April 10, 2000
Washington - Blocking Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W. in front of the World Bank Group's headquarters, two activists representing an international coalition of environmental, human rights, religious, and social justice organizations have locked themselves to the undercarriage of a 17-foot panel truck, emblazoned with the words, "WORLD BANK PLUNDERS THE PLANET - NO MORE $$$ FOR OIL, GAS AND MINING.
Using the top of the truck as a makeshift stage, Friends of the Earth US Executive Director Brent Blackwelder and Ozone Action Executive Director John Passacantando are introducing a campaign platform demanding that the World Bank phase out its financing of destructive oil, gas, and mining projects. The platform details the ten most harmful impacts of such projects, from environmental destruction to egregious human rights abuses.
The actions come as a week of protest against the world's largest development institutions gains momentum in Washington, D.C. They also coincide with the opening day of the World Bank's annual "Energy Week" conference, in which Bank officials and industry representatives will discuss future energy investments.
"The World Bank's drilling and mining projects have left a trail of environmental damage, increased poverty and severe social disruption in poor countries," said Brent Blackwelder of Friends of the Earth. "The record shows these projects help no one but powerful multinational corporations." Signed by 200 groups from 41 nations, including Friends of the Earth International, OilWatch Africa, Greenpeace USA, Ozone Action, and Oxfam Canada, the platform notes that:
· The poor are the most likely to be forced off their land by oil, gas, and mining projects, and the most likely to live in contaminated surroundings as a result of oil spills, gas flaring and improper waste disposal. They are the least empowered to demand compensation.
· Drilling and mining projects have devastated dozens of indigenous groups around the world, resulting in loss of their numbers, livelihoods, and cultural identity. These projects have also accelerated deforestation around the world. Noting that flooding and heat waves linked to global warming are already overwhelming developing nations, Ozone Action's John Passacantando said, "The World Bank likes to talk about its new concern for stopping catastrophic global climate change. Yet it is still spending 25 times more on the very fossil fuel projects that cause global warming, than on clean, renewable energy projects. Is this what the Bank calls improving lives?"
The platform, a list of signatories, and case studies of some of the World Bank's worst oil, gas and mining projects are available on www.foe.org.
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