ILRF is concerned about the most recent charges brought against labor rights activist
Andy Hall by the Natural Fruit Company. Hall now faces four defamation charges
(both civil and criminal) and two charges under the Computer Crimes Act, and is
waiting to hear if these cases will proceed in Thai court. Natural Fruit is a Thai export
company producing pineapple juice and dried fruit. The NGO Finnwatch has published two reports documenting poor labor conditions in the Natural Fruit factory, including
child labor, failure to pay overtime, confiscation of migrant workers’ passports, and
conditions that amount to human trafficking. Hall contributed to the first of those two
reports, and the company responded with the first defamation charge soon after it was
released.
On May 19th, Hall appeared at the Bangna Police Station in Bangkok to give evidence
regarding the most recent charges, which stem from an interview Hall gave to Aljazeera
in Burma about ongoing migrant worker rights abuses in Thailand. There are an estimated
3-4 million migrant workers in Thailand, most of whom come from neighboring Burma.
These workers often take the most undesirable, dangerous and poorly-paid jobs, mostly in domestic work, construction or Thailand’s booming export industries: seafood, food
processing and other light manufacturing. They face discriminatory labor laws and
complex, costly immigration policies that leave them vulnerable to employer exploitation.
Hall, a British citizen, has long documented abuse among migrant worker communities in Thailand and worked to hold the government and corporations accountable.
If found guilty of all the charges against him, his advocacy for labor rights could cost him
dearly. He faces up to seven years in prison and about $9.5 million in damages. Hall’s next hearing is scheduled for June 18th, 2014.
Such harassment is an unacceptable assault on labor rights activists and could have a
dangerous chilling effect silencing other rights activists. This is not the only time Thailand
has used criminal defamation against people speaking out about serious abuse of migrants. The Thai Royal navy brought criminal defamation charges against two Thai-based journalists who covered a Pulitzer-Prize winning Reuters investigation into Thai officials’ complicity in trafficking of Rohingya Muslims fleeing ethnic violence in Burma.
These charges demonstrate how criminal defamation can be used to attack labor rights
defenders and silence those who speak out on behalf of exploited workers. To ensure
freedom of expression and preserve the rights of activists and workers to speak out, the
Royal Thai Government must repeal criminal defamation laws and amend the Computer
Crimes Act to ensure it cannot be used to silence criticism. Additionally, we demand that
the Natural Fruit Company drop its existing charges against Andy Hall and address the underlying issues that forced him to speak out about the company, rather than attempt to
punish him for uncovering and documenting the true situation of workers in its factory.
Keep up to date on this case at Andy Hall’s blog on the Natural Fruit prosecutions
against him.
The first quarter of 2014 was another big one for the U.S. solar industry, with 74 percent of all new electricity generation across the country coming from solar power. The 1,330 megawatts of solar photovoltaics (PV) installed last quarter bring the total in the U.S. up to 14.8 gigawatts of installed capacity — enough to power three million homes, according to GTM Research and the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA).
In addition to being the largest quarter ever for concentrating solar power, a method of large-scale solar generation that uses a unique ‘salt battery’ to allow the solar plant to keep producing power even when the sun goes down, it was also the first time in the history of SEIA’s reports that residential solar installations surpassed commercial in the same time period. 232 MW of residential PV were installed in the first quarter, compared to 225 MW of commercial solar.
Another encouraging surprise we learn in this article is that the Center for American Progress found "it’s middle class families that are driving the rooftop solar revolution with “more than 60 percent of solar installations are occurring in zip codes with median incomes ranging from $40,000 to $90,000.”
This revolution is a threat to utilities’ current business model, since more customers going solar means they’re buying less electricity from the utility. The result in several states has been a push by utilities to scale back incentives or even charge solar customers an additional fee. In Arizona, for instance, Arizona Public Service (APS) has aggressively sought to undercut residential solar and last fall, the state’s energy regulator voted to add what amounts to a $5 per month surcharge on solar customers. The decision was widely viewed as a compromise, particularly considering the considerable amount of money spent by APS and outside groups, several of which were funded by petrochemical billionaires Charles and David Koch.
Kiley Kroh also recounts how a number of utilities in Arizona, Oklahoma, and San Antonia are trying to slow solar energy's penetration into electric market by trying to add surcharges for customers using the "net-back" laws allowing them to sell surplus electricity back to the utility. Also, Arizona's solar power advocates allege the Arizona Power System is behind a move to force customers who lease solar panels to pay property taxes of them.
Kroh presents a number of compelling arguments to counter utilities should be allowed to charge solar customer higher fees countering that solar customer are delivering power back to the grid at peak load hours, reducing the need for expensive peak-load production. They also reduce the amount of electricity coming from coal fired plants, and reduce wear and tear on transmission lines by reducing the amount of electricity through them.
As the costs of renewable energy generation, including residential generation, continues to fall dramatically, at the same time the costs of conventional fossil fuel burning generation continues to rise the traditional business model for utilities is getting scrunched. If the new standards for reducing carbon emission that we expect the EPA to announce tomorrow are passed, the cost of coal generation will increase more coming closer to represent it true cost to society.
