BP sponsorship puts the BM in the firing line. The British Museum today came under fire as members of "London Rising Tide" converged on a BP sponsored exhibition at the museum in central London. Members of the group explained that the action was intended to raise awareness among those visiting the BP sponsored exhibition of BPs global activities.
Activists converged on the BP sponsored exhibition abnout memory housed in the British Museum to unmask the global politics of the giant oil company BP. First posing as BP representatives and handing out spoof reports, we engaged the visitors in debate. Many refused to take what they believed was a real BP report, explaining that the actions of BP around the world were utterly reprehensible. Cheered as these citizens were to learn that we were not BP but members of Rising Tide, our friends in security took a dim view of the increasingly voluble proceedings and asked us to leave. We were manhandled out of the exhibition room, down the ridiculous spiral staircase into the vulgar new domed forecourt.
The police had been called, and secirity guards tried to remove the now fully unfurled banner "BP Sponsors Climate Chaos", arguing that they owned the space we were in and that we had no right to protest there. Determination won through and we were granted a "victory lap" of the domed space. We continued our presence outside the museum for a couple of hours, handing out leaflets about BP and Baku. Stickers have now livened up the dull stone facades of these thumping great Victorian buildings. On arrival the police immediately focused their attentions on a couple of us, including our camera man, but left once it became apparent that they hadn't a hope in hell of charging us.
This is part of a campaign to alert people to the serious issues surrounding oil consumption, transportation and extraction. In the ever more bloody "aftermath" of the latest Gulf war, and in the 120 day consultation period for the BTC pipeline, it is essential that "No Blood For Oil" does not fade away with all the other slogans chanrted on the marches. There is blood, torture, repression and environmental degradation for oil every day round the world, from Colombia to Chechnya.
For too long these issues hae been pigeon-holed as "environmental " or "green" as if they were not intimately linked with every detail fo our individual lives, and of our country's foreign policy. There has to be a fundamental change in the way we live and relate to other people, as individuals and as nations. We are putting these issues back where they deserve to be: top of the agenda.
The police had been called, and secirity guards tried to remove the now fully unfurled banner "BP Sponsors Climate Chaos", arguing that they owned the space we were in and that we had no right to protest there. Determination won through and we were granted a "victory lap" of the domed space. We continued our presence outside the museum for a couple of hours, handing out leaflets about BP and Baku. Stickers have now livened up the dull stone facades of these thumping great Victorian buildings. On arrival the police immediately focused their attentions on a couple of us, including our camera man, but left once it became apparent that they hadn't a hope in hell of charging us.
This is part of a campaign to alert people to the serious issues surrounding oil consumption, transportation and extraction. In the ever more bloody "aftermath" of the latest Gulf war, and in the 120 day consultation period for the BTC pipeline, it is essential that "No Blood For Oil" does not fade away with all the other slogans chanrted on the marches. There is blood, torture, repression and environmental degradation for oil every day round the world, from Colombia to Chechnya.
For too long these issues hae been pigeon-holed as "environmental " or "green" as if they were not intimately linked with every detail fo our individual lives, and of our country's foreign policy. There has to be a fundamental change in the way we live and relate to other people, as individuals and as nations. We are putting these issues back where they deserve to be: top of the agenda.
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05.07.2003 21:33
www.earthfirst.org.uk/manchester/baku
It includes a list of the companies involved in the pipeline, and many of their addresses. Only a few months remaining to put pressure on the financial institutions, in their "consultation period".
For background, also check out www.baku.org.uk
and the 'Some Common Concerns' on the Rising Tide pages in the above post.
love n rage n stuff
RT
Homepage:
http://www.earthfirst.org.uk/manchester/baku
More from the visit + leaflet text
05.07.2003 22:05
Earlier on, posing as one of 2 BP sponsorship experts making an unannounced visit to our exhibition, (ie. wearing a suit, bright red shirt and matching spoof-logo'd sunglasses), I'd caused a bit of confusion amongst punters and security guards as to whether I was really from BP, or with the supposedly random camera-wielding or anti-BP argument wielding protesters. A Museum employee said this was neither the time nor place to make such an, er, exhibition, and to be spoiling people's contemplative enjoyment. I disagreed. After all, taking action now could result in the eventual cancellation of the Baku-Ceyhan pipeline, which would be an incredible shot in the arm for all of us struggling for environmental and social justice, and struggling to see the end of oil. It's true what they say: if not now, when?
And here's the text of the leaflet we gave out inside and outside the museum:
How much do you know about BP, sponsor of the British Museum?
If most of your knowledge has come from BP itself, or from the institutions it sponsors, it might be worth digging a bit deeper before giving the company a clean bill of health. Many people believe that BP (not to mention the entire oil industry) causes human rights violations, ecological devastation and the growing destabilisation of the world’s climate, (also known as global warming).
But the company is vulnerable: for example, its flagship Baku-Ceyhan pipeline could be stopped by people like you and me…
Left: BP boss Lord Browne, whose salary in 2002-3 was £3.37m.
