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[Ian Meyer <ianmeyer AT gmail.com>]

this really gets me...

> (4) Dow settled Union Carbide's asbestos liabilities in the US, and
paid US$10 million to one family poisoned by a Dow pesticide. This
is a mark of Dow's corporate responsibility.

and...

> (1) On December 3, 1984, Union Carbide - now part of Dow -
accidentally killed thousands of residents of Bhopal, India, when its
pesticide plant leaked a vast cloud of lethal gas over the city.
Since that date, at least 12,000 more people have died from
complications, and 120,000 remain chronically ill. The Dow Chemical
Corporation hereby expresses its condolences to the victims.

yet...

Dow cannot and will not take
responsibility for the accident. ("What we cannot and will not do...
is accept responsibility for the Bhopal accident." - CEO Michael
Parker, 2002.)

and...

> Much as we at Dow may care, as human beings,
about the victims of the Bhopal catastrophe, we must reiterate that
Dow's sole and unique responsibility is to its shareholders, and Dow
CANNOT do anything that goes against its bottom line unless forced to
by law.

To me, this is the embodiment of what is wrong with libertarianism. 

this corporation *is* responsible. well, union carbide is, and now
that it is a part of Dow, Dow is responsible for these people's deaths
and illnesses, yet they are standing my and paying lip service by
saying how sorry they are, yet do nothing to back that up.

So what is a libertarian to do? let market forces work everything out,
because if enough people think dow is responsible that they'd boycott
and force a change? hah. like thats even possible.

~ian (now with 100% more flamebait)

On Fri, 3 Dec 2004 15:18:42 -0500 (EST), Paul Jones
<pjones AT metalab.unc.edu> wrote:
> some one, perhaps from http://rtmark.com/ , managed to appear on BBC as a
> corporate spokeman for Dow Chemical. the spokesman shocked the world by
> having Dow take full blame for the Bhopal disaster of 1984. until this
> time, Dow has refuse responsibility and fought charges in courts around
> the world.
> we learned last night that the BBC had been culture-jammed and Dow is
> getting their true story out. but, as you can see below, the folks at
> http://dowethics.com are helping clarify the corporate message and
> retraction. see the note below.
> http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,3-1386431,00.html for the story
> behind the first deception.
> 
> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
> Date: Fri, 3 Dec 2004 20:37:48 +0100
> From: Dow Chemical Corporation <retractions AT dowethics.com>
> To: pjones-metalab.unc.edu <pjones AT metalab.unc.edu>
> Subject: DOW "HELP" FOR BHOPAL A HOAX
> 
> December 3, 2004
> FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
> 
> "DOW" STATEMENT A HOAX
> "Historic aid package for Bhopal victims" a lie
> 
>     Contact: Marina Ashanin, Corp. Media Relations, +41-1-728-2347
>     Related information: http://dowethics.com/bhopal/
> 
> Today on BBC World Television, a fake Dow spokesperson announced fake
> plans to take full responsibility for the very real Bhopal tragedy of
> December 3, 1984. (1) Dow Chemical emphatically denies this
> announcement. Although seemingly humanistic in nature, the fake plans
> were invented by irresponsible hucksters with no regard for the
> truth.
> 
> As Dow has repeatedly noted, Dow cannot and will not take
> responsibility for the accident. ("What we cannot and will not do...
> is accept responsibility for the Bhopal accident." - CEO Michael
> Parker, 2002.) The Dow position has not changed, despite public
> pressure.
> 
> Dow also notes the great injustice that these pranksters have caused
> by giving Bhopalis false hope for a better future assisted by Dow.
> The survivors of Bhopal have already suffered 20 years of false hope,
> neglect, and abdication of responsibility by all parties. Is that not
> enough?
> 
> To be perfectly clear:
> 
> * The Union Carbide Corporation (UCC) will NOT be liquidated. (The
> fake "Dow plan" called for the dissolution and sale of Dow's fully
> owned subsidiary, estimated at US$12 billion, to fund compensation
> and remediation in Bhopal.)
> 
> * Dow will NOT commit ANY funds to compensate and treat 120,000
> Bhopal residents who require lifelong care. The Bhopal victims have
> ALREADY been compensated; many received about US$500 several years
> ago, which in India can cover a full year of medical care. (2)
> 
> * Dow will NOT remediate (clean up) the Bhopal plant site. We do
> understand that UCC abandoned thousands of tons of toxic chemicals on
> the site, and that these still contaminate the groundwater which area
> residents drink. Dow estimates that the Indian government's recent
> proposal to commission a study to consider the possibility of proper
> remediation at some point in the future is fully sufficient.
> 
> * Dow does NOT urge the US to extradite former Union Carbide CEO
> Warren Anderson to India, where he has been wanted for 20 years on
> multiple homicide charges. (3)
> 
> * Dow will NOT release proprietary information on the leaked gases,
> nor the results of studies commissioned by UCC and never released.
> 
> * Dow will NOT fund research on the safety of Dow endocrine
> disruptors (ECDs) considered to have long-term negative effects.
> 
> * Dow DOES agree that "One can't assign a dollar value to doing
> what's morally right," as hoaxter Finisterra said. That is why Dow
> acknowledged and resolved many of Union Carbide's liabilities in the
> US immediately after acquiring the company in 2001. (4)
> 
> Again, most importantly of all:
> 
> * Dow shareholders will see NO losses, because Dow's policy towards
> Bhopal HAS NOT CHANGED. Much as we at Dow may care, as human beings,
> about the victims of the Bhopal catastrophe, we must reiterate that
> Dow's sole and unique responsibility is to its shareholders, and Dow
> CANNOT do anything that goes against its bottom line unless forced to
> by law.
> 
> For more information please contact Marina Ashanin, Corporate Media
> Relations, +41-1-728-2347, or reply to this email.
> 
> NOTES TO EDITORS:
> 
> (1) On December 3, 1984, Union Carbide - now part of Dow -
> accidentally killed thousands of residents of Bhopal, India, when its
> pesticide plant leaked a vast cloud of lethal gas over the city.
> Since that date, at least 12,000 more people have died from
> complications, and 120,000 remain chronically ill. The Dow Chemical
> Corporation hereby expresses its condolences to the victims.
> 
> (2) Union Carbide was originally forced to pay US$470 million in
> compensation to survivors, which amounts to about US$500 per victim.
> (Note: Dow hereby wishes to retract the 2002 statement of Dow PR Head
> Kathy Hunt as to US$500 being "plenty good for an Indian." The poor
> phrasing of this statement has often come back to haunt us.)
> 
> (3) Arrested in India following the accident, Andersen posted
> US$2000 bail and successfully escaped India.
> 
> (4) Dow settled Union Carbide's asbestos liabilities in the US, and
> paid US$10 million to one family poisoned by a Dow pesticide. This
> is a mark of Dow's corporate responsibility.
> 
>                               # 30 #
> 
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