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Remarks of Mike McCloskey, Sierra Club Chairman, at the Chico Mendes Award Ceremony Thank you all very much for coming this morning, we are happy that you could join us for this important event. This is indeed a special occasion for the Sierra Club. I would like to introduce the special guests we have with us this morning and then I will offer some brief remarks on the Sierra Club's Chico Mendes Award before I return the floor to our guests for their remarks. After the remarks of our guests we will have the presentation of our award. This morning we are honored to have with us Prof. Wole Soyinka, Nigeria's first Nobel Laureate; Congresswoman Maxine Waters; and, Congressman Donald Payne. As some of you may have noticed, the Sierra Club doesn't necessarily give this award every year. So this is a special occasion for us. This award is given when the Sierra Club believes an individual or organization deserves greater recognition for their courage and leadership in protecting the environment. The Chico Mendes Award is named after the late Brazilian rubber tapper and environmentalists who exemplified these qualities. Today's honoree has earned this award many times over. Some of you may also be wondering if this area of interest isn't a stretch for the Sierra Club. After all, isn't our focus on domestic environmental issues? Well, the Sierra Club is greatly concerned with domestic issues. But as our founder John Muir once said, AWhen we pick out any one thing in the universe, we find it attached to everything else@. Many basic freedoms that Americans take for granted are, unfortunately, not universal. Take the right to organize to protect the environment for instance. You know that the Sierra Club has long held that citizen participation in government decision-making is the key to environmental protection. Our grassroots members are the strength of the Sierra Club. So in order for people worldwide to take action to protect their environment, their rights concerning political participation, the freedom to speak and organize -- must be recognized and respected by their governments. Environmental activists must also be free from the threat of retaliation. he Sierra Club has had an International Program for more than 30 years now. And over the years we've worked on a variety of issues -- from World Bank lending policies to population growth to the international trade in tropical timber. But one of the issues that keeps cropping up is the very right of individuals to organize to protect the environment. And lately we've seen too many cases of environmentalists being jailed, beaten, even murdered for trying to protect the environment. In Kenya, Indonesia, Russia, China, Burma, Nigeria, and unfortunately, even in the U.S., environmentalists are being persecuted. This isn't right. So the goal of our international Human Rights and the Environment Campaign is to focus more attention on these courageous individuals and organizations with the hope that exposing some of the misdeeds of multinational corporations or brutal governments will help end the persecution. Let me first say that we should not be here today. If Nigerian environmentalists had the right to protect the environment, we would not be here today. Had not more than 2000 Ogoni men, women and children been killed trying to protect the environment, we would not be here today. Had one of the world's largest and most respected corporations, Royal/Dutch Shell, adhered to the same environmental standards in Nigeria as they are held to in this country, we would not be here today. Had the brutal Nigerian military government not executed one of the country's best-known and most loved poet, writer, and environmentalists, Ken Saro-Wiwa, we would not be here today. But as those of you who have been following this story know, Nigeria's Ogoniland is a tragic place. The military leaders who are plundering the country's treasury don't' follow any rules. Some of the multinational corporations that operate in Nigeria don't follow any rules -- except for one. How much money can they make and how fast can they make it. You know, I am often asked by reporters, or students, how our campaign for environmental justice for the Ogoni is going, or if I really expect the American public to pay attention. My response is that while Americans may not follow or fully comprehend African politics, Americans do understand injustice -- because we have had a lot of that here. And injustice is what Ken's message was and still is, all about. When environmentalists like Chico Mendes of Brazil are murdered, or like Wangari Maathai of Kenya are harassed and beaten... or like Ken Saro-Wiwa of Nigeria are hanged because of their political and environmental activism, the relationship between human rights and environmental protection become all too clear. Like Brazilian rubber tapper and rainforest advocate Chico Mendes, Ken Saro-Wiwa has become an environmental martyr. While Chico Mendes fought the elements bent on destruction of the rainforests, Ken Saro-Wiwa fought the consequences of a world addicted to oil -- and a military government that will stop at nothing to make sure that oil revenues are not interrupted. Ken Saro-Wiwa has become a tragic symbol of our addiction. Shell found oil in Nigeria in 1958. And since that time has extracted more than $30 billion worth of oil from the lands of the Ogoni people. While the royalties from these sales fill the coffers of the Nigerian