Events
Upcoming event in Washington, D.C.,
Friday May 21, 12:30pm-2pm:
US Leadership for Energy Security? The Case of Equatorial Guinea
Panel Discussion Lunch
Alfredo Okenve Ndo,
Co-Founder and Secretary-General of the Centro de Estudios e Iniciativas para el Desarrollo; Representative on the National Commission Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative
Simon Taylor
Founding Director, Global Witness – International NGO co-nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize for work on conflict diamonds, founding member of Publish What You Pay coalition and EITI
Bennett Freeman
Senior Vice President, Sustainability Research and Policy, Calvert Asset Management
Board Member Equatorial Guinea Justice
Moderator – Isabel Munilla
Director, Publish What You Pay United States
School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS)
Johns Hopkins University
Rome Building Auditorium
1619 Massachusetts Ave., NW, Washington, D.C.
Metro: Farragut North or Dupont Circle
Space is limited, please RSVP here by Wednesday May 19.
The panel discussion will highlight gaps in existing oil sector transparency efforts, and explore why U.S. government action, and in particular, transparency legislation introduced in the Senate (the Energy Security Through Transparency Act – S.1700) is a critical contribution to addressing corruption and improving the lives of the citizens of Equatorial Guinea.
The African nation of Equatorial Guinea is of critical strategic importance to the United States. Nestled in the Gulf of Guinea, the majority of its oil production comes to the U.S., and it is the third largest oil supplier to the U.S. from Africa, after Nigeria and Angola. U.S. companies dominate production there, and as a result, it is currently the fourth largest destination for overall US investment in sub-Saharan Africa. The recent oil boom has led to massive windfalls for the country, with government oil revenues going from $190 million in 1993 to $4.8 billion in 2007.
With a population of 650,000, Equatorial Guinea’s GDP per capita is on par with that of Italy and Spain. However, according to government figures, over 75% of the population lives in poverty. This is the result of rampant corruption at the highest levels. For example, oil money laundering by government elites into the U.S. has been under investigation by the U.S Congress for the past several years and was highlighted at a February 2010 hearing of the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations. Corruption has also fueled human rights abuses and led to official neglect of the government’s obligations to uphold their citizen’s social and economic rights. The government is extremely opaque, and stifles freedoms of information and association, making it nearly impossible for civil society to hold the government accountable for how it manages the country’s energy resources. While Equatorial Guinea joined the voluntary Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI), it was recently de-listed for not complying with the initiative’s requirements. Given the prominence of the U.S. role in Equatorial Guinea’s oil sector, it is critical that the U.S. government show leadership to help stem corruption.
RSVP here.
Dance against Chevron with Afrolicious! This Friday, May 21, Benefit Party @ CODA!
Here’s the Facebook event invite: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=127580617259365
Friday, May 21, 12:30-1:30pm: Brown Bag with Emem Okon, visiting from the Niger Delta
Justice in Nigeria Now, Global Fund for Women, and the 
International Forum on Globalization invite you to join us for a brown bag with women’s rights advocate, Emem Okon, visiting from the Niger Delta.
Tides Center Brown Bag Series
May 21, 2010
12:30pm-1:30pm
Pacific Room
Presidio Building 1014 (Lincoln Blvd. & Torney Ave.)
San Francisco, CA 94129-1755
415.561.6400
Emem Okon is a women’s rights activist and advocate from the Niger Delta’s oil impacted region of Nigeria. Ms. Okon is the founder and the Executive Director of Kebetkache Women Development & Resource Centre. She is a gender analyst, a trainer, a researcher, and a campaigner against all forms of violence including that directed at women and the environment. Ms. Okon was a leader of the powerful women’s protests of Chevron Corporation for its environmental and human rights abuses in Nigeria which garnered international media attention when a group of women took over an oil installation and threatened to take off their clothes if the company did not negotiate with them. She has coordinated several women’s networks and coalitions in the Niger Delta region, including Civil Society on HIV & AIDS, Gender and Constitution Reform Network, International Network on Women and Environment, and National Coalition on Affirmative Action, to mention a few.
On the Eve of Chevron’s Annual Meeting . . .
Come to a Special screening of Sweet Crude, followed by Q & A with
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- Macon Hawkins, an oil worker held hostage by armed militants who remains sympathetic to the needs of those living in the Niger Delta;
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- Emem Okon, a leader of Nigeria’s women’s movement; and
- Omoyele Sowore, an activist from a Chevron production area in Nigeria.
This must-see screening takes place at Houston’s Angelika Theater, on May 25th, 8:30pm.
Join us for this powerful documentary about Nigeria, the U.S. and oil, plus Q & A with an amazing set of speakers–on the eve of Chevron’s May 26th Shareholder meeting in Houston!
