The high cost of cheap oil

index 

About this book                             

This book includes a selection of articles published in the World Rainforest Movement's (WRM) Bulletin on the issue of the impacts of oil exploitation on forests and forest peoples.

The level of detail and analysis greatly varies from article to article due to the bulletin's character, which aims at being a useful tool both to people and organizations working at the local level and to those who work at the international level. In spite of that, we decided not to omit any article, in the belief that all of them can help to raise awareness on an issue such as this, of vital importance for the survival of people living in the areas where oil activities take place, and for the future of humanity as a whole.

The authorship of the book is shared by Ricardo Carrere and Alvaro González (from WRM's International Secretariat) and by the numerous people and organizations which either sent us articles or relevant information to produce them, a list of whom is included separately. The WRM assumes responsibility over the mistakes that might have been made.

Regardless of the authorship of the book or the individual articles, the true protagonists are the many thousands of people who suffer from and organize opposition to this destructive activity, which the articles try to reflect. To all of them, our most sincere homage.

Sources                              

It is increasingly evident that oil exploitation is a direct cause of deforestation throughout the world. Every time that new oil reserves are identified in some forest area of the world, it becomes the initial stage of a tragedy that begins by generating conflicts among local communities and ends with the destruction of the local ecosystems.

Thousands of hectares of forest are cut during the first phase (seismic prospection), both in the opening of trails and for the contruction of heliports. Later comes the development of oil-related infrastructure, which not only destroys extensive areas of forest, but even uses local timber as building material. The final stage is oil extraction itself, which results in serious social and environmental impacts.

It is important to highlight that oil exploitation violates the rights of peoples living in the forest -both indigenous and other traditional communities- because governments award oil concessions in their territories, which result in the appropriation of their land and the destruction of the environment they depend upon for their physical and cultural survival. As a response to civil society campaigns, corporations have developed community relations policies with the aim of disguising their attitude towards forest peoples. The effects are, however, exactly the same as in the past: the total degradation of the area and the impacts -sometimes irreversible- on the culture of indigenous peoples and local communities.

Such impacts are more evident in tropical areas, where ecosystems are extremely fragile and where local peoples maintain a strong relationship with the environment on which they depend for their survival. It is important to underscore that the environmental and cultural impacts stemming from the oil industry's activities have in the different tropical regions the same root (oil corporations) and result in a similar behaviour (the extraction of oil at all cost). As a result of such impacts, resistance movements arise in all those regions.

The Oilwatch network was thus created as a need to support all the resistance processes against oil activities in tropical regions, based on a South-South solidarity approach. For Oilwatch no one case is more important than another. Every single place where a resistance process to oil activities exists is important and needs to be supported.

Within that same spirit, the World Rainforest Movement now presents this compilation of articles disseminated through its Bulletin during the past years. These articles show the existing relationship between forest destruction, the violation of communities' rights and the oil industry.

The compilation raises the issue of several peoples of the world who have successfully prevented the presence of oil companies in their territory, such as that of Shell in Ogoniland and Occidental Petroleum in the U'wa territory, among others.

In other cases, it denounces the activities of corporations that have operated in a region for a long time, such as that of Texaco in Ecuador or those who are pushing to initiate large-scale operations, such as Total in Burma (including a gas pipeline to Thailand) and Exxon in Chad (including an oil pipeline to Cameroon).

Other articles refer to the work that environmental organizations are carrying out to defend their protected areas, such as the case of Laguna del Tigre in Guatemala, the Yasuní National Park in Ecuador and the Kirthar National Park in Pakistan.

This publication thus cleary shows both the destructive activities of the oil industry and the local level resistance movements as well as the solidarity efforts to support them at the global level. It also reflects the permanent collaboration and solidarity existing between the WRM and Oilwatch and constitutes an example of South-South solidarity.

Oilwatch International Secretariat

Our viewpoint                                                    

The prevailing development model is to a large extent based on oil, which has been imposed as one of the main energy sources for most human activities (industry, transportation, heating, cooking, etc.). However destructive its extraction and use may be, the main reason for its success is its cheapness. Because it is cheap, its continued use is enhanced and because its use increases, so does its extraction. In theory, oil companies should be extracting less oil to achieve a higher price and hence more profits. However -as happened during the past oil crises- a more expensive oil opens up opportunities for other sources of energy (e.g. solar, wind, biomass) to become economically competitive. And this is something oil companies fear very much.

This would explain why Occidental Petroleum, for instance, insists on trying to drill oil out of the U'wa indigenous peoples' territory in Colombia, in spite of their opposition and the ensuing damaging publicity this is entailing for the company. It would also explain why Shell and other multinationals continue active in the Ogoni territory in Nigeria in spite of the international outcry following the legal murder of Ken Saro Wiwa and the blatant human rights abuses linked to oil in that country. For oil to be cheap, the extraction rate must never diminish and new oil wells need to be identified and explored.

But oil is not cheap at all. It involves huge costs, only that they are not included in the price paid by the final consumers.