Sadly, we see much evidence that utilities, and those with large financial interests the fossil fuel industry are looking for ways to reduce the appeal of solar and wind generation.
8:37 PM PT: Thanks to Shockwave for bringing us this link documenting California's wind generation.
California led the world in wind energy development through much of the 1980s and 1990s. Today, California remains a national leader in the wind industry, ranking second in the U.S. for wind power installations and second for wind industry jobs, all while boasting over 20 wind-related manufacturing facilities.
Wind Projects in California2013 CA 80m onshore
Installed Wind Capacity: 5,812 megawatts (MW). State Rank: California ranks 2nd for total MW installed.
Number of Wind Turbines: 12,158 turbines. State Rank: California ranks 1st for number of utility-scale wind turbines.
Wind Projects Online: 144 wind projects
Wind Capacity Added in 2013: 269 MW
Wind Capacity Added in 2012: 1656.2 MW. State Rank: California added the 2nd most new wind capacity additions in 2012, and surpassed Iowa to become the state with the 2nd most wind capacity.
Wind Capacity Added in 2011: 923.3 MW
Wind Capacity in Queue: 4,253 MW
Percentage of California's electricity provided by wind in 2013: 6.6 percent. Note: This includes only in-state generation. California imports wind energy from across the Northwest and Mountain West and has a higher total when these imports are factored in.
ORIGINALLY POSTED TO SCITECH ON SUN JUN 01, 2014 AT 07:53 PM PDT.
Bilderberg critics are often labelled conspiracy theorists, particularly due to beliefs that the meeting is a sinister attempt by the global elite to concentrate power and establish a global government. (Source)
Extract from a Guardian article by Charlie Skelton published 2 June 2014 under the headline: Bilderberg 2014: George Osborne and the man at the centre of everything
After wrapping up his career in public service, Kerr hopped gracefully into the City, and was until recently deputy chairman of the most Bilderbergian company of all, Shell Oil. Half diplomat, half corporate creature, Sir John is the ultimate behind-the-scenes powerbroker – a barely visible fixer, in whom the public and private spheres are perfectly melded. He’s Bilderberg incarnate.
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The confidential nature of Bilderberg led to criticism of the group’s lack of transparency and accountability, along with concerns about potential lobbying. There has also been speculation from conspiracy theorists about the purpose of the meetings. The secretive approach to staging the conferences has led to the younger generation of Bilderberg attendees being uncomfortable with the policy of total media exclusion. SOURCE
Extract from a Guardian article by Terry Macalister published Sunday 1 June 2014
Ben van Beurden, the chief executive of Shell, will go to Nigeria this week to try to restore his firm’s tarnished reputation by winning local support for a clean-up strategy to tackle old oil spills in the Delta.
Extract from a Financial Times book review by Guy Chazan published 1 June 2014: ‘The Secret World of Oil’, by Ken Silverstein
There have been more violations of the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act by energy companies than by any other kind of business, including weapons trading. Yet western countries, so reliant on crude exports from countries with oft-criticised regimes, often seem to lack the will to tackle the problem.
Extracts from a Sydney Morning Herald article by Michael West published 2 June 2014 under the headline: “Is petrol producer an empty Shell?”
Suffice to say that Shell has contributed to the Australian economy in a big way over the years. Not quite so big any more, though. Shell Australia has become less an Australian company now than a figurine for its foreign parent. One corollary of this is that it is paying less tax. Shell, like other large corporations, is mimicking the aggressive tax practices of Google and the multinational new guard, and the implications for Australia’s tax base are menacing. If you look at Shell’s website, you will find that it calls itself Shell in Australia. It used to be Shell Australia. The word ‘‘in’’ is a small word but powerfully redolent of what has changed. This is no longer an Australian company in mind and management.
Extract from an Financial Times article by Gina Chon published 1 June 2014
The US Securities and Exchange Commission is under growing pressure to tackle the issue of how oil and gas companies disclose payments to foreign governments. Royal Dutch Shell, ExxonMobil, several US senators and aid organisation Oxfam America have urged the agency to write new disclosure rules this year.
SEE BELOW FOR THE 1001STTIME THE REITERATION OF DEMAND PAYMENT OF RETIREMENT PAY WHICH SHELL REFUSED TO HONOR IN THE PRESENCE AND DEEMED APPROVAL OF THE HONORABLE MAGISTRATES OF THE SUPREME COURT OF THE PHILIPPINES
Extract from a Guardian article by Charlie Skelton published 2 June 2014 under the headline: Bilderberg 2014: George Osborne and the man at the centre of everything
Extract from a Guardian article by Terry Macalister published Sunday 1 June 2014
Extracts from a Sydney Morning Herald article by Michael West published 2 June 2014 under the headline: “Is petrol producer an empty Shell?”
Extract from an Financial Times article by Gina Chon published 1 June 2014
