Democracy Now interviews Green Party Mayor of Richmond, Gayle McLaughlin. and Richmond Community Organizer Andres Soto about the explosion, fire and smoke plume at Chevron's oil refinery facility there. They aren't murdering people outright in Richmond, the way they do in Nigeria, but they obviously don't give a rip what happens to the residents of this poor stepchild of a Bay Area town. They never did, as I know as a person who grew up in the Bay Area and am familiar with the stench of the plants and the surrounding poverty. Their claim of bringing jobs to Richmond is a lie, since only 5% of the workers there live in Richmond, a mostly black and Latino community. McLaughin says that the Richmond Progressive Alliance is a strong presence now and has some chance of bringing Chevron under control. But the oil companies are so entrenched. Oil refineries have been there 100 years and are like part of the landscape.
Don't have time to watch it now -- will look at it when I get home from Obama HQ.
Posted by: Kay Dennison | August 09, 2012 at 11:19 AM