The major cost is of course human. In the tropics, oil extraction is carried out in areas inhabited by people. The rights of those peoples are disregarded and their territories are taken over and given in concession by the government to the oil companies. In many cases this leads to struggles against the companies and to official and unofficial repression and human rights abuses.

All the resources which since time immemorial had served to meet the needs of local indigenous peoples are degraded. Drinking water is poisoned. The air becomes polluted. Wildlife becomes scarce. Forests disappear. All this impacts on the health and livelihoods of local people.

Oil extraction at the same time affects the health of the forest ecosystem. Firstly, oil exploration and extraction are direct causes of the deforestation of large areas of tropical forests and of the degradation of the forest as a whole through its impacts on water, air, wildlife and plants. Secondly, the oil activity constitutes an underlying cause of deforestation and forest degradation because it opens up the forest and thus creates the possibility for logging and forest conversion to agriculture and cattle raising.

In sum, local people and local ecosystems are the main -though by no means the only- victims of oil activities. They are not even able to receive the "benefit" of using cheap oil for their cars to carry them around, since they can't afford -and probably never will- to own a car!

At the global level, it is a well-known fact that oil is one of the main causes of the greenhouse effect and is therefore also threatening humanity as a whole. But the predominant economically-oriented model only seems to accept "economically-feasible" -even if socially and environmentally disastrous- solutions. This explains why the establishment is so keen on the "carbon shop" approach: more fossil fuel use and tree plantations to "offset" the resulting CO2 emissions. Never mind the impacts that those plantations will have on people and the environment and never mind that this "solution" will solve nothing: it makes -for them- economic sense.

Within such scenario, there are a large number of entry points for action by people who are really concerned about the future of humanity and about the rights of local peoples. But perhaps one of the major issues is to achieve a moratorium of new oil exploration and extraction, particularly in the tropics. A more scarce oil will increase prices and other energy sources -clean, low-impact, renewable- will be able to make "economic sense". The struggle to this end has already started and the U'wa and the Ogoni are perhaps the more well known- though by no means the only- cases of trying to impose such moratorium in a very concrete way within their territories. Support to such local cases of resistance is therefore essential, both from a local and global perspectives. The cost of cheap oil has become too high to bear.

Three good human beings -Terence Freitas, Ingrid Washinawatek and Lahe'ena'e Gay- were murdered on March 4^th 1999 in Colombia. A FARC guerrilla commander committed this outrageous and senseless crime, which has deserved universal condemnation. We strongly adhere to that condemnation.

The news about these deaths --which add three more inocent victims to the thousants of other inocent people murdered in Colombia-- were carried by all the main news agencies. But they omitted to say why Terence, Ingrid and Lahe'ena'e were there in the first place. They weren't there on a tourist tour, nor were they trying to steal knowledge from indigenous peoples or plants for the biotechnology industry. They were there to support the struggle of the U'wa indigenous people against a giant oil multinational. Non of this was mentioned by the multinational media.

As a sign of respect for the memory of the three people who lost their lives trying to do what they --and we-- believed should be done, it is our duty to focus our attention on the underlying situation which led them to be in violence-torn Colombia.

The people they were supporting --the U'wa-- are totally opposed to oil exploitation in their ancestral lands. As in many other countries, the Colombian government has not legally recognized the rights of these indigenous peoples to their own territory and has consequently opened up the area for oil exploration. The US based oil corporation Occidental Petroleum applied for a permit to drill, which although still pending at the Ministry of the Environment, sparked U'wa resistance to such plans. Both the company and the government are aware about this opposition --which could even end in the U'wa committing collective suicide-- but the possibility of profits for the former and exports for the latter have been more powerful than justice or self-determination.

In order to try to counter the joint strength of a national government and a multinational oil company against the U'wa, their struggle received support from an important number of national and international organizations and also resulted in the creation of the U'wa Defense Working Group, where Terence Freitas served as the coordinator. Both he, Ingrid and Lahe'ena'e had been working with the U'wa before leaving the area and losing their lives to a ruthless guerrilla commander.

Our solidarity to them, to their families and friends must therefore express itself through a continued and increased support to the struggle of the U'wa against oil drilling in their territory, to allow them to live in peace. We are certain that this is what the three would have wished.

We make ours the words of the The Hawai'i Statement, which says: "We extend our deepest sympathy and regards to the family and relatives of these fallen warriors, Lahe'ena'e Gay of the Pacific Cultural Conservancy International, Ingrid Washinawatok of the Menominee Nation, the Indigenous Women's Network and countless other organizations, and Terence Freitas, an environmental activist. Let us all pick up the fallen torches, let us continue the struggle. This fight is for our lands, our precious culture and life-giving sources. That is all we seek. Money and power breeds death and destruction...we do not ask for money or riches. We have our wealth in our lands and our cultural beliefs and values. Please, let us just live in nature, it is our way, it is the only way to preserve a future for our children, grandchildren and the generations yet unborn. We answer the call by other indigenous nations to unite in a concerted effort to protect our earth mother and stop needless killing and violence".

 next page