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Magazine Issue 2 - Winter 1996

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Babylonian Times More joy for Shell The week of November 4-10 saw anti-Shell actions around the world to commemorate the first anniversary of the execution of Ken Saro-Wiwa. On Friday 8th activists closed Gallowgate Shell petrol station in central Newcastle by locking on to the pumps. When thc police cut them free, one protcstor dropped from the roof onto a tanker where she stayec! until Sunday morning. Shell had to get a High Coun injunction to remove her, and the station remained closed for the rest of the weekend. The following Saturday five nice people occupied the ShellMex compund in Jarrow, commandeering and decorating nasty petrol tankers. Ha ha. Latest news: the London Symphony Orchestra is touring the count~, sponsored throughout by Shell. Call Delta on 0116 2253223 BNFL blues Poor old BNFL, just three years after the heavily contested opening of THORP (Sellafield 2 - Thennal Oxide Reprocessing Plant) a legal challenge is being mounted against it again, this time in Ireland. In November the Irish Supreme Court gave unanimous permission tor the Dundalk Four to sue BNFL in the Irish courts for considerable mental distress and psychiatric injury, most especially in the absence of an environmental impact assessment. (Irish Times) Since the report in our last issue (Babylonian Times, p.6) that the vice-prcsidcnt of BNFL's US subsidiary had been publicly extolling the health benef~ts of radiation, BNFL has issued a statement saying that Mr Graham was in fact not speaking in his capacity as V-P of their subsidiary and that his views did not accord with their policy. Presumably he was speaking in his capacity as a prize idiot. (Guardian 21-9-96) This surely begs the question that if BNE;L agrees that radiation is a bad thing, why do they insist on giving everybody so much of it? (see feature this issue). McOwnership? It is with a sigh and a puzzled shake of the head that CW notes McDonalds latest legal adventure. A small Buckinghamshire sandwich shop named McMunchies sells neither burgers nor chips and does not look like a McDonalds outlet; however Mclawyers have claimed that the name might confuse the public and constitutes an abuse of its "good name''. Mary Blair, the shop owner, has decided to fight the case. Meanwhile, in Scotland, I.ord Godfrey Macdonald, chief of the clan MacDonald is making a legal challenge to McDonalds claim that it owns the 'Mc' prefix. He alleges that the corporation's use of his name for its clown mascot is an insult to the scottish clan. How McDonalds hopes to prove its ownership of a name prefix, in use for centuries before the invention of minced cow genitals in a bun, should prove entertaining to watch. Watch out McVities, you could be next...(Scotsman 9-10-96) Why Mitsubishi hates October Every October (and this one was no exception), the annual World Rainforest Week sees activists from all round the world mobilise against Mitsubishi's involvement in forest destruction and subsequent human rights abuses and cultural genocide. Corporate offices, banks, university of fices and even sponsored pro-basketball games were faced with banner drops, lock-one and general disruption. Seven activists held a log export site up for a whole day, they were arrested, held with $25,000 bail each and charged with sabotage of inter-state trade! (Rainforest Acrion Nenvork, 12/96) Eco-Tour company trashes trees Conservation Corporation, a South African company calling itself "Africa's leading eco-tourism enterprise" has been exposed sanctioning the felling of 60,000 teak and mahogany trees to lay power cables to it's hotel overlooking Victoria Falls. "We should have tnple checked meet. Illegal trade in endangered species, substances ~ everything, but we which deplete the ozone layer and hazardous waste un- A didn't" said Stevc dermines the aims of major international agreements _ ~ Fltzgerald, an exaimed at protecting the environment. We have got _ ~ecutlve tor the to make sure that we in the UK are enforcing trade _ ~ company. restrictions under these agreements effectively _ ~ ~ The Telegraph and look for any improvements in 28-11-96. Neurotoxic NAFTA? In one of the most bizarre (mis)uses of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), Ethyl Corporation of Virginia has filed notice of intent to sue the Canadian government over proposed legislation to ban the potentially dangerous gasoline additive MMT. Ethyl, once the world's leading manufacturer of lead additive for petrol and the only maker of MMT claims that the proposed ban is discriminatory against foreign producers and that the global bad publicity stemming from the proposal has harmed its good will worldwide. The company asserts that the danger of MMT has not been scientifically established (although manganese, a key constituent, is neurotoxic) and is suing under a NAFTA provision that allows an investor to sue a government directly for NAFTA violations that harm its interests. Canadian opponents of NAFI~A are close to seeing their fears of subordination of national regulatory sovereignty to the trade agreement become realised. Did Pnme Minister Jean Chretien not once state that he would tear up the deal if it hurt his government's ability to protect the health of Canadians or the environment? (Multinational Monitor, Oct. 1996) They've learned The following article appeared in the news a few weeks ago: "Two children \vandalised 19 cars \after a lesson at school about the dangers of air pollution. They use stones to scratch Porsches, Mercedes and BMWs in an underground car park at a block of flats in Kensington . Causing £15,000 worth of damage police source said :' 'as the 9 year old