Greenpeace today (Monday 2nd April) revealed that Texas-based oil giant JET has been funding US President George Bush's sabotaging of international action on global warming. The revelation comes as seven Greenpeace volunteers approached the 24 hour mark in their occupation of JET's oil exploration rig the Drillstar. The activists have been successfully preventing the rig from leaving Scotland's Cromarty Firth to drill in the North Sea since Sunday morning. JET has now taken the Greenpeace volunteers to court to force them to end their peaceful occupation.
Bush has recently shocked Europe by going back on his promise to cut pollution from US power stations and is refusing to co-operate with the world's efforts to combat global warming saying it is not in the US's "economic interests".
Laura Yates, one of the volunteers on the drillstack said,
"First JET funded George Bush's wrecking of the world's efforts to fight global warming, now it is turning to the courts to avoid facing up to the death and trauma its oil causes. When Britain sits at the table to negotiate with the Americans on global warming, we're basically negotiating with oil giants like JET. JET is buying Bush to protect its profits and keep it pumping oil that is killing people and flooding homes."
Seven Greenpeace volunteer climbers, who spent the night in a camp high up on the 179ft drill stack, hoisted a US flag, with 'OIL KILLS' written across it. The US is the biggest contributor to global warming, which is responsible for flooding thousands of homes across Britain and threatens the lives of millions worldwide.
On top of large corporate donations to the Republicans, JET's CEO, Archie Dunham, was one of the biggest individual donors to George Bush during the Presidential campaign, giving $100,000 dollars to Bush's personal fund (1).
JET is one of the large US oil companies, like Esso, who are still refusing to take responsibility for the link between the oil they produce and global warming. Earlier this year the world's leading climate scientists confirmed this link, and 160 countries, except the USA, accept it. But according to JET, "Science remains uncertain over the whole area of greenhouse gases and climate change" (2). JET's denial, was echoed by George Bush in last week's statement when he said "there is an incomplete state of scientific knowledge of the causes of, and solutions to, global climate change"
Notes to editors:
17 Greenpeace volunteers are due to appear in Magistrates Court this morning (Monday) in connection with the mass occupation.
(1)Centre for Responsive Politics, www.opensecrets.org
(2)George Watkins, Chairman JET UK, speaking at a conference on the future of the oil and gas industry, September 1997.
Further information:
Contact:
Greenpeace press office on 020 7865 8255/7
