1 00:00:02,520 --> 00:00:05,920 Speaker 1: Just opened up my book started reading the first sentence 2 00:00:05,920 --> 00:00:09,399 Speaker 1: in the paragraph. When I heard what sounded like freight 3 00:00:09,400 --> 00:00:14,360 Speaker 1: train coming through my bedroom. I jumped out of the bed. 4 00:00:15,120 --> 00:00:18,040 Speaker 1: And then there was a pumping sound that consecutively got 5 00:00:18,600 --> 00:00:21,720 Speaker 1: much faster, and with each thumb I felt the rig 6 00:00:21,760 --> 00:00:32,240 Speaker 1: actually shape, and there was an initial booms. 7 00:00:33,400 --> 00:00:36,680 Speaker 2: The lights went out, and there was a huge explosion. 8 00:00:39,880 --> 00:00:43,360 Speaker 2: This is a clip from National Geographics documentary about the 9 00:00:43,400 --> 00:00:47,360 Speaker 2: deep Water Horizon spill in the Gulf of Mexico. There 10 00:00:47,360 --> 00:00:51,159 Speaker 2: are dozens of documentaries like this about the disaster, and 11 00:00:51,200 --> 00:00:53,720 Speaker 2: even in future films starring Mark Wahlberg. 12 00:00:56,720 --> 00:01:01,360 Speaker 1: No, that is a genuine dinosaur tooth gonna flip out, 13 00:01:03,240 --> 00:01:05,920 Speaker 1: good man, Mike, are you seeing this? 14 00:01:06,600 --> 00:01:08,360 Speaker 2: They all say the same thing. 15 00:01:08,760 --> 00:01:11,560 Speaker 3: The destruction of the deep Water Horizon had been building 16 00:01:11,600 --> 00:01:13,919 Speaker 3: for weeks in a series of mishaps. 17 00:01:14,080 --> 00:01:18,479 Speaker 2: They pledged repeatedly to run a safer operation, yet they continue. 18 00:01:18,080 --> 00:01:21,399 Speaker 3: To cut costs. The tension in every drilling operation is 19 00:01:21,440 --> 00:01:24,320 Speaker 3: between doing things safely and doing them fast. 20 00:01:25,000 --> 00:01:28,319 Speaker 2: You'd hope that the whole industry, all of the oil companies, 21 00:01:28,360 --> 00:01:31,680 Speaker 2: would have learned from these mistakes. But now a lot 22 00:01:31,720 --> 00:01:34,880 Speaker 2: of experts think Diana is following in some of the 23 00:01:35,040 --> 00:01:37,880 Speaker 2: exact same footsteps. 24 00:01:38,800 --> 00:01:41,560 Speaker 3: They're facing the long term risks of a blowout or 25 00:01:41,600 --> 00:01:43,319 Speaker 3: a catastrophic Still. 26 00:01:43,360 --> 00:01:47,920 Speaker 1: Now it's clear that they are running the operations at 27 00:01:47,960 --> 00:01:51,000 Speaker 1: greater capacity levels than was designed. 28 00:01:51,360 --> 00:01:56,120 Speaker 4: A lot of the right words that Exxon had written down, 29 00:01:56,680 --> 00:02:01,880 Speaker 4: but just no depth to it, no details on the 30 00:02:02,000 --> 00:02:05,720 Speaker 4: security provisions that needed to be in place to prevent 31 00:02:05,840 --> 00:02:06,520 Speaker 4: a disaster. 32 00:02:09,440 --> 00:02:13,200 Speaker 2: One reason this is all so incredibly disturbing is that 33 00:02:13,240 --> 00:02:16,320 Speaker 2: the Deepwater Horizon disaster in twenty ten was one of 34 00:02:16,320 --> 00:02:20,520 Speaker 2: the most catastrophic oil spills in history, and yet it 35 00:02:20,639 --> 00:02:24,480 Speaker 2: happened under BP, one of the world's largest oil companies, 36 00:02:24,840 --> 00:02:28,440 Speaker 2: in the Gulf of Mexico, an area that's been producing 37 00:02:28,440 --> 00:02:31,520 Speaker 2: oil for almost a century and has some of the 38 00:02:31,520 --> 00:02:36,040 Speaker 2: world's best regulations and industry oversight. In other words, in 39 00:02:36,080 --> 00:02:38,840 Speaker 2: the best case scenario, we had one of the worst 40 00:02:38,960 --> 00:02:43,600 Speaker 2: spills in history. There are two things that make deep 41 00:02:43,680 --> 00:02:48,160 Speaker 2: water offshore drilling projects especially risky. The first is that 42 00:02:48,160 --> 00:02:51,040 Speaker 2: when you're drilling in more than five thousand feet of water, 43 00:02:51,240 --> 00:02:54,760 Speaker 2: there's about an elephant's worth of pressure bearing down on 44 00:02:54,919 --> 00:02:58,240 Speaker 2: every square inch of your equipment, So the chances of 45 00:02:58,280 --> 00:03:01,280 Speaker 