Richmond, CA – Representatives of Direct Action to Stop the War, Richmond community members affected by ChevronTexaco’s refinery, Labor, and citizens concerned with ChevronTexaco’s worldwide operations held a press conference in front of the Chevron Refinery at 841 Chevron Way today at 11am to announce a massive non-violent direct action to shut down the company headquarters in San Ramon on April 14th, and to expose the corporation’s connections to the war in Iraq and the chemical assault on communities in Richmond and around the world.
ChevronTexaco, the largest corporation in California and the second largest energy company in the world is poised to profit off of the misery of the people in Iraq as it has off the misery of people in the US and around the world. ChevronTexaco, due to its close alliance with the Bush Administration, is well-positioned to exploit its stated interest in the country’s lucrative oil reserves.
Condoleezza Rice, National Security Advisor of the Bush Administration is a former director of ChevronTexaco and continues to maintain strong ties to the company. Chevron and Texaco executives advised Vice President Dick Cheney on energy policy, both directly through the Energy Task Force and through the companies close ties to the conservative think-tank, The Council on Foreign Relations.
This past Saturday, ChevronTexaco’s CEO, David O’Reilly told Reuters that ChevronTexaco would be interested in any tender rights to develop Iraq’s abundant oil resources if there was a “legitimate government” in place in Baghdad. “But until such a circumstance arises, I can see very little reason why a
company would be interested,” he told Reuters in the new Kazakh capital Astana. O’Reilly failed to mention that ChevronTexaco had been refining Iraqi crude in Richmond until last month.
If ChevronTexaco has its way, much of the new crude from Iraq, secured through a bloody war, will get processed in Richmond, where communities of color are subject to daily assault of toxins from the ChevronTexaco refinery, the biggest polluter in Richmond. “Chevron’s refinery is the largest bay area refinery. As a major source of pollution, toxic release, and major industrial accidents over the past 30 years, Chevron, now ChevronTexaco, has lied and cheated the residents of our community out of our basic right to quality air,” said Gayle Mclaughlin, a Richmond resident and member of the Richmond Greens.
Since ChevronTexaco is waging a war on communities at home and abroad, they have been declared the next target of anti-war protests by the Bay Area anti-war movement. Gopal Dayeneni with Direct Action to Stop the War said, “We refuse to give up on the innocent Iraqi’s and innocent service men and women who are being sent off to kill and die in a war for oil being waged by a government serving only corporate interests. We have to defend our democracy. At a time when communities suffer dirty air from refineries and there is no money for schools or healthcare, President Bush has us stuck in a $200 billion war.”
On Monday April 14th, Bay Area residents will shut down the corporate offices of ChevronTexaco in San Ramon to send a message to the corporation that business as usual and war profiteering cannot proceed as people are dying in Iraq. John Dalrymple, Executive Director of the Contra Costa Labor Council said, “Let’s remember that our Constitution states that we have the right to freely assemble. It is very important that we exercise that right when called to do so.”
