Executives from Chevron and four other Big Oil corporations met with Congress yesterday to defend their record breaking profits of during this time of economic turbulence. The executives argued that the painful costs at the pump aren't their fault (instead blaming rising costs on the rapid development in India and China and the weak American dollar) stating that their profits are in line with other industries.
However, according to the San Fransisco Chronicle, "the five biggest oil companies made $123.3 billion last year, the five biggest pharmaceutical companies earned $48.2billion and the top five defense contractors earned $15.5 billion." Does it really seem like Big Oil's profits are in line with other industries?
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2008/04/02/MNU7VU217.DTL
In a time of economic hardship for the average American, and with analysts predicting oil to reach $4 per gallon before the summer driving season, I sincerely doubt that the public is going to believe that Big Oil has the consumer in mind at all. I agree with Congress Representative, John Larson, when he said that the "whole situation has been nothing more than manipulation around greed."
Congress challenged the industry giants to commit a fraction of their enormous profits to funding research and development of oil alternatives. The answer came back that this wasn't an endeavor they wanted to pursue until renewable energy was a more economically competitive market.
The small glimmer of hope in this situation was the praise Chevron received from the lawmakers about the money they have invested in geothermal energy. Until more of the sky high profits are spent on lessening our dependency on oil, instead of padding current stock prices to increase the gain for Big Oil investors, the geothermal pursuits will not be enough.
Below is a current television ad being run by Chevron. Do you think that the ad is accurate according to their current stand on the pursuit of renewable energy resources? Should their minimal investment (when compared to the staggering profits) really be something to brag about?
From an advertising standpoint the Human Energy ad is impressive, but I have to wonder how much is truly Chevron and how much of what the ad says is just what they think the public wants to hear.
Wednesday, April 2, 2008
Will Ferrell as George W. Bush
In my first blog entry, I promised to try to make this blog entertaining as well as informative. Consider this a break from the serious discussions.
Hey, it's all in good fun. It will definitely make you laugh!
"We"
The Deseret Morning News had an article yesterday about a new three-year, climate protection campaign formed to educate individuals on the dangers of greenhouse gases and climate change. The Alliance for Climate Change's campaign, called "We", is headed by Al Gore (who admirably donated his proceeds from the book and film "An Inconvenient Truth", his portion of the Nobel Peace Prize money and a personal donation to match towards the cause).
The Deseret News article shined a positive light on the alliance. The campaign already shows strong bipartisanship support. The head of the Environmental Protection Agency, Lee Thomas, was quoted in the article as saying, "This is not only an environmental issue. It's an issue of energy independence and it's an issue of national security. We need to all come together on this and the time to move on it is now, not later."
http://deseretnews.com/article/1,5143,695266402,00.html
I truly believe that a campaign like this could make a huge difference in our current environmental downward spiral. The alliance's advertising campaign will compare the climate protection movement to other great movements in American history (such as the human rights movement). We are the ones who are going to make the difference; the campaign will get the issue heard by government and the Big Oil leaders.
Below is a clip from 60 minutes. Al Gore went on the program to talk about the environmental campaign. I truly have a new found respect for this man and feel that he is in the fight against climate change for the right reasons (it should be obvious now that his involvement in educating the public on this issue isn't to turn a profit).
The Deseret News article shined a positive light on the alliance. The campaign already shows strong bipartisanship support. The head of the Environmental Protection Agency, Lee Thomas, was quoted in the article as saying, "This is not only an environmental issue. It's an issue of energy independence and it's an issue of national security. We need to all come together on this and the time to move on it is now, not later."
http://deseretnews.com/article/1,5143,695266402,00.html
I truly believe that a campaign like this could make a huge difference in our current environmental downward spiral. The alliance's advertising campaign will compare the climate protection movement to other great movements in American history (such as the human rights movement). We are the ones who are going to make the difference; the campaign will get the issue heard by government and the Big Oil leaders.
Below is a clip from 60 minutes. Al Gore went on the program to talk about the environmental campaign. I truly have a new found respect for this man and feel that he is in the fight against climate change for the right reasons (it should be obvious now that his involvement in educating the public on this issue isn't to turn a profit).
Monday, March 31, 2008
"Green" Man Group
YouTube is a cultural phenomenon of the current generation. Information on any subject is available in a split second. One needn't wait to hear about an event on the news; a desired video can be viewed at any hour of the day or night with just the touch of a button. YouTube opens the doors for anyone with a home video camera and computer to get their face seen or their opinions heard.
The posted YouTube video tackles the serious subject of Global Warming with an entertaining twist that may reach a different audience than would a more serious version of the same subject produced in a different medium.
I think that this short video is done is a way that it can be used to educate a younger generation on the pressing issue of global warming. I applaud the Blue Man Group for using their celebrity and talent to spread the word on this serious concern. I would describe this type of YouTube video as a public service anouncement for the internet age.
It is entertaining and has educational value. What's not to like?
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