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Accountability for BP: Lessons From LondonFeaturing James Marriott06/14/2010
Position(s) nominated for: Movement 
Four-Minute Preview
This Conversation, our 78th in this series, was a collaboration between Voice of Vashon Community Radio, The Backbone Campaign, and www.ProsperityAgenda.us. Thank you each! The BP Gulf oil spill continues to spread, destroying entire ecosystems and economies. However, since corporations, including oil companies, have the primary voice in the passage of laws in our country it's not clear that our government will do anything useful in this tragic moment. Oil companies' record breaking profits began in the early years of the Bush gang, and have continued apace, so they are more powerful than ever. Without new citizen actions, elected officials will not hold BP -- and other oil companies -- fully accountable for the devastation and destruction they have caused. Without effective pressure from citizens, the Obama Administration and Congress members won't pass laws with teeth, laws that move our country rapidly away from burning fossil fuels. Fortunately, brilliant activists have been working on this issue for years, and new projects have begun. See below for a partial list of resources which include: the Backbone Campaign's creative tools and imagery on boycotting BP, YES Magazine's list of Six Things to Do About the BP Gulf Oil Spill, a recent Nation article by Michael Klare, a Democracy Now program on the 20 year anniversary of the Exxon Valdez oil spill, Oil Change International's website link, and my personal favorite, a delightful book by Rebecca Solnit on using our two feet to get from here to there; it's called "Wanderlust: A History of Walking." And so, in spite of our heartbreak and despair, it is our responsibility as citizens to strengthen our collective resolve, and to create unprecedented opportunity from the BP Gulf oil spill. By considering BP's plummeting fortunes as a chance for the change in energy and transportation policy that's needed, we can utilize this tragedy for transformative and targeted actions that will build our fossil fuel free future. But we need to know more. Who are BP's leaders, what are its government ties in the U.S. and in its home base, London? How are BP's fortunes linked to governments, to other oil companies, but also to ordinary people's communities, pension funds and personal finances? We cannot count on mainstream media to learn most of this important information. And so we turn to this Conversation. For this Conversation, we had the honor of speaking with James Marriott, a co-director of London-based PLATFORM. James was our guest four years ago in a Conversation about art and activism. But PLATFORM also became a prominent oil watch group when it launched Unravelling the Carbon Web in 2000. James Marriott is an expert on BP. In this Conversation, we asked James to share his perspective and knowledge on BP in this critical time. Diane Wittner Co-Producer Conversations with the Cabinet
Additional Actions and Resources:
Liberate Tate, Good Crude Britannia
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