Monthly Archives: July 2010

If oil companies paid their way…

4 Replies

I debated whether to post another story about an oil company protest so soon after the one I did a few weeks ago on AB32, but the behavior of oil companies is a hot topic right now and rightfully so. There are many stories coming to light and this one is about more than just the environmental impact, it is about about a devastating financial impact as well. You don’t have to live in California these days to know that the state is in the throes of a $19.1 billion budgetary deficit that has already forced many spending cuts and threatens to implement many more. Jobs are at stake, and social programs and education will also undoubtedly feel the pain.

Rally in front of the Federal Building in Westwood

Now, you reduce deficits by either cutting spending or raising taxes, so what other oil producing states have done is to exact something called an oil severance tax, which is a royalty paid by the oil company for the right to extract the oil from the state’s land and water. The idea is that if you are going to deplete a valuable natural resource from the land, you need to pay for it. Seems fair, and even other oil producing countries have this tax which are usually much higher than the ones imposed in this country.

Family in front of the Federal Building in Westwood

The problem is that the only oil producing state that does not have this severance tax is California. There have been several attempts to rectify this, most recently in 2006 with Proposition 87, which would have implemented a 6% tax on oil extraction. It had widespread support but faced a $95 million campaign funded by oil companies and went down to defeat 54.7% to 45.3%.

Marching on Wilshire Blvd

Lest you think this is a right versus left thing, consider that Gov. Sarah Palin and the Alaska GOP controlled legislature instituted a 25% tax on oil extraction and now have a multibillion-dollar budget surplus. The California 6% tax would have been modest in comparison, and would have raised about $1 billion in annual revenue, but at least it would have been a start. Critics argue that the tax would force prices up, chase oil companies from the state and eliminate jobs, but these are all the red herrings that are always thrown out when oil companies are threatened with a reduction of their massive profits and are debunked quite rightly by those outside the industry.

Protesters wave signs in front of Occidental Petroleum offices

Last Thursday, over a thousand people, made up of union workers from SEIU Local 721, as well as students, childcare workers, school employees, and various community organizations marched from the Federal building in Westwood to the Occidental Petroleum offices a few blocks east on Wilshire and Westwood Blvd. The line of people stretched for blocks as the protesters gathered in front of the offices and emptied small fake bottles of oil at Occidental’s doorsteps.

Dropping fake oil on steps of Occidental Petroleum

When I told people about the rally and march later, several of them asked if something like that actually makes a difference. I responded that the only thing I knew for sure was that if all those folks had stayed home, then absolutely nothing would have been accomplished. At the very least, demonstrations serve to rally the community and to energize those participating, who in turn have a chance to educate others about the situation, just as I am doing here. Not participating is exactly what the oil producers hope for. Maybe with talk once again of instituting an oil severance tax, the time will be right to actually make it happen.

War zone or Louisiana?

4 Replies

We are all happy that at least for now, the leaking of the well has been stopped, barring other leaks and seepage, that is good news. But the story we have been posting about on this site is the PR war BP has waged on the press. It could be easy for all of us to lose interest in this story now that the drama has apparently passed, but if we do that, the most important part of the story may not be told as it should. What are the effects of the spill and what will the effects continue to be on the wildlife, eco-system, residents and clean-up workers in the immediate and surrounding areas.

If journalists cannot get at all the facts, will we know what the true extent of the spill has been, what the effect of the dispersants has been and how to avoid in the future all the numerous mistakes that have been made by both BP and government officials? And will the oil industry continue to get away with saying that they can deal with these situations when we know that cannot? Photojournalist Julie Dermansky provides a second post here on COTP, and gives us a report from the front lines of BP’s PR war and her efforts to get to the truth – Peter.

American flag stained with oil on Dauphin Island Alabama

The Joint information Center after numerous complaints sent out the following statement: “NEW ORLEANS — National Incident Commander Admiral Thad Allen today announced new procedures to allow media free travel within the 20-meter boom safety zones if they have followed simple procedures for credentialing, and provided they follow certain rules and guidelines.”

Boom dislodged by Hurricane Alex floats in Barataria Bay

The Coast Guard’s about face comes just after I finished writing my latest blog entry showing the type of images that would not be possible to take with the rule keeping media 65 feet back from boom which already keeps one back at least 65 feet. It is important for everyone to know what the Coast Guard did and why it was wrong. For a while I thought I was living in a police state run by corporate interests, which added to the horror of the BP oil disaster. I embrace the Coast Guard’s reversal.

Oil on the gulf's service by jsdart. Skimmer boats near the source of the uncapped BP well

I went out with wildlife and fishery agents on July 3rd to get around the new restrictions. As of June 30th, you have to keep 65 feet away from booms or cleanup vessels. We inspected two protected rookeries, Cat Island and Queen Bess. Absorbent booms full of oil washed up on the shore of the islands. I saw only one boat with two men working on fixing the boom at Queen Bess Island. Could it has been that BP private contractors wanted the 4th of July off, just like most federal employees? If I were handling BP’s PR, I’d put cleanup crews on overtime and make sure bird rookeries were cleaned up. A more effective way to stop the dissemination of images of dying creatures might be to stop the oil from getting to the birds’ habitat in the first place. And then there would be no need to take away the media’s first amendment rights.

Crawfish covered in oil found in the marsh in Plaquemines Parish

The pictures that most damage BP’s image are those of oil-stained animals. Those pictures cause President Obama problems too. He had to answer to his daughter who is worried about the pelicans, he pointed out while addressing the press on his second visit to Louisiana.