2: a screw loosening or a part breaking are really high. 46 00:03:01,800 --> 00:03:04,480 Speaker 2: The second is that almost every time you drill for oil, 47 00:03:04,720 --> 00:03:07,560 Speaker 2: you get gas as well. The two tend to hang 48 00:03:07,600 --> 00:03:12,320 Speaker 2: out together, and that gas needs to be managed because 49 00:03:12,320 --> 00:03:15,680 Speaker 2: if it comes rushing to the surface and finds a spark, 50 00:03:16,000 --> 00:03:19,000 Speaker 2: which there are many on an oil rig, things can 51 00:03:19,040 --> 00:03:25,200 Speaker 2: go boom. That's a big part of what happened with 52 00:03:25,240 --> 00:03:28,240 Speaker 2: the explosion of the deep Water Horizon rig, and it 53 00:03:28,280 --> 00:03:31,800 Speaker 2: turns out there are a lot of similarities between what 54 00:03:31,919 --> 00:03:35,760 Speaker 2: happened in the Gulf then and what's happening in Guyana now. 55 00:03:38,560 --> 00:03:42,800 Speaker 2: In both cases, oil companies decided to continue production despite 56 00:03:42,960 --> 00:03:46,520 Speaker 2: known issues with equipment. In Guyana, excell On hot a 57 00:03:46,600 --> 00:03:51,080 Speaker 2: problem early the first production rigs gas compressor was faulty. 58 00:03:51,960 --> 00:03:55,480 Speaker 2: That's part of the reason that instead of reinjecting the 59 00:03:55,560 --> 00:03:58,800 Speaker 2: gas underground as they had planned, they started burning it 60 00:03:58,880 --> 00:04:02,400 Speaker 2: off or flaring it. They sent it off to be fixed, 61 00:04:02,520 --> 00:04:04,400 Speaker 2: but it didn't work, so they set it off again, 62 00:04:04,680 --> 00:04:07,160 Speaker 2: and again it didn't work, so they redesigned it, and 63 00:04:07,240 --> 00:04:11,040 Speaker 2: Exon says that its redesigned gas compressor was fully functional 64 00:04:11,120 --> 00:04:13,720 Speaker 2: as of the end of twenty twenty two and that 65 00:04:13,840 --> 00:04:18,719 Speaker 2: it is taking safety and maintenance seriously in Guyana. But 66 00:04:18,800 --> 00:04:22,440 Speaker 2: the company is also proudly talking about how they've managed 67 00:04:22,480 --> 00:04:26,160 Speaker 2: to fast track everything in this project. Remember, they say 68 00:04:26,200 --> 00:04:31,440 Speaker 2: their existing wells are producing above design capacity, meaning more 69 00:04:31,480 --> 00:04:35,440 Speaker 2: than they're designed to produce. And unlike the Gulf region, 70 00:04:35,560 --> 00:04:38,800 Speaker 2: Guyana is really new to the oil business. That includes 71 00:04:38,920 --> 00:04:41,359 Speaker 2: regulating the industry too. 72 00:04:41,480 --> 00:04:45,040 Speaker 4: The government has admitted that it doesn't have yet the 73 00:04:45,440 --> 00:04:50,200 Speaker 4: full capacity to do deepwater regulation, and people who are 74 00:04:50,279 --> 00:04:54,720 Speaker 4: former government officials who I interviewed were very clear that 75 00:04:54,800 --> 00:04:59,080 Speaker 4: it lacks anything close to the regulatory capacity to oversee 76 00:04:59,080 --> 00:05:00,159 Speaker 4: deepwater drilling. 77 00:05:00,960 --> 00:05:05,480 Speaker 2: A high risk project with little oversight fast tracking production, 78 00:05:06,200 --> 00:05:10,440 Speaker 2: what could go wrong? The thing is, even though it 79 00:05:10,440 --> 00:05:13,560 Speaker 2: seems like fast tracking oil production would bring the money 80 00:05:13,640 --> 00:05:16,680 Speaker 2: in sooner, it actually kind of puts the whole endeavor 81 00:05:16,760 --> 00:05:20,360 Speaker 2: at risk before it has a chance to make Guyana rich. 82 00:05:20,960 --> 00:05:24,960 Speaker 2: The World Bank said this publicly in twenty nineteen. They 83 00:05:25,000 --> 00:05:27,960 Speaker 2: gave the Guyanese government twenty million dollars to create an 84 00:05:27,960 --> 00:05:31,280 Speaker 2: agency that would regulate the oil and gas industry to 85 00:05:31,360 --> 00:05:34,520 Speaker 2: try and prevent these kinds of really risky moves, But 86 00:05:34,960 --> 00:05:38,120 Speaker 2: so far that hasn't happened. And S and P Global 87 00:05:38,160 --> 00:05:42,080 Speaker 2: even said that Guyana is quote only a corruption scandal 88 00:05:42,240 --> 00:05:47,200 Speaker 2: or environmental accident away from total disaster on the oil front. 