i will post this so you can know more

The League of Conservation Voters has taken on a new campaign. From the press release:

In train stations, at bus stops, online, even on our coffee cups, Chevron ads are trying to convince us that the key to ending our energy crisis is individual action. Over pictures of everyday Americans, taglines from Chevron’s “Will You Join Us” ad campaign read:

“I will leave the car at home more.”
“I will take my golf clubs out of the trunk.”
“I will replace 3 light bulbs with CFLs.”
“I will finally get a programmable thermostat.”
“I will consider buying a hybrid.”

All good ideas, certainly, but no matter how many clubs they’re carrying in their golf bags, no matter how many light bulbs they change, no matter how hard they consider that hybrid, the folks at Chevron could probably do a little more.

They have included ‘new and improved’ posters Chevron might want to consider. Here is a sampling!

the greatest of all the evils

I do feel a bit naive in not knowing about this before. After watching a movie that mentioned something about it, I decided to investigate and was saddened by what I found.

Before I go much further, I can sum up this post in a few words: pick any other gas station then Chevron.

Texaco, currently owned by Chevron Corporation (CVX), began prospecting for oil in Ecuador in 1964, becoming the first company to discover commercial quantities. Subsequently, Texaco’s joint venture with Petroecuador, in which the U.S. company was an operating partner, set the standards for operations in the region. According to the 1993 report “Crudo Amazónico” (Amazon Crude) by the environmental lawyer Judith Kimerling, from 1972 until it left Ecuador in 1992, Texaco intentionally dumped more than 19 billion gallons of toxic wastewaters into the region and was responsible for 16.8 million gallons of crude oil spilling from the main pipeline into the forest. By comparison, the infamous Exxon Valdez tanker disaster in 1989 spilled 10.8 million gallons off the coast of Alaska. The report alleges that these actions contaminated both the soil and the groundwater of the communities in the area and will continue to threaten the economic and cultural bases of Indigenous peoples’ survival.

There have been many class action lawsuits against Chevron. Despite being the bigger, parent company, they are manipulating the system by laying blame into the Ecuadorian partner company and demanding that they pay for the clean up.

You can read more at Amnesty International: Chevron in Ecuador.

The public believes that the Exxon Valdez spill was the largest of all time. Well, this company dumped 6 million gallons more into the environment. Just to give you perspective, if the Exxon Valdez spill happened off the east coast it would stretch from Maine to Florida. And here is a video that shows how difficult clean-up is:

ban ABC… it’s as easy as 1-2-3

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ydOPBL5iO2Y]

ABC is refusing to air a commercial from Al Gore’s We Campaign and continues to run commercials from Chevron.

Please go HERE and sign the petition demanding equal air time.

I have been saying this for a while, but I truly believe that each and everyone of us needs to know who is paying for our entertainment. If you do not agree with those companies, then you need to let your voice be heard by turning off the television.

I know it has been argued to me that hurting the employment of thousands, by boycotting entertainment, would be detrimental to our community. But I need to know.. do you choose for GNP instead of our home? Do you hurt millions of people to save thousands of people? Do you choose corporations over communities?

I don’t have the answers to these questions… well, that’s not true. I have MY answers to these questions. But can you stand behind your answers?