On 8th December, ethecon activists joined with ‘unreasonable woman’ and Texan activist Diane Wilson, previous winner of the International ethecon Blue Planet Award 2006, to defame Dow Chemical in Houston for ignoring its responsibilities toward Bhopal.
While ethecon activists, with friends from Code Pink and the International Campaign for Justice in Bhopal (ICJB) were demonstrating outside the company’s centre in Houston, Texas, Diane Wilson, Bob Lindsey and Anabel Schnura managed to enter the building with the prize certificate for Andrew Liveris, James Ringler and the major shareholders. They stood in the foyer of the building, reading out the open letter, demanding talks with the reviled chairmen and major shareholders before being hassled by security who threatened to call the police.
Meanwhile, Dow Chemical’s factory security personnel outside the entrance were busy keeping activists from ethecon, Code Pink and the International Campaign for Justice in Bhopal from entering the building. It is visibly difficult for them as, in private, they show sympathy for the protesters’ concerns. Despite all attempts to stop the actions, the protesters’ demands are still read out and received positively by passers-by.
Previously, on Monday, 5th December, they took the trophy for the well-known international negative award to the company’s global headquarters in Midland, Michigan. Anabel Schnura explains: “Liveris and Ringler run the corporation; the major shareholders are its owners. They are to blame for the ruin of human health, large-scale environmental destruction, and even many people’s deaths. They are a danger not only to peace and human rights, but also to democracy, the environment and humanity itself. They act for personal power and private gain. To achieve this, they ride roughshod over morals and ethics, and are willing to see Earth turn into a black planet.”