military, the rich farmland and rivers of Ogoniland have been poisoned by oil spills and the venting of toxic gasses. Meanwhile the Ogoni still lack running water, electricity or adequate schools and health care. Many Shell pipelines pass within inches of Ogoni homes. Shell pulled out of Ogoniland in 1993, but to this day has refused to adequately clean up the mess it left behind. Shell's gas flaring in Ogoni, sometimes in the middle of villages, has destroyed wildlife, plant life, poisoned the air and water, and left residents half-deaf and prone to respiratory diseases. Dr. Wiwa may touch on this in a few minutes. In response to this environmental crisis, Ken Saro-Wiwa and other Ogoni leaders formed the Movement for the Survival of Ogoni People, or AMOSOP@. Their resistance has been met with repression. Saro-Wiwa believed that Royal/Dutch Shell and Nigeria's military government collaborated to exploit the Ogoni. Documents we've collected and reports from former Shell employees seem to confirm this. The members and leaders of MOSOP withstood this oppression and continued the struggle --- in Ken's words, Apeacefully, non-violently, so that no blood of any man would be spilled.@ But many Ogoni lives have been lost in this struggle. In a community of just over 500,000 people, more than 2000 Ogoni have been killed by military troops defending Shell installations from peaceful environmental protestors. When the Nigerian military executed Ken Saro-Wiwa for organizing protests against Shell's pollution, they killed a colleague... and we will not let them get a way with it. Since the execution of Ken Saro-Wiwa, the Nigerian military has increased their numbers in Ogoniland and continues to harass and detain any Ogoni who dares speak Ken's name, or dares to advocate the protection of the Ogoni environment. Since the execution of Ken Saro-Wiwa, Shell has spent millions on public relations and advertising to respond to the public outcry for environmental justice in Ogoni, and million to respond to the Sierra Club call for a boycott of the company. But have they admitted responsibility for their actions? No. Have they admitted to conspiring with the military to silence the Ogoni? No. Have they cleaned up their environmental mess? No. An outstanding report was released on this subject earlier this year by the World Council of Churches (not exactly a group of radicals). The World Council of Churches said that it was Aamazing@ that so much environmental devastation exists in Ogoni. The World Council of Churches said, and I quote: "A[Shell] operates in a country ruled by a repressive military dictator. It is almost unethical for Shell not to use its influence to pressure the government for justice...instead of changing their policies and practices, [Shell] seems more interested in changing their image." The author of this report is with us today. I would like to recognize Dr. Deborah Robinson now for her good work. The Sierra Club believes that Shell should use their influence to see that the 20 Ogoni men now in detention are released. The Ogoni 20 are being held under the same false charges as were used in the kangaroo court trial of Ken Saro-Wiwa. We also believe that Shell should use their influence to see that the Nigerian Military is removed from Ogoni. We do not accept that Shell could abide by one environmental standard in this country and in Europe, and by another, lower standards in Africa. We do not accept that the company could stand idly by as men, women and children were massacred to protect their installations. The Sierra Club rarely gets involved in boycotts, but our members and our Board, identify with the struggle of the Ogoni. We support their struggle for freedom-from-pollution. We support their desire to organize themselves to protect the environment for future generations. Shell never expected the Sierra Club to hear about the Ogoni. Shell hoped to keep it quiet. The Nigerian government hoped to keep it quiet. But Ken's message had already been received. And we will continue to tell the story of the Ogoni, and continue our boycott of Shell until real change has come to Nigeria. It is not enough for Shell to announce a plan to clean up the environment, or a plan to respect human rights. The company has made many such announcements and left it at that, announcements on paper. Actions speak louder than words...we're waiting. The Sierra Club boycott of Shell will continue until:
Furthermore, the Sierra Club calls upon all oil companies operating in Nigeria to use their obvious influence on the Nigerian government to stop the environmental and human rights abuses. The Sierra Club also strongly supports Representative Donald Payne's ANigeria Democracy Act@ H.R. 1786. Sierra Club members have been in Washington this week lobbying their Representatives to cosponsor this important legislation which would impose sanctions against Nigeria. We hope to see a companion bill in the Senate very soon. Today we honor the Nigerian environmental organization that has taught us all about courage and leadership. We hope that by recognizing this organization and their cause, that we may somehow prevent such tragic conflicts from occurring elsewhere in the world. Today we honor the heroes of the Movement for the Survival of Ogoni People with the Sierra Club's Chico Mendes Award for Environmental Courage and Leadership. Please join me in applauding their efforts. Up to Top HOME | Email Signup | About Us | Contact Us | Terms of Use | © 2008 Sierra Club |
