Occupational Hazard

More than 100 environmental activists occupied Al Gore's campaign office in Olympia, Wash., yesterday to protest the veep's ties to Occidental Petroleum, a U.S. corporation with plans to drill for oil on rainforest land in Colombia claimed by the indigenous U'wa tribe. Police arrested 10 of the activists, the second occasion this year on which people have been arrested for protesting against Gore over the Occidental issue. The Gore family owns more than $500,000 in Occidental stock, Gore's father served on the company's board, and Occidental and its executives have been big Democratic campaign contributors. Though enviros have dogged Gore on this issue throughout his presidential campaign, he has yet to take any action.