girl and her 11 yea, old friend were playing in the car park she told him exhaust fumes were damaging to the environment and they hatched a plot to exact their revenge.' Police cannot take action aginst the girl as she is under the age of criminal responsibility. Hezza's Hole The Miners Support Group has lodged a planning application to develop a 68-acre opencast mine in the grounds of Michael Heseltine's luxury retreat Thenford Hall, and have already dug a 'preliminary borehole' to test water levels. This is the man who sacked thousands of deep-pit tniners in the 80s in favour of opencast. In the relevant planning guidelines there must be very good reason to turn down Open Cast Mining proposals, so the MSG could soon be digging out an estimated million tonnes of coal and making a suitably large ho]e. Alternatively, however, Hezza's objections could be used to block similar mines across the country. As one of the diggers said: "We welcome Mr Heseltine's opposition to opencast mining in this beautiful area but we would like to see him oppose it elsewherc - on public land in Yorkshire, Derbyshire and in other areas." Glad to be Global Warming At a conference organised by oil companies including Shell and BP ir was suggested that global warning could bring economic advantage to many western countries. Yale University economists argued that the benefits brought by climate change may far outweigh the potential losses for mid-latttude countries due to agricu]tural improvement. The biggest winners of all could be countries such as Canada, the USA, and Russia who have the worst records of greenhouse gas production. (Independent 10-10-96) Meanwhile, in its contribution to thc debate, Mobil Corp is criticising the UN for promoting an 'unwarranted' sense of environmental crisis, and calls for a '100-year plan' to deal with the 'potential threat' (sic). fEarth Island Journal, [all '96) Disney: fun for all families? In Thailand, Disney contractor The Eden Group, fired 1,145 of their own workers in order to take advantage of lower cost subcontractors, 10 of which were found to employ child labour. Not very 'family-oriented' there. Disney is also supporting the Burmese military dictatorship - its children's clothing comes from a factory which is 45% owned by the state. (Campaign for Labor Rights, 1247 "E" Street SE, Wushington, DC 20003) Elsewhere in Burma... French oil company Total (partly owned by the French government) says that its US$] billion gas pipeline will be completed by 199g. A recent documentary by the investigative journalist John Pilger exposed the use of slave and child labour during in the building of the pipeline, which runs from an offshore gas field overland to Thailand. This doesn't bother Total, who will he paying US$200 million annually in taxes straight to Burma's brutal military regime. (Reuters 13/11796) See page 30 for the Burma Pepsi Challenge. Children targeted by Junk food adverts British children see 10 food adverts an hour on tv, a survey by Consumers International has rcvealed. The figure is the highest in Europe - France had 8 and the Netherlands only 4. Tv advertising aimed at young children is banned in Sweden and Norway. The report also revealed that nearly 95~o of the foods advertised were high in sugar, salt and fats. Advertising for healthy foods, such as fruit and vegetables were almost nonexistent. Project coordinator Lucy Harris said, "this completely goes against all the efforts of parents, teachers and health educators to promote healthy eating." (New Scientist,11/96) Price cap windfall The National Grid is intending to cut 750 jobs, 50% more than anticipated. The Grid's Chairman David Jeffries confirmed the decision to accept the regulator's plan of price caps imposed last summer, reducing the company's revenue and forcing them to cut costs. However slightly less easily explicable is how the cost cutting necessitates raising of the shareholders' dividend by 8.3% at a cost of £76 million. Jeffries went on to say that in setting dividends and looking at the Grid's financial strength, the directors would ensure shareholder returns 'remain their priority'. The Guardian, 27/1]/96 Texaco in the dock US oil company Texaco ceased operations in Ecuador 5 years ago, leaving behind hundreds of waste pits filled with arsenic, lead and other toxins. A lawsuit has been filed in New York on behalf of the indigenous people and settlers of the Ecuadorian Amazon, to sue the company for $1 billion to repair the damage and to compensate the residents. If the judge agrees to hear the suit, it will be the first trial of an American corporation for causmg envlronmental damage in a developing country. (World Rainforest Report, 10/96). Gummer Gushes Launching the seminar, Combating Environmental Crime, Environment Secretary John Gummer said: "Crimes against the environment are crimes against the most important inheritance we have - the very planet we live on. The central functions of Government are to defend our country from attack, and to maintain social order. Environmental crime and combating it come precisely into this same category. It is the first duty of Government to ensure that the freedom and choice of its people are not irredeemably dama~ed bv crimes aaainst their environ-enforce- _ fnent that can be made." Unfortunately he failed to announce any new legislation to combat the problem he so eloquently outlined. _ (Hermes - UKgovernment press release 16-10-96 Dirtiest Fuel for Drax In spite of resistance from local councillors and pollution watchdogs National Power to go ahead with trials of burning pet-coke fuel at Drax power station near Selby, North Yorkshire. This lovely stuff is a by-product of the US crude oil refining process, and is saidto be four times dirtier than the