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Don't Buy ExxonMobil! |
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THE GREEN PARTY OF THE UNITED STATES Contacts: GREEN PARTY: DON'T BUY EXXONMOBIL! WASHINGTON, DC -- Greens across the country have organized a Day of Action as part of the rolling campaign against ExxonMobil. The Day of Action is scheduled for Wednesday, October 23, 2002. On Saturday, October 19, Greenpeace, Students for Tibet, and other nonprofit organizations hit the streets protesting in 40 cities across the U.S. in an effort coordinated by the Stop ExxonMobil Alliance (SEMA), a network of environmental, human rights and pro-democracy groups. "Green candidates and other party members will promote the boycott against ExxonMobil, citing its pernicious power over national policy," said Annie Goeke, cochair of the International Committee of the Green Party of the United States. "Since April 2001, Greens worldwide have been boycotting ExxonMobil because of its profit-driven denial of the science of global warming and obstruction of government action to limit the use of fossil fuels. It's time for concerned citizens to hear the truth and to take a stand by not buying gas from Global Warming Public Enemy No. 1." "It's an ideal chance for Greens in the fever of their election campaigns to show how ExxonMobil exercises its lobbying power over our national government," said Jane Hunter, Green candidate for borough council in Bound Brook, New Jersey. "ExxonMobil donated $1.3 million dollars to political candidates and the parties in the 2000 races. Bush's planned war against Iraq is connected to oil -- ousting Saddam Hussein would create a windfall for U.S. oil companies such as ExxonMobil and ChevronTexaco. ExxonMobil recently won a $47.8 million contract to supply gasoline, diesel fuel, and motor oil to U.S. and NATO forces." In the last 5 years, ExxonMobil has spent $47 million on lobbying officeholders. These efforts paid off in 2001 when President Bush pulled the U.S. out of further Kyoto Treaty talks, the only international agreement to address global warming. On February 14, 2002, the White House issued the Global Climate Change Initiative which echoed ExxonMobil's own rhetoric. In April, Dr. Robert Watson, an outspoken advocate of change in global energy policies, was removed as chair of the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, in response to a memo from ExxonMobil to Bush officials. Over 530 Green Party candidates are running for office across the U.S. and discussing the control of corporations over democratic process. On Wednesday, many of them will issue statements, press releases, and letters to the editor urging the public to stop buying ExxonMobil until they accept the following demands: 1. Support the Kyoto Protocol, and stop sabotaging international efforts to address global warming. 2. Develop and adopt a human rights policy with an explicit commitment to support and uphold the principles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. 3. Stop drilling and pipeline construction in pristine frontier lands and waters, such as the coastal plain of the Arctic Refuge. 4. Eliminate the trespass of health-threatening chemicals from ExxonMobil's refineries and facilities into communities where people live, work and play. 5. Stop giving corporate political campaign donations and taking billions of dollars in taxpayer subsidies for environmentally and socially destructive projects. MORE INFORMATION search: evpol, gbl, cpr |