Right: Carlos Arrigui, Colombian peasant activist, assassinated by paramilitaries in 1995 after he led an anti-BP protest.
“We want to simply say that BP is a bad company; when BP is based in West Papua, Indonesia can send more military to “protect” BP and then kill us. BP is creating pollution in West Papua. BP will kill our forest and our sea. BP must get out of West Papua. BP are coming and offering “development”. They are bringing more schools, hospitals, roads, airports, pollution, money and western goods. We do not want these. They will cause us more problems. We are just fine how we are. We are not asking for development. We are not asking for BP. What we are asking for is Freedom.” From a statement made by DeMMaK (Koteka Tribal Assembly) Spokespeople on BP’s Tangguh natural gas project in West Papua, March 2003
Blood on the exhibits?
8 facts BP would rather you didn’t know:
BP bankrolls Colombian paramilitary death squads in exchange for the ‘protection’ of its oilfields.
BP’s planned Baku-Ceyhan oil & gas pipelines, if built, would be a human rights disaster and produce over 150 million tonnes of CO2 every year for 40 years, causing untold damage to the world’s climate. (More info: www.baku.org.uk)
BP invests less than 1% of its annual budget on solar and other renewable energy sources, a great deal less than what they spend on advertising and public relations.
BP has been investigated by the Health & Safety Executive (HSE) for serious and widespread safety breaches at its UK refineries. In 2002, the HSE fined it £1m for these breaches.
‘BP and Shell have discussed with the government the prospect of claiming a stake in Iraq's oil reserves in the aftermath of war.’ Financial Times, 11.3.03.
‘$319m US lawsuit accuses BP of pollution offences and lying’, FT 14.3.03.
‘Alaska cites and fines BP over death of worker’, FT, 28.5.03.
‘BP has been warned by a panel of experts…that it could trigger human rights abuses if it proceeds with a $2bn gas scheme in Indonesia.' Guardian on Tangguh, West Papua, 12.3.03.
Should a company like BP be associated with the British Museum, (or the Ecology section of the Natural History Museum, for that matter)?
Should a company like BP exist at all?
We don’t believe that it’s possible for an oil company to be a force for good in the world, regardless of how many cultural events in sponsors in the hope of sanitising its domestic reputation. If you’re a visitor, or connected in any way to the British Museum, we ask you to consider BP’s record, as well as the existence of corporate sponsorship of the arts in general, and to try to raise whatever concerns you may have in any way that you feel comfortable.
This leaflet is just a snapshot of a company where profit is the only real bottom line, and where public relations tricks conceal a far more destructive reality. BP, like all companies, exists to generate maximum profits. Currently a ‘green’ image is required to increase those profits. That’s it. Capitalism itself relies on our unquestioning acceptance of its air-brushed, greenwashed version of the truth. As environmental crises loom larger, ending this profit-and-exploitation system is central to our survival. Replacing capitalism with other goals in society, such as food, health and freedom for all, is the only long-term solution for a socially just and ecological future.
Don’t be fooled by oil company public relations that the only people opposing their destructive agenda are privileged western environmentalists. In fact, resistance to Big Oil’s constant need to find new oil-rich frontiers is most determined amongst some of the world’s poorest people. People in places as far-flung as Colombia, West Papua, Angola, Azerbaijan and Alaska have come together to say no to BP. After all, the wealth from their lands flows straight into the pockets of western investors. Perhaps they should be the ones to control their own resources, instead of being displaced, polluted or even murdered?
What can you do?
Possibilities include discussing the issue with friends and colleagues, distributing critical material, raising your concerns in public, taking direct action with a group of friends in your area, or getting involved with an existing group. (For example, London Rising Tide meets every Thursday night at the London Action Resource Centre [LARC], 62 Fieldgate Street, London E1, Whitechapel or Aldgate East tubes; 020 7377 9088.)
Having said that, it’s not really the job of this leaflet to tell you what action to take, except to say that contrary to popular opinion, we can make a difference.
Contacts and further information
This leaflet was written and distributed by London Rising Tide (LRT). LRT, part of the Rising Tide UK and international networks, takes direct action to confront the root causes of climate change, and to promote local, community-run solutions to our energy needs. At the moment we are focussing on stopping BP’s planned Baku-Ceyhan pipeline, as well as removing 4x4’s from the streets of London, and raising awareness about the real price of oil.
Email:
Address: 62 Fieldgate Street, London E1 1ES
www.burningplanet.net
Rising Tide UK: www.risingtide.org.uk
(for info about combating climate chaos with local action)
See also:
www.bpamoco.org.uk (not the official BP site!)
On resistance to BP in West Papua:
Colombia Solidarity Campaign: www.colombiasolidarity.org.uk/
Boris McDoris from LRT
e-mail:
london@risingtide.org.uk
Homepage:
http://www.burningplanet.net