thoroughly disgusting Orimulsion. It contains nickel, a carcinogen, and vanadium, a respiratory irritant; but National Power claims 99.9% of those harmful substances would stay in the ashes and would not be released in the atmosphere. With a logic that would have made Aristotle choke on his onzo David Leach, engineerng manager at Drax, said, "We aren't about to commit environmental suicide. If importing pet-coke is at the expense of the environment, we wouldn't burn it." However, he also admitted that sulphur dioxide emissions would increase by 50%. (European Energy Report 13-9-96) Carry on Consuming Californian utility company Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) is warning customers that if they starl general ing their own power they will have to pay the company an "exit fee" to compensate it for "lost income". This is in response to the marketing by former exec Eugene Satrap of devices which burn pollutant gases to break them down and simultaneously generate energy. Satrap was fired in 1990 for revealing that the company had paid inflated prices for Canadian gas. Meanwhile PG&E have joined forces with thc San Francisco construction finn Bechtel to form Intergen. They are going to build more power stations all over the place, including the UK. Manchester is the site for a $450m, 725 hIW power station, which will burn natural gas to gcncrate electricity (brilliant idea); not for the people of Manchester but lor their favourite chemical company ICI. (Earth Isla,~d Journal, Fall '96) Corporation 3. a. Law. A body corporate legally authorised to act as a single individual; an artificial person created by royal charter, prescription, or act of the legislature, and having authority to preserve certain rights in perpetual succession. Corporation 6. The body; the abdomen; esp. when large and prominent. colloq. and vulgar. 1753 T. SMOE~~TT Ct. Fathom (1813) I. 156 Sirrah! my cormade up of good wholesome .... 1870 C.H. SPURGEON David Ps. xvii. 10 Eglon was nstance that a well-fed corpo poration is English fat Treasury of a notable i ration is no security in life. (Oxford English Dictionary) "Pure Genius" village evicted The eco-village at Wandsworth was finally evicted on 18th October after nearly six months of sustainable permaculture, low-impact home building and great parties. An attempt by Guinness to turn the bulldozed site into a giant Safeway has just been rejected. (The Land Is Ours) Ta' Mac Special Projects Director of Tarmac plc, Robert Osborne has landed a job at the NHS, overseeing the application of the Private Finance Initiative to the building of hospitals - for which Tarmac plc is a bidder. Ooops! TrAshton Court On the 31st July North Somerset planning committee voted to let Pioneer Aggregates expand their Drunkard Quarry (sic) by another twenty acres into Ashton Court, a public park for the people of Bristol. Even the council don't believe that the proposed translocation of the threatened meadow will work. Contact Avon Gorge EF! on 01225 448556/314040. Fishermen Condemn Supermarket Greenwash The National Federation of Fishermen's Associations in the UK has condemned supermarkets and manufacturers such as Sainsbury, Unilever and McVities for claiming to support the WWF's fisheries conservation proposals whilst engaging in commercial practices which overexploit fish stocks. The companies are telling processors that they must buy whole, portion-sized fish, instead of cutting adult fish into portions, which creates a demand for juvenile fish which have not spawned (Eurofood 14-8-96) They're bigger, they're badderbut it's ok, they're cheaper too Following heavy lobbying by road haulage suppliers and users, the government announced proposals this month to increase lorry weight limits from 38 to 44 tonnes. Although in theory this means fewer lorries to carry the same amount of goods, in practice it may even increase the number as the cost of road freight relative to rail falls. The proposals have also been criticised for the impact they will have on country towns and villages, for increased danger to pedestrians, for the rate at which they will wear out the road, and for the diversion of funds from public transport to bridge strengthening. (Telegraph, 3/12/96) International No Shop Day ...spilled over from November 29th into Saturday 30th, with actions all across the country. More than 50 people did no shopping at MeadowHell in Sheffield, while the Arndale Centre in Manchester was invaded by aliens perplexed at the frantic activity based around needless consumerism. A living room (complete with walking TV) was also set up in London's Kensington High Street. Contact Enough, One World Centre, 6 Mount Street, Manchester M2 SNS BP Denies Colombian Repression Richard Howitt, Labour MEP, has called for BP's licences to be suspended. He a]so told of BP videos of protectors being passed to the military leading to "disappearances", of lethal tactics used by the Colombian military, and of appalling environmental damage to the Casanare region caused by BP's operations. BP said that it had no option but to pay for anny protection at some of its more controversial sites. (Daily Telegraph 25-iO-96) And in Rome In Mid-November, tile a governments of tile world asked for the objective and well informed organisations, Cargill,Nestle, Ciba-Gcigy, Unileveretc. how to feed the worlds poor. They were given the answer 'free trade and biotechnology'. Thank goodness for the experts. While the World Food Summit was taking place, farmers, campaigners and activists were also chatting nearby at the Hunger Gathering. They came up with a different answer but everyone ignored them. Until... Chaos broke out throughout the Summit as naked protcstors ran amok and monuments were decorated with rotting meat. Splendid.