Saturday, February 28, 2009

Shell Game

(that's Inskeep on the half-shell and Odum blowing)

Inskeep takes on Marvin Odum, Shell Oil's president of operations in the Americas. Yeah, Inskeep was really tough on this guy - he asked him about a House committee investigation into Shell and Interior department improprieties (and the letter Odum received from Rep. Markey); he pointed out that wind (and solar energy) could provide all US energy needs if the commitment were made to the infrastructure needs; he brought up Shell's dismal ethical rankings on Covalence; he even brought up Shell's involvement in human rights abuses in Nigeria. Just kidding.

Really Inskeep had a cozy, comfortable (oily, odious) schmooze session with Odum. Inskeep is just so curious as to how the Shell's Angels are going to deal with rising demands for oil, and if more offshore drilling really will provide enough oil for our needs. If you ever wondered what Inskeep's moral vision of Corporatism is, he lays it out in this interview. He asks Odum,
"...but if you think of us as a leaky ship, let's say, I mean do you worry as a corporate executive, that you'll do some well-intentioned things and you'll have the right motivations, and you'll plug a few leaks in the ship...but in the end the ship is still sinking."
Why of course Shell Oil does "well-intentioned things" and has "the right motivations," after all they have the profits to prove it.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hilariously clever collage - albeit at poor Raphael's expense!

Madison Wilburs said...

Great post. I heard the piece and thought the same thing. Shell Oil is getting a free platform from which to broadcast its narrow corporate agenda in the guise of geopolitical "facts." Same old, same old: "green energy is coming, but IN THE MEAN TIME..." drill, baby, drill.

Porter Melmoth said...

think!, big! pink!:

And now, a bran new Not-on Public Radio show:

'Who Wants To Be A Renaissance Trivia Expert?'

Question 1 - for the correct answer, a $3 Billion endowment goes to the Ari Shapiro Best Journalism Prize Foundation:

Who painted 'The Birth of Venus'?

A. Raphael
B. Sandro Botticelli
C. Dick Cheney
D. Sylvia Poggioli
E. All of the above

Anonymous said...

Duly noted, Port - I tuck my embarrassed fluffy tale in humiliation; mea culpa & grazie for correcting me in the error of my ways. In fact I did a consarned hasty Gargoyle search to which one result had corroborated my misconcption, so they're all wet too!

Actually I'm bucking for a Sat spot with Scottie so that he can lob a couple sanctimonious guffaws at me, tentatively titled "I Don't Know About Art But I Know What I Like"

Porter Melmoth said...

Easy does 'er, b! We're here to do critical mass on aiN't Public Radio, not on ourselves.

BTW, many an artist was on hand when Venus got birthed, so we can have our pick.