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Chairman's Remarks at Sierra Club Award Ceremony



   REMARKS of MIKE MCCLOSKEY
   Chairman
   Sierra Club
   
   Chico Mendes Award Ceremony
   
   106 Dirksen Senate Office Building
   Wednesday, Sept. 17, 1997
   10:00 a.m.
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          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, "When 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. 
   
          The 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 
   "MOSOP".  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,  "peacefully, 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 "amazing" that so much 
   environmental devastation exists in Ogoni.
   
          The World Council of Churches said, and I quote:
   
          "[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:
   
          (1) Royal/Dutch Shell has cleaned up existing pollution in Nigeria so 
   that it is no longer a public health or environmental hazard.
   
          (2) Shell has agreed that future operations in Nigeria will conform to 
   standards no weaker than those they would be required to meet in the United 
   States for similar operations.
   
          (3) Shell has paid fair compensation directly to the peoples adversely 
   affected by their activities in Nigeria.
   
          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 
   "Nigeria 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.
   
   
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