Tuesday, 01 Aug 2006

The Station Agent

Chicago Tribune series traces a gasoline fill-up to its source

Told that tracking gasoline from a single gas station back to its sources was impossible, reporter Paul Salopek did it anyway. In compiling a multimedia series for the Chicago Tribune, Salopek sourced gas dispensed at a Marathon station in South Elgin, Ill., to the Gulf Coast, Venezuela, Nigeria, and Iraq. He then interviewed the varied cast whose lives were affected along the way, from the gas station manager who spends a third of her paycheck fueling her SUV to Nigeria's Ibibio people and their love-hate relationship with infrastructure-building, oil-spilling ExxonMobil. Salopek visited Iraq, noting that the oil-addicted U.S. buys 15 to 20 percent of its imported crude from the Middle East. He traveled to Venezuela, where gasoline costs 14 cents a gallon. And he talked to economist Milton Copulos, who calculates the true cost of U.S. gasoline made from imported oil -- factoring in defense spending and jobs lost to steep prices -- at $8 a gallon. Conclusion? The petroleum economy is "beholden to hostile powers and ... clearly unsustainable."


Remember a couple of years ago when BP and Ford seemed to be rounding new green corners every time we blinked? When their CEOs were hailed as virtual superheroes? Fast-forward to now: BP is struggling with pipeline leaks and other PR nightmares, and Ford is reneging on (yet another) green promise. Will our heroes slink away with their capes between their legs, or will they re-emerge victorious? Mark Lee and John Elkington assess the situation in today's Full Disclosure column.

One Leak's Notice

Russian pipeline leak causes oil price spike

As global oil production nears its peak and developing countries just keep developing, the tension between supply and demand has become so taut that the slightest perturbation can wreak havoc. Exhibit A: this weekend, a Russian pipeline to central and Eastern Europe sprung a leak near the border of Belarus, temporarily shutting down a route that supplies an eighth of Europe's imported oil. Estimates of the amount of oil spilled ranged from about 550 gallons to 11,000; the pipeline resumed function yesterday. The incident was nothing out of the ordinary -- Russian pipelines leak about once a month, according to the Russian branch of Greenpeace. But news of the leak instantly cranked oil prices up to $74.04 a barrel. As the relatively small impact was reported, prices then dropped. Says market analyst Rick Mueller, "This was an impressive move on a rather small event, which just shows that it doesn't take much to move the market." Fasten your seatbelts!


When your family's been intimately involved in a company for more than a century, when you've been raised from birth to put your faith (not to mention your money) in it, how do you tell that company to stuff it? That's the dilemma Tyler Clements faced when his worries about climate change began butting up against his lifetime status as an Exxon shareholder. Is it better to work from the inside, or turn away in protest? Find out which route he chose, in today's Soapbox.

Gator Aid

Florida's biggest conservation land buy also opens way for new development

Florida's biggest-ever land purchase, 74,000 acres of wild land bought by the state for over $350 million, comes with a catch -- 17,000 acres of adjoining property will belong to developer Syd Kitson, who plans to build a new city. Some environmental groups applaud the deal: The purchase will preserve as wilderness about 80 percent of the famed Babcock Ranch in the southwest of the state, where gators, turkeys, and wild pigs roam. It will create a corridor for wildlife, including bears and Florida panthers, from Lake Okeechobee nearly to the Gulf of Mexico. Other green groups lament the development stipulation, which clears the way for a new community with 19,500 homes, 6 million square feet of office space, and potential for 50,000 residents. The Sierra Club sued to stop the purchase, worrying that Kitson's city would spur further development, but dropped the lawsuit when Kitson promised to leave the most sensitive parts of the land undeveloped.