89 00:05:50,720 --> 00:05:53,840 Speaker 2: So it's starting to seem more likely that Guyana will 90 00:05:53,880 --> 00:05:58,320 Speaker 2: have a massive oil disaster than a massive payday. If 91 00:05:58,360 --> 00:06:02,560 Speaker 2: a blowout were to happen on any of Guyana's offshore wells, 92 00:06:02,960 --> 00:06:07,400 Speaker 2: the cost to its communities and industries would be astronomical. 93 00:06:08,400 --> 00:06:12,760 Speaker 2: Remember when Excellon's president and Guyana Alistair Routledge talked about 94 00:06:12,760 --> 00:06:15,320 Speaker 2: how the oil companies had taken on all the. 95 00:06:15,360 --> 00:06:19,520 Speaker 5: Risk excell Mobile has and see, you take all of 96 00:06:19,560 --> 00:06:23,000 Speaker 5: the risk up front, so if we never made an 97 00:06:23,040 --> 00:06:26,760 Speaker 5: economic development, we would swallow all of the costs that 98 00:06:26,800 --> 00:06:28,880 Speaker 5: went into that investment. 99 00:06:29,360 --> 00:06:34,280 Speaker 2: Well, now that risk has transferred entirely to Guyana, that is, 100 00:06:34,480 --> 00:06:39,440 Speaker 2: unless one scrappy Guyanese lawyer gets her way in court. 101 00:06:39,760 --> 00:06:42,160 Speaker 6: The oil companies are the same the world over. They 102 00:06:42,200 --> 00:06:46,560 Speaker 6: want to make money and that's all they are interested in, 103 00:06:47,440 --> 00:06:49,960 Speaker 6: and you have to find some way to show them 104 00:06:50,200 --> 00:06:53,000 Speaker 6: that actually they can't do it because there are rules, 105 00:06:53,120 --> 00:06:55,960 Speaker 6: or there are there is something else that will stop them. 106 00:06:56,160 --> 00:06:58,720 Speaker 6: But the something else that would stop them is not morality. 107 00:06:59,120 --> 00:07:02,200 Speaker 6: It's not the Germond it's not. Oh it's a bad 108 00:07:02,240 --> 00:07:04,360 Speaker 6: deal for us. You should give us more. Oh it's 109 00:07:04,360 --> 00:07:07,520 Speaker 6: an abusive deal. Oh it's an exploitative deal. The more 110 00:07:07,560 --> 00:07:10,640 Speaker 6: abusive and exploitative the deal is, the more money they make. 111 00:07:11,400 --> 00:07:15,080 Speaker 2: This is Melinda Jenkie and she has another idea for that, 112 00:07:15,360 --> 00:07:23,480 Speaker 2: something else. This is light, sweet crude, and I'm Amy Westerveld. 113 00:07:24,000 --> 00:07:25,239 Speaker 2: Stay with us. 114 00:07:48,440 --> 00:07:50,400 Speaker 7: On the light that we go in. 115 00:07:50,960 --> 00:08:01,280 Speaker 8: Yeah, that metallic sound is her take. Oh my god, 116 00:08:02,800 --> 00:08:03,679 Speaker 8: the metal tank. 117 00:08:06,120 --> 00:08:08,520 Speaker 6: I just need to I'm in the middle of. 118 00:08:12,560 --> 00:08:15,880 Speaker 2: Melinda Jankie works in a home office right next to 119 00:08:15,960 --> 00:08:19,040 Speaker 2: the pen her rescue dogs stay in when strangers like 120 00:08:19,120 --> 00:08:22,920 Speaker 2: me are visiting her. She lives in a bustling residential 121 00:08:22,960 --> 00:08:27,120 Speaker 2: neighborhood full of family homes. It's easy to miss Jankie's 122 00:08:27,160 --> 00:08:29,720 Speaker 2: house because it's set back from the street, hidden by 123 00:08:29,760 --> 00:08:31,880 Speaker 2: trees that are filled with birds. 124 00:08:32,640 --> 00:08:34,400 Speaker 6: And I think everyone should be able to wake up 125 00:08:34,440 --> 00:08:37,640 Speaker 6: in the morning and there's just something very beautiful in 126 00:08:37,679 --> 00:08:42,040 Speaker 6: front of them, flowers and birds and the sound of 127 00:08:42,040 --> 00:08:43,320 Speaker 6: the birds, birds song. 128 00:08:44,400 --> 00:08:47,000 Speaker 2: Even in the middle of the flowers and the birds 129 00:08:47,080 --> 00:08:50,400 Speaker 2: and the dogs, Janki is always working on a zillion 130 00:08:50,480 --> 00:08:51,160 Speaker 2: things at once. 131 00:08:52,400 --> 00:08:58,000 Speaker 6: Well, here we are in my office, which is as 132 00:08:58,040 --> 00:09:04,200 Speaker 6: you can see, full of books, full