Here's another reason why I am so happy to not drive anymore. Forget the headaches caused by traffic, gasoline costs, repair shops and insurance. What oil companies do to get their product is obscene. They'll ruin any picturesque landscape, bribe any government and in the case of Burma, support the military's cruel dictatorship over the country.
From The Blotter:
The oil companies, who have argued their business in Myanmar helps its citizens, have expressed concern over the crackdown -- and kept their operations going.
U.S.-based Chevron and France's Total, which jointly operate the Yadana natural gas pipeline, issued statements in the last week, expressing "deep concerns" about the situation in Myanmar and calling for a "peaceful resolution."
(snip)
Most of Myanmar's residents are not able to read the statements at the moment. The junta owns the country's telecommunications firms, and on Friday reportedly cut off Internet access for all computers in the country that did not belong to the regime.
Human rights activists urge the oil companies to take a principled stand.
"They need to strongly condemn what the government is doing and make their voices heard," said Arvind Ganesan, director of Business and Human Rights Program at Human Rights Watch. "Being silent isn't constructive engagement."
No amount of PR can save Chevron and other oil giants from their complicity in the situation in Burma. Their operations feed the military junta with money that goes towards the suppression of the Burmese people. It goes towards the weapons that have killed hundreds, if not thousands of peaceful monks. And for decades, it has stopped Burma from being the democracy it yearns to be.
|