Sign at a private home on grand Isle

The BP oil spill, the largest, most disastrous spill in United States history, affects us all. That, and the First Amendment, is why restrictions on the press should challenged. We as a society should not let corporate polluters, in this case BP, in cooperation with the government control the media. It’s true that the Joint Information Center, run by BP and the Coast Guard have provided many opportunities to the press, but that does not give them the right to make independent reporting difficult via regulations disguised as public safety rules, or by using intimidation tactics, turning away journalists at every pass as documented many times by those covering the story.

Read here about the Coast guard’s media liaison’s connection to BP’s PR agency.
Listen to what Billy Nungesser has to say about the new restrictions here.
Listen to Anderson coopers outrage about the media restriction here.

bp sign on home of resdient on Grand Isle

Restricted zones, joint information centers, decontamination areas, embedded media: Am I in a war zone or Louisiana? New restrictions on the media made it almost impossible to properly tell the story. Even now with the reversal of the rules, BP reps along side the Coast Guard can still force the media out of any area they deem dangerous, at their discretion. BP has chosen to spend $50 million on PR while leaving the birds on major rookeries in danger. Protecting our national resources should not become a political battle. Should we turn to BP’s hired hack reporters to get our news? See BPs blog here. To those who try to defend the new restrictions I say, go outside with a camera, step back 65 feet from your subject ( an estimate of how far the boom keeps you from your subject before the new rules went in effect) then step back another 65 ft and see what kind of picture you get. After you do that, see if you can get Coast Guard Admiral Thad Allen to disclose which officials asked him to enact these “safety measures.” (Thad Allan is off the hook with the call for him to reveal that information since he has given he retracted his 65 ft rule).

Oil found on dead fish on a beach in Plaquemines Parish

The well is capped for the moment. Questions are already arising about where the well might be leaking elsewhere. In the best case scenario – BP having the oil gush contained, now it is time to focus only on the clean up.   Will it be at BP’s discretion when to call the clean-up a rap? Are their subcontractors to be trusted blindly? I for one plan to go check the cleanup first hand. This story is far from over.

To see a photo essay I created on the oil disaster on The Atlantic’s site click here. The story led to two TV interviews, CNN and Fox and Friends asked me about intimidation factors I have met while covering the disaster.


Green roofs

10 Replies

I’ve been on vacation a week, but before I left Los Angeles I shot a couple of green roofs in downtown and South Central. They were two very different kinds of green roofs, one a Japanese Garden, the other an environmentally designed sustainable roof for city councilmember Jan Perry’s local headquarters. The Japanese Garden on the third floor of the Kyoto Grand Hotel in Little Tokyo is a half-acre of waterfalls and bamboo shaded alcoves, and even has a little stream running through it. And while it is pretty to look at and may even keep the building a bit cooler, the sustainability factor is pretty low as one can only wonder how much energy is used to keep the waterfall and stream constantly flowing. Still if you want to see the novelty of a manicured Japanese rooftop garden with the Los Angeles skyline behind it, take the elevator to the third floor of the hotel, which is located on the corner of Los Angeles Street and 2nd st, and take a little stroll.

Waterfall at the Kyoto Grand Hotel Japanese Rooftop garden

Stream running though Kyoto Japanese Rooftop garden

Driving south from there along South Central Avenue, you come across a striking looking building, and a stark contrast to the rest of the neighborhood it resides in. It is Council District 9 Neighborhood City Hall, the offices for councilwoman Jan Perry. Designed by architect Paul Murdoch, the Leed certified building features a drought tolerant rooftop garden that helps mitigate storm runoff and reduces greenhouse gas emissions. A 7,000 gallon underground cistern also collects rainwater for re-usable irrigation. The courtyard contains eight raised photovoltaic arrays that move during the day to track the sun while shading the space below, and also contains more drought tolerant plants around the perimeter of the gated compound that takes up the whole block.

Drought tolerant green roof garden at the Council District 9 Neighborhood City Hall in South Central Los Angeles

Close-up of drought tolerant garden

Raised solar panels in courtyard of Council District 9 Neighborhood City Hall

As much of a contrast as these two green roofs may be to each other, they are still the exception when you think about all the other urban rooftops out there. This was made even more apparent when last week I was driving through the Berkshires and was surrounded by thousands of acres of rolling hills of green forests and lush valleys. Imagine for a minute if all the flat rooftops in a city like New York or Los Angeles were converted to green roofs. What would that look like? Now what if some or even most those green roofs were actually small urban farms growing fresh fruits and vegetables, like the Eagle Street rooftop farm I shot the other day in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. The impact of this would be tremendous: cooler buildings while lessening the urban heat island effect (a metropolitan area which is significantly warmer than its surrounding rural areas); local grown produce would mean a big reduction of the energy needed to transport them otherwise; improved health by eating better, and a beautiful green urban landscape that would have an enormous affect on greenhouse gases and carbon emissions.

Eagle Street Rooftop Farm is a 6,000 sq ft rooftop urban farm in Greenpoint, Brooklyn

Is this possible? Yes, but probably not anytime soon. One of the reasons is I still think we see them as unique anomalies rather than the norm. Obviously a green roof or a solar array is the smartest alternative to the empty spaces that reside on top of most buildings, but we are not used to seeing them or thinking of them in that way. This is starting to change, but a big factor that needs to alter is something I am starting to call the Visual Aesthetic. This is not some innate aesthetic we are born with, rather it is what we get used to and accept as the norm. When this starts to change, and I believe it is, then we can start to make real progress. More about this in the next few weeks.