of papers. This 133 00:09:04,240 --> 00:09:08,240 Speaker 6: is really where I do most of my work. 134 00:09:08,640 --> 00:09:11,000 Speaker 2: She was sitting at her desk under a life sized 135 00:09:11,000 --> 00:09:15,480 Speaker 2: painting of a yellow jaguar, which seems very apt. Jenki 136 00:09:15,640 --> 00:09:18,079 Speaker 2: is not a large woman, and she doesn't speak loudly, 137 00:09:18,600 --> 00:09:20,559 Speaker 2: but there's a quiet rage about her. 138 00:09:21,320 --> 00:09:26,520 Speaker 6: But it's not necessarily where I do my thinking, because 139 00:09:27,360 --> 00:09:31,960 Speaker 6: thinking and work are not always the same thing. I 140 00:09:32,040 --> 00:09:35,280 Speaker 6: do a lot of my thinking with my trees and 141 00:09:35,320 --> 00:09:39,240 Speaker 6: my plants. I do a lot of my thinking with 142 00:09:39,440 --> 00:09:41,120 Speaker 6: the stars at night. 143 00:09:42,280 --> 00:09:45,439 Speaker 2: Nature is what has drawn Jenkie back to Guyana over 144 00:09:45,520 --> 00:09:49,079 Speaker 2: and over again. She grew up in a neighborhood Georgetown 145 00:09:49,160 --> 00:09:51,800 Speaker 2: called Sabriyanville, near the ocean. 146 00:09:52,679 --> 00:09:55,800 Speaker 6: And so every night for the first few years of 147 00:09:55,800 --> 00:09:58,520 Speaker 6: my life, I went to bed with the sound of 148 00:09:58,559 --> 00:10:03,440 Speaker 6: the sea in my ear, and Sabrineville was very quiet. 149 00:10:04,240 --> 00:10:09,240 Speaker 6: We lived with our neighbors basically, so all the children 150 00:10:09,320 --> 00:10:12,720 Speaker 6: were in all the houses all of the time. And 151 00:10:13,360 --> 00:10:16,080 Speaker 6: I would say I was obviously brought up by my 152 00:10:16,120 --> 00:10:19,240 Speaker 6: mother and father, but I was also brought up by 153 00:10:19,400 --> 00:10:22,320 Speaker 6: all the other parents in the neighborhood. 154 00:10:27,320 --> 00:10:31,400 Speaker 2: By the time Jankie was twelve. Guyana had descended into 155 00:10:31,559 --> 00:10:36,760 Speaker 2: constant unrest. There were politically motivated killings, riots in the streets, 156 00:10:36,880 --> 00:10:40,800 Speaker 2: The economy was unstable and it seemed like an unsafe 157 00:10:40,840 --> 00:10:44,320 Speaker 2: place to raise kids, so her parents made the tough 158 00:10:44,360 --> 00:10:48,280 Speaker 2: decision to leave. They moved the family first to Zambia, 159 00:10:48,360 --> 00:10:51,600 Speaker 2: then to Trinidad, and eventually Jankie went to the UK 160 00:10:51,920 --> 00:10:56,839 Speaker 2: to study law at Oxford University. Loads of Guyanese people 161 00:10:56,960 --> 00:10:59,720 Speaker 2: leave the country to study in the US or the UK. 162 00:11:00,160 --> 00:11:03,120 Speaker 2: Brain drain is something government officials are constantly trying to 163 00:11:03,120 --> 00:11:05,880 Speaker 2: get on top of, and so many people mentioned it 164 00:11:05,920 --> 00:11:09,080 Speaker 2: to us. In fact, only about fifty percent of Guyanese 165 00:11:09,160 --> 00:11:13,000 Speaker 2: people actually live in Guyana, and in the vast majority 166 00:11:13,000 --> 00:11:16,840 Speaker 2: of cases, once people leave, they don't come back. After 167 00:11:16,920 --> 00:11:19,640 Speaker 2: Jankie finished at Oxford, she got hired at one of 168 00:11:19,679 --> 00:11:23,080 Speaker 2: the top corporate law firms in London. It was about 169 00:11:23,120 --> 00:11:25,840 Speaker 2: as far away as you could get from waking up 170 00:11:25,880 --> 00:11:28,480 Speaker 2: to the birds and falling asleep to the sound of 171 00:11:28,520 --> 00:11:34,400 Speaker 2: the ocean. After a few years, she was ready for 172 00:11:34,480 --> 00:11:35,400 Speaker 2: something new. 173 00:11:35,720 --> 00:11:39,080 Speaker 6: And at the time it seemed like BP was a 174 00:11:39,120 --> 00:11:39,880 Speaker 6: good place to go. 175 00:11:44,080 --> 00:11:48,960 Speaker 2: Yes, BP that BP as in one of the largest 176 00:11:48,960 --> 00:11:53,160 Speaker 2: oil companies in the world. The company that was overseeing 177 00:11:53,200 --> 00:11:58,520 Speaker 2: the deep water horizon drilling, JANKI negotiated for them throughout Europe. 