Join Mobilization for Climate Justice West
outside the “Navigating the American Carbon World” conference in SF-
one of the nation’s largest carbon market conferences – to expose the injustice and ineffectiveness of carbon trading and offset schemes that reward polluters and allow rich countries to evade the real responsibility of cutting greenhouse gas emissions.
When: Thursday April 15th, 12-2pm
Where: San Francisco Marriott Marquis (55 Fourth Street, SF – near Powell St BART)
[from http://west.actforclimatejustice.org/2010/04/april-15-rally-against-carbon-trading/]
Join us for a rally, street theater, and fun!
In order to respond to the present climate emergency in a just and equitable way, the rich countries of the world must take a lead on reducing greenhouse gas pollution that is threatening global climate catastrophe. But corporations and rich developed nations are pushing for policies that would allow them to “reduce” emissions by purchasing carbon “credits.” Unfortunately, carbon credits can be created through offset projects which supposedly reduce emissions in developing countries so that the companies or people purchasing the offsets don’t have to do anything to reduce emissions themselves. The problem is that these projects are frequently hard to monitor and fail to deliver the emissions reductions that they promise. Offsets essentially allow rich countries and corporations to purchase indulgences to keep polluting.
For example, the Nigerian government has stated its intention to participate in carbon trading and several oil companies are attempting to receive emissions credits. If this goes unchallenged, Chevron will be allowed to receive emissions reductions credits for ending the illegal and immoral practice of gas flaring in Nigeria. Under carbon trading proposals being considered in the US Congress, Chevron could keep polluting here at home, like at its refinery in Richmond, the biggest single source of greenhouse gas emissions in CA. It’s almost like a bully demanding a ransom to stop beating you up.
More Details: Event Flyer
This weekend:
Two Chances to See Sweet Crude–
followed by Q & A with Film Director Sandy Cioffi!
March 19 in Washington, D.C.:
Sweet Crude screens this Friday at the Environmental Film Festival in DC at 6:30pm at AED’s Globe Theater, 1927 Florida Ave., NW (Metro Dupont Circle, Q St. exit). Director Sandy Cioffi will be present and will answer questions following the screening.
March 21 in Tiburon, CA:
Sweet Crude screens this Sunday at the Tiburon International Film Festival at 7:05pm at 1680 Tiburon Blvd, Tiburon, CA (near San Francisco).
Sandy Cioffi will make a transcontinental voyage to San Francisco in order to attend this screening and answer questions afterward as well.
Whichever coast you’re on, you have an opportunity to see Sweet Crude and talk with director Sandy Cioffi this weekend!
Yoga Benefit for JINN on Mar. 14:
Spring Forward, Breathe Deeply, and Support JINN!
Join us for a lovely yoga practice, where you can breathe deeply for your own health and benefit JINN’s work to protect the health of those across the globe whose air is poisoned by toxic gas flares.
Mark your calendar, tell your friends, and don’t miss this special all-levels yoga class appropriate for total beginners and advanced practitioners taught by beloved Bay Area teacher Kimber Simpkins:
March 14th, 1:00pm-2:30pm for a sliding scale donation of $13-35 at 7th Heaven Yoga Studio, 2820 Seventh Street in Berkeley.
All proceeds go to JINN, as Instructor Kimber Simpkins and 7th Heaven have generously donated the time and space.
RSVPs are helpful, though not required.
December 11: Climate Change Candle Light Vigil for Survival – San Francisco
What: Candle Light Vigil for Survival
When: December 11th 5pm-7pm
Where: San Francisco Civic Center Plaza, across from City Hall at 1 Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Pl.
On the weekend in the middle of the Copenhagen conference — Dec. 11-13 — people will be gathering at important places all over the world for candlelight vigils, in solemn solidarity with the citizens of those nations who will be first to face the challenge to their very survival posed by climate change. Eventually all of us will be hard-pressed by rising seas, spreading drought, and temperatures too hot for growing food. But right now—this year, this decade—there are countries being pushed to the brink. They’re at the forefront of a fight for real change in Copenhagen.
As Maldives President Mohammed Nasheed said last week at a summit for heads of state of the most vulnerable nations: “We will not sign a global suicide pact, in Copenhagen or anywhere.” Instead, he and the others called for a “survival pact,” for commitments by the developed world to cut emissions enough to get the atmospheric concentration of co2 back to 350. They know the simple, mathematical truth of global warming: 350=Survival.
In San Francisco, 350.org will be holding a candlielight vigil to reflect on the seriousness of climate change and the political negotiations that will determine our future. They will have an open mic at our vigil, giving attendees the opportunity to express their concerns about global warming.
They encourage people to bring candles, friends, and an item that represents why you are concerned about climate change.
RSVP and help spread the word on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=353232030363
Past Events
