that time. To pull the Pipeline now, during the summer, and in the midst of the Iraq/Iran/Lebanon/Israel/Syria/Afghanistan conflict, places BP (who owns 46% of the Pipeline) in the best possible position for raking in the cash. Prices are going to skyrocket, and BP execs are going to laugh their way to the bank.

BP has a track record of corruption. Palast states, "The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) just six weeks ago charged the company with approving an Enron-style scheme to crank up the price of propane sold in poor rural communities in the US. One former BP exec has pleaded guilty." Regarding the Exxon Valdez spill, "But it was BP's pipeline managers who filed reports that oil spill containment equipment was sitting right at the site of the grounding near Bligh Island. However, he reports were bogus, the equipment wasn't there and so the beaches were poisoned." And in regards to the Alaska Pipeline corrosion, this piece is particularly damning:

In one case, BP's CEO of Alaskan operations hired a former CIA expert to break into the home of a whistleblower, Chuck Hamel, who had complained of conditions at the pipe's tanker facility. BP tapped his phone calls with a US congressman and ran a surveillance and smear campaign against him. When caught, a US federal judge said BP's acts were "reminiscent of Nazi Germany."

Keep in mind that these are not suspected accounts of BP - these are documented charges filed against BP, in which they were found guilty, and in some cases even pleaded guilty. But given the power of oil, they remain in business.
np category: corporations
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COMMENTS for BP'S OIL TRIFECTA


Luke said:
I wouldn't surprise me one bit! We seriously need an alternative fuel source...
August 08, 2006


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