178 00:11:59,120 --> 00:12:02,960 Speaker 6: The work was It's very interesting. I had far more 179 00:12:03,000 --> 00:12:06,880 Speaker 6: responsibility than I would have had if I'd stayed in 180 00:12:06,880 --> 00:12:11,240 Speaker 6: the law firm. I met some very interesting people, and 181 00:12:11,440 --> 00:12:14,439 Speaker 6: I traveled. And you know, when you're young, the idea 182 00:12:14,480 --> 00:12:17,079 Speaker 6: of seeing the world is very attractive. You want to 183 00:12:17,120 --> 00:12:19,200 Speaker 6: go to other places, you want to meet other people, 184 00:12:19,520 --> 00:12:22,680 Speaker 6: you want to experience other cultures, and you just want 185 00:12:22,720 --> 00:12:23,200 Speaker 6: to learn. 186 00:12:23,559 --> 00:12:26,079 Speaker 2: But at a certain point she just couldn't do it anymore. 187 00:12:26,640 --> 00:12:30,120 Speaker 6: I was in a meeting and one of the people 188 00:12:30,679 --> 00:12:34,040 Speaker 6: at the table turned to me and he said, Oh, 189 00:12:34,480 --> 00:12:38,319 Speaker 6: this is such sexy work. And I thought to myself, 190 00:12:38,920 --> 00:12:43,640 Speaker 6: you know, this is really time to leave. 191 00:12:44,480 --> 00:12:46,760 Speaker 2: It wasn't so much the work she was tired of, 192 00:12:47,000 --> 00:12:51,240 Speaker 2: as the context She missed being surrounded by nature. She 193 00:12:51,320 --> 00:12:53,959 Speaker 2: was also getting pretty tired of having to prove to 194 00:12:54,160 --> 00:12:58,440 Speaker 2: white Europeans that she, a brown woman from the global South, 195 00:12:58,920 --> 00:13:01,760 Speaker 2: knew what she was talking about. She had a standing 196 00:13:01,840 --> 00:13:04,800 Speaker 2: offer to work as a partner in a prestigious corporate 197 00:13:04,800 --> 00:13:08,440 Speaker 2: firm in Guyana, so she went for it. She'd be 198 00:13:08,480 --> 00:13:11,080 Speaker 2: doing roughly the same sort of commercial work that she'd 199 00:13:11,120 --> 00:13:14,360 Speaker 2: been doing, but in a place she loved and on 200 00:13:14,400 --> 00:13:15,360 Speaker 2: her own terms. 201 00:13:16,520 --> 00:13:18,199 Speaker 6: You know, sometimes when I look out of the window, 202 00:13:18,200 --> 00:13:21,560 Speaker 6: there's a hummingbird there, and that's very beautiful, and I 203 00:13:21,559 --> 00:13:23,199 Speaker 6: don't want to wake up to an alarm clock, and 204 00:13:23,240 --> 00:13:25,400 Speaker 6: I have not woken up to alarm clock for decades. 205 00:13:26,240 --> 00:13:29,040 Speaker 2: It was during these years that these two very different 206 00:13:29,080 --> 00:13:32,760 Speaker 2: parts of Janki's life, her childhood in Guyana, growing up 207 00:13:32,800 --> 00:13:36,679 Speaker 2: surrounded by unloving nature, and her career in London negotiating 208 00:13:36,679 --> 00:13:40,880 Speaker 2: for a BP, came together into a whole new chapter. 209 00:13:41,840 --> 00:13:45,520 Speaker 6: Well, I think when you grew up with nature, then 210 00:13:45,679 --> 00:13:48,920 Speaker 6: you have a relationship with the world around you, and 211 00:13:48,960 --> 00:13:51,600 Speaker 6: then if you're a lawyer, you sort of at some 212 00:13:51,760 --> 00:13:56,959 Speaker 6: point I suppose the to connect. And I wanted to 213 00:13:57,040 --> 00:14:04,000 Speaker 6: protect Guyana's environment. I wanted to protect the nature that 214 00:14:04,440 --> 00:14:07,760 Speaker 6: I grew up with and that I think everybody should 215 00:14:07,800 --> 00:14:09,280 Speaker 6: have a chance to grow up with. 216 00:14:10,080 --> 00:14:12,680 Speaker 2: And because Guyana is quite a small country, with just 217 00:14:13,040 --> 00:14:16,240 Speaker 2: under eight hundred thousand residents, she was able to get 218 00:14:16,280 --> 00:14:20,360 Speaker 2: involved in protecting its environment in a very real way. 219 00:14:21,520 --> 00:14:25,200 Speaker 6: There was a meeting at the Pegasus hotel. I wanted 220 00:14:25,240 --> 00:14:27,720 Speaker 6: to go, but I had no way to go to 221 00:14:27,800 --> 00:14:33,880 Speaker 6: the meeting because I was just this completely unimportant individual. 