No Alien Tort Liability for Corporations??

by rebb

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit recently dealt a serious, perhaps, mortal blow to the Alien Tort Statute.  

continued at Daily Kos...

EcoJustice: It's more than BP.

by rb137

And it's more than the Gulf of Mexico. Big Oil is plundering land and destroying lives all over the world -- and as bad as the Gulf spill is, it is the tip of an iceberg compared to damage across the globe. The photo at left is a river in the Niger delta that is contaminated by oil -- where over 9 million barrels of oil have been spilled in the last 50 years.

In Nigeria's Agony Dwarfs Gulf Oil Spill, John Vidal reports that majors spills are a daily occurrence in Nigeria, which has 606 oil fields, and supplies 40% of the crude imported by the United States. In fact, more oil is spilled from the Nigerian Delta's terminals, pipes, pumping stations, and oil platforms every year than has been lost in the Gulf of Mexico.

Photo credit, Getty Images.

continued at Daily Kos...

Niger Delta: Exxon-Mobile, Shell, BP: Oil for Nothing

by LaFeminista

It goes to show the economic might of the US and the advantage of having a relatively uncorrupted government and legal system when dealing with industrial pollution on a catastrophic scale.

The US government is demanding BP set aside $20 billion in a fund for the clean up of the Gulf blow-out.

Say we take the worst case of 100,000 barrels a day or around 12,500 tons a day.

This gives a total of 690,000 tons since the spill began, low end estimates are around a quarter of that say 175,000 tons. Horrifying to say the least no matter which figure you take, and it may well destroy BP as a company, however:

This pales into insignificance compared to the Niger Delta where significant environmental vandalism has been going on for nearly 50 years.

In 2006 alone approximately 1,500,000 tons were spilt into the delta.

Nigerian sweet crude probably the best there is provides around 40% of our oil requirement in the US.

The whole oil pipework system, hundreds of miles of it, are rotting and falling apart. Drilling is moving towards more isolated and deeper areas, thus compounding the problem.

And you know what?

Nobody really gives a damn.

Compensation so far $0, if you exclude buying the Nigerian Government.

continued at Daily Kos....

I'm so sad. Floating doom, sign of things to come? (no pics)

by Gorette

Grief. That, on the edge of the rage. Feels like getting ripped up inside. I don't even live on the coast, but in Florida it's not that far as the crow flies. Encroaching slicks of oil are floating doom. What in hell are we doing? Oil corporations endanger our planet. Are they beyond the law or do they just act that way? It's not just here, but everywhere. They get away with worse elsewhere! Here, our media and culture are not letting them get away with hiding it all, as hard as they have tried, $50 million ad campaigns and all. What does this signal for our future here on earth? What does it say about us? Unbelievable. Just now: Out my window I spotted a gaggle of white geese across the lane! Never before. Beautiful creatures, escapees? Another day four wild turkeys were feet away from where I sit. Ancient looking dino type creatures! More below.

continued at Daily Kos....