July 4. U.S. Day of Independence. What’s more ‘American’ than … Chevron Corporation? It’s pretty much always in the top 5 of U.S. based corporations. It’s deeply involved with everything having anything to do with energy or power. Oil, gas, geothermal. You name it, Chevron’s there, but not like a good neighbor. It’s got history, […]
In a video posted today on BBC News, the BBC’s International Development Correspondent Mark Doyle is shown in a helicopter, bullet proof vest atop of the foreign correspondent’s uniform–the baby-blue shirt, ‘flying low’ over what Doyle describes as ‘possibly the largest crime scene in the world’. Invited by Shell, and accompanied by some of its […]
Video of a worthwhile lecture (recorded in February this year) by Berkeley geographer Michael Watts breaking down the workings of the oil industry. In the lecture–titled “Dispossession and Oil Violence”– Watts riffs off David Harvey’s explanation of the workings of neoliberalism, challenges the “the resource curse” theory, makes fun of Paul Collier’s ideas, and gives his […]
“Nigeria is the world’s 8th largest producer of crude oil, yet remains one of its poorest nations — an estimated 70 percent of its 150 million residents live below the poverty line. The environment is paying a steep price as well. An estimated 500 million gallons of oil have spilled into the delta — the […]
It’s Friday so here’s some links and stories I have managed not to give the proper treatment to this week. * What’s Jeffrey Gettleman problem? This week he has a story in The New York Times about Somalia’s Radio Mogadishu, “the one and only relatively free radio station in south central Somalia where journalists can […]
It’s the 49th anniversary of Nigeria’s independence from Britain this weekend. From the outset the colonial leaders wanted to prevent the country from developing, but the new leadership class has not been any different. The management of oil revenues plays a big part in Nigeria’s development. From the time of independence–when oil was discovered–until 1999, […]
