Exxonmobil (Esso) international day of action: 11th of July

Time is running out. There is so much to be done. Enter the International Day of Action against ExxonMobil. Pressure Point, a Seattle USA NGO, and Friends of the Earth (Australia) are coordinating a Call to Action against Bush’s biggest supporter and the worst of the “Greenhouse Gangsters” ExxonMobil. The actions/ protests are scheduled for the 11th of July. The protests are in support of the call for an international boycott of all US oil companies, and will take place in the lead up to the mid-July climate negotiations in Germany.

Let us know if you’re doing an action so we can put you in press releases and on the website (info(at)pressurepoint.org or oilactions(at)foe.org.au).

Targeting ExxonMobil, the biggest US corporation and its highest profile oil company, will spearhead the boycott campaign and send a message to Bush and all oil companies that the US has to take climate justice seriously NOW. ExxonMobil continues to fund greenhouse skeptics, has spent millions on greenwash advertisements, was one of the top contributors to Bush’s election, has been active in lobbying the US government to reject the Kyoto Protocol, and invests virtually nothing in renewable energy. It is also one of the major proponents behind drilling in the Arctic Refuge in Alaska. It also has a terrible human rights and environmental record and is an unabashed supporter of free trade. Organisers in at least 15 countries are mobilizing around targeting ExxonMobil. The International Day of Action (IDA) is part of a major global campaign on climate and fossil fuels, and is a campaign that will send a message to Bush, the oil industry’s number one supporter. Get involved in our direct action campaign against ExxonMobil. Join the global effort to let ExxonMobil and George W Bush know it’s not up to them to determine our planet’s future, and that they have to make the shift from exploration to renewable energy NOW. Join the campaign, and fight to reclaim our future! ENDORSED BY: Friends of the Earth (Australia), Greenpeace (Australia), The Wilderness Society, Australian Conservation Foundation, OzGreen, Environment Victoria, Environment Centre of the Northern Territory, The Greens.

Our demands for ExxonMobil

• Support the Kyoto Protocol, which would reduce CO2 emission levels;
• Stop pushing for drilling in the Arctic Refuge and on other public lands;
• Agree to an investigation by an international human rights tribunal and abide by it’s findings;
• Cease all new exploration and invest that money in renewable resources
• ExxonMobil is the 8th largest economy in the world*. Because of its sheer size, it has an inordinate say over climate change, human rights and the environment. It is using its economic power to try to insure that the new world order is ruled by corporations.

*Multinational Monitor, June 1999 EXXONMOBIL’S CORPORATE RECORD: ENVIRONMENT: ExxonMobil Chairman LeeRaymond is on record advocating that developing countries should lower environmental standards in order to promote economic growth. A recent report on the Baytown refinery in Houston has revealed persistent accidental releases and failure to report problems and emissions. Twelve years after the infamous Exxon Valdez disaster, contamination continues. ExxonMobil has been fined millions for Clean Air Act violations and the company openly funds anti-environment think tanks.

ARCTIC REFUGE: ExxonMobil wants Congress to okay drilling on the coastal plain of the Arctic Refuge. Drilling would seriously impact the environment and is opposed by the Gwich’in people, who rely on the Caribou herds that breed there. If SUV fuel efficiency standards were raised by only 3 miles per gallon, it would more than equal all the oil in this area.

CLIMATE CHANGE: ExxonMobil denies any responsibility for climate change, openly funds climate skeptics, has spent millions to discredit the Kyoto climate change Protocol and has lobbied the US government to drop it. While some oil companies have taken tentative steps to invest in clean energy sources, ExxonMobil invests virtually nothing in renewable energy.

HUMAN RIGHTS: In Aceh province, Indonesia, human rights groups report that ExxonMobil provided earth-moving equipment to dig mass graves, equipped soldiers involved in atrocities and allowed company facilities to be used for interrogation and torture. It has also been heavily criticized for abuses in Nigeria, Ecuador and Columbia, and for building refineries in communities of color.

GOVERNMENT: ExxonMobil helped draft Bush’s “voluntary” emissions reporting system for Texas. It gave $1.2m to the 2000 Bush campaign and actively lobbies to block government action on climate change. The Bush energy policy reads as if written by ExxonMobil: it pulled out of the Kyoto climate change treaty, plans to build a new power plant every week for the next 20 years and intends to drill next in the Arctic Refuge and on other public lands.

GLOBALIZATION: ExxonMobil openly advocates “free trade,” including the Free Trade Area of the Americas. Free trade agreements have meant a growing gap between rich and poor, fewer environmental and human rights controls and a global mechanism for pushing fossil fuels onto the developing world. This company is underwriting the Chad Cameroon pipeline project, which has been heavily criticized for its human rights and environmental damage.

More info:
http://www.foe.org.au

Friends of the Earth Melbourne (Australia)
PO Box 222 Fitzroy 3065
312 Smith St Collingwood
Phone: (03) 9419 8700
Fax: (03) 9416 2081
(International: tel. +61 (3) 9419 8700; fax +61 (3) 9416 2081)
www.melbourne.foe.org.au