222 00:14:34,320 --> 00:14:37,720 Speaker 2: The meeting was focused on environmental regulation and it was 223 00:14:37,800 --> 00:14:41,400 Speaker 2: by invitation only. Jenkie was able to score an invite 224 00:14:41,440 --> 00:14:42,920 Speaker 2: through a friend, so. 225 00:14:42,880 --> 00:14:47,040 Speaker 6: I went and it was interminably boring. But in the 226 00:14:47,080 --> 00:14:50,080 Speaker 6: break I was able to talk to one of the 227 00:14:50,120 --> 00:14:53,200 Speaker 6: government officials and say to him that I had looked 228 00:14:53,240 --> 00:14:56,560 Speaker 6: at their draft Environmental Act and I thought that it 229 00:14:56,640 --> 00:14:58,239 Speaker 6: was inadequate. 230 00:14:59,200 --> 00:15:01,800 Speaker 2: This is the sort of thing that makes people either 231 00:15:01,920 --> 00:15:05,680 Speaker 2: love or hate Melinda Jankie. She says exactly what she 232 00:15:05,760 --> 00:15:09,560 Speaker 2: thinks in every situation, but especially when she cares deeply 233 00:15:09,600 --> 00:15:12,600 Speaker 2: about something. This time she was talking about the need 234 00:15:12,720 --> 00:15:18,040 Speaker 2: to build in real safeguards for Guyana's valuable ecosystems. The 235 00:15:18,120 --> 00:15:21,520 Speaker 2: country has been through phase after phase of what economists 236 00:15:21,560 --> 00:15:25,880 Speaker 2: call the resource curse. It happens when a less developed 237 00:15:25,920 --> 00:15:29,200 Speaker 2: country puts all of its focus on the economic benefit 238 00:15:29,320 --> 00:15:34,440 Speaker 2: attached to selling a particular resource like gold or diamonds 239 00:15:34,880 --> 00:15:39,080 Speaker 2: or oil. But instead of untold riches, what those countries 240 00:15:39,240 --> 00:15:43,080 Speaker 2: generally get is an unstable economy that lives or dies 241 00:15:43,120 --> 00:15:46,840 Speaker 2: by the price of whatever commodity they're now dependent on selling. 242 00:15:47,480 --> 00:15:49,920 Speaker 2: Janki figured if the government was going to go to 243 00:15:49,960 --> 00:15:53,280 Speaker 2: the trouble of writing a new environmental production Act, it 244 00:15:53,320 --> 00:15:57,000 Speaker 2: should have some teeth, and so at the Pegasus Hotel 245 00:15:57,080 --> 00:15:59,640 Speaker 2: in the mid nineties, she said just that to a 246 00:15:59,680 --> 00:16:02,400 Speaker 2: government official and it actually paid off. 247 00:16:03,680 --> 00:16:07,800 Speaker 6: He didn't brush me off. He said, oh, well, send 248 00:16:07,840 --> 00:16:11,960 Speaker 6: me something about it. So I wrote a paper explaining 249 00:16:12,040 --> 00:16:16,320 Speaker 6: why I thought this act was inadequate. The next thing 250 00:16:16,360 --> 00:16:18,120 Speaker 6: I knew was they asked me if I'd like to 251 00:16:18,280 --> 00:16:20,840 Speaker 6: actually work on this as a consultant, and so I 252 00:16:20,880 --> 00:16:23,320 Speaker 6: said yes, and I was hired. 253 00:16:25,760 --> 00:16:30,720 Speaker 2: Jenki's input transformed the proposed regulation from one that sounded 254 00:16:30,720 --> 00:16:33,480 Speaker 2: okam paper but really didn't do much, to one of 255 00:16:33,520 --> 00:16:37,360 Speaker 2: the most rigorous pieces of environmental legislation, not just in 256 00:16:37,400 --> 00:16:41,160 Speaker 2: the region but in the world. Companies that wanted to 257 00:16:41,280 --> 00:16:46,040 Speaker 2: tap Diana's resources would have to undertake serious environmental and 258 00:16:46,280 --> 00:16:50,600 Speaker 2: climate impact assessments. And this was about three years or 259 00:16:50,680 --> 00:16:54,880 Speaker 2: so before the Kyoto Protocol was adopted, which means climate 260 00:16:54,960 --> 00:16:57,800 Speaker 2: impact assessments were not a thing that a lot of 261 00:16:57,880 --> 00:17:02,280 Speaker 2: countries were really doing at the time. Jankie also wrote 262 00:17:02,280 --> 00:17:08,159 Speaker 2: in requirements for comprehensive environmental management. She introduced the idea 263 00:17:08,200 --> 00:17:11,879 Speaker 2: of natural capital and the need to protect it. Natural 264 00:17:11,920 --> 00:17:15,399 Speaker 2: capital is the monetary value of all the things that 265 00:17:15,440 --> 00:17:19,360 Speaker 2: a healthy ecosystem does for us, like keeping our air 266 00:17:19,480 --> 00:17:23,960 Speaker 2: and drinking water clean, or storing carbon to curb climate change. 267 00:17:24,320 --> 00:17:27,879 Speaker 2: Jankie insisted that the government protect that value. It's an 268 00:17:27,920 --> 00:17:32,280 Speaker 2: incredibly progressive piece of environmental regulation, even by today's standards, 269 00:17:32,359 --> 00:17:37,840 Speaker 2: never mind back in the mid nineties. That work also 270 00:17:37,920 --> 00:17:41,119 Speaker 2: earned Jankie a lot of credibility in the realm of 271 00:17:41,240 --> 00:17:44,159 Speaker 2: environmental law, so much so that when the government was 272 00:17:44,240 --> 00:17:48,120 Speaker 2: drafting a new constitution a few years later, Jankie had 273 00:17:48,119 --> 00:17:51,160 Speaker 2: the ear of some pretty important people and was able 274 00:17:51,160 --> 00:17:54,160 Speaker 2: to add in some very valuable protections. 275 00:17:54,600 --> 00:17:57,959 Speaker 6: I decided that I would write something and send it 276 00:17:58,000 --> 00:18:03,080 Speaker 6: to them as a sort of background that would add 277 00:18:03,359 --> 00:18:07,520 Speaker 6: to the discussion. So I looked at constitutions around the 278 00:18:07,560 --> 00:18:11,320 Speaker 6: world that at that time had the right to healthy environment, 279 00:18:12,440 --> 00:18:16,080 Speaker 6: and then I put forward the arguments for having it 280 00:18:16,160 --> 00:18:18,560 Speaker 6: in the constitution today. 281 00:18:18,840 --> 00:18:23,800 Speaker 2: Article one nine j of Guyana's Constitution grants every citizen 282 00:18:23,960 --> 00:18:27,359 Speaker 2: quote the right to an environment that is not harmful 283 00:18:27,480 --> 00:18:31,399 Speaker 2: to his or her health or well being. It also 284 00:18:31,440 --> 00:18:35,480 Speaker 2: requires the state to protect the environment for the benefit 285 00:18:35,640 --> 00:18:42,080 Speaker 2: of present and future generations. You may remember we did 286 00:18:42,119 --> 00:18:45,840 Speaker 2: a whole season of damages on rights of nature. It's 287 00:18:45,840 --> 00:18:50,320 Speaker 2: a legal concept that gives constitutional rights to ecosystems, which 288 00:18:50,440 --> 00:18:55,359 Speaker 2: then also gives rights to communities around those ecosystems to 289 00:18:55,400 --> 00:18:59,000 Speaker 2: be able to legally protect them, whether they're forests or 290 00:18:59,040 --> 00:19:04,280 Speaker 2: watersheds or lakes. What Guyana wrote into its constitution is 291 00:19:04,320 --> 00:19:07,320 Speaker 2: the flip side of that coin. It grants humans the 292 00:19:07,440 --> 00:19:11,439 Speaker 2: right to a healthy environment. So if a corporation or 293 00:19:11,480 --> 00:19:14,760 Speaker 2: the government is doing something that infringes on that right, 294 00:19:15,359 --> 00:19:21,000 Speaker 2: they can be sued for violating the constitution. This constitutional 295 00:19:21,040 --> 00:19:24,720 Speaker 2: amendment was written years before Exelon would strike oil off 296 00:19:24,760 --> 00:19:28,440 Speaker 2: Guyana's coast. But like I mentioned before, the country had 297 00:19:28,480 --> 00:19:33,560 Speaker 2: already been through several waves of extractive colonialism and Janki 298 00:19:33,880 --> 00:19:37,920 Speaker 2: and many other Guyanese citizens were over it. 299 00:19:38,720 --> 00:19:44,800 Speaker 6: Guyana has had bonanza after bonanza, gold, boux side, diamonds, timber, 300 00:19:45,560 --> 00:19:48,840 Speaker 6: you name it. For fifty five years, the political parties 301 00:19:49,119 --> 00:19:51,160 Speaker 6: have run this country into the ground. 302 00:19:51,920 --> 00:19:55,280 Speaker 2: Its gold, box, side, timber, and diamonds had all been 303 00:19:55,320 --> 00:19:59,920 Speaker 2: pillaged to make foreign companies money Janki hoped that enshrining 304 00:20:00,080 --> 00:20:02,679 Speaker 2: the right to a healthy environment in the country's constitution 305 00:20:03,040 --> 00:20:07,399 Speaker 2: would give citizens some protection next time anyone wanted to 306 00:20:07,520 --> 00:20:09,280 Speaker 2: plunder their resources. 307 00:20:10,440 --> 00:20:13,280 Speaker 6: Where are Guyana's gold reserves? Where is the money from 308 00:20:13,280 --> 00:20:14,920 Speaker 6: the gold? Where is the money from the box side, 309 00:20:14,920 --> 00:20:17,280 Speaker 6: Where is the money from the diamonds, Where is the 310 00:20:17,320 --> 00:20:19,840 Speaker 6: money from the sugar, Where is the money from the agriculture, 311 00:20:19,840 --> 00:20:22,640 Speaker 6: Where is the money from the fishing, etc. The list 312 00:20:22,720 --> 00:20:27,520 Speaker 6: is almost endless because we are so full of wealth 313 00:20:28,800 --> 00:20:31,439 Speaker 6: and yet the people in this country are poor. We 314 00:20:31,560 --> 00:20:33,679 Speaker 6: have people sleeping on the streets and eating out of 315 00:20:33,720 --> 00:20:38,200 Speaker 6: the bins, So there is no point in anybody saying 316 00:20:38,280 --> 00:20:40,080 Speaker 6: oil is going to make Guyana rich. 317 00:20:41,040 --> 00:20:44,719 Speaker 2: Usually when someone criticizes the government in Guyana, people accuse 318 00:20:44,800 --> 00:20:48,080 Speaker 2: them of being against whatever political party is in power, 319 00:20:48,359 --> 00:20:52,320 Speaker 2: which also ties into long standing racial divides. So it's 320 00:20:52,320 --> 00:20:55,640 Speaker 2: worth noting that Jankie is an equal opportunity critic when 321 00:20:55,640 --> 00:20:59,239 Speaker 2: it comes to Guyanese politicians, and she couldn't believe that 322 00:20:59,280 --> 00:21:01,480 Speaker 2: despite all all of her efforts and all of the 323 00:21:01,640 --> 00:21:07,199 Speaker 2: careful language embedded into Guyanese law, both parties governments just 324 00:21:07,920 --> 00:21:09,360 Speaker 2: didn't enforce any of it. 325 00:21:10,520 --> 00:21:15,480 Speaker 5: We reached the huge milestone of declaring ten billion oil 326 00:21:15,480 --> 00:21:17,520 Speaker 5: equivalent barrels offshore Guyana. 327 00:21:17,840 --> 00:21:23,760 Speaker 6: My heart just sank because I know oil is a 328 00:21:23,800 --> 00:21:27,960 Speaker 6: disaster and it's the worst possible thing that could have 329 00:21:28,040 --> 00:21:34,760 Speaker 6: happened to Guyana. And people just began to go crazy 330 00:21:34,800 --> 00:21:38,639 Speaker 6: at the idea of all this oil wealth. And sure enough, 331 00:21:39,320 --> 00:21:43,960 Speaker 6: the first thing that we saw was that they entered 332 00:21:43,960 --> 00:21:47,600 Speaker 6: into a new agreement which was secret. They wouldn't release 333 00:21:47,640 --> 00:21:52,960 Speaker 6: it to people. When they finally released it, it was atrocious. 334 00:21:54,080 --> 00:21:57,560 Speaker 2: As we talked about last episode, the original contract between 335 00:21:57,560 --> 00:22:02,159 Speaker 2: Exxon and Guyana was signed in eighteen ninety nine, but 336 00:22:02,280 --> 00:22:06,000 Speaker 2: at the time, Guyana's oil was not that attractive because 337 00:22:06,080 --> 00:22:09,440 Speaker 2: Exon was still drilling in Venezuela, where it was much 338 00:22:09,520 --> 00:22:13,960 Speaker 2: easier to access oil. Plus, the Guyanese government had granted 339 00:22:14,000 --> 00:22:18,720 Speaker 2: Exon extraordinarily long exploration permits, so the company was quite 340 00:22:18,720 --> 00:22:21,320 Speaker 2: happy to just camp out on its offshore blocks in 341 00:22:21,359 --> 00:22:25,520 Speaker 2: Guyana until it needed them. When Exon did leave Venezuela, 342 00:22:26,040 --> 00:22:30,399 Speaker 2: it returned to Guyana and after it found oil, lots 343 00:22:30,440 --> 00:22:33,920 Speaker 2: of it, the company signed a new contract with the government. 344 00:22:35,119 --> 00:22:38,280 Speaker 2: But no matter what the contract said, Exxon and its 345 00:22:38,280 --> 00:22:42,960 Speaker 2: subsidiary ESSO would still be required by law, the law 346 00:22:43,160 --> 00:22:48,200 Speaker 2: Jankie helped to write to do a comprehensive environmental impact assessment. 347 00:22:48,720 --> 00:22:52,040 Speaker 2: According to Jenkie, that is not exactly what happened. 348 00:22:53,760 --> 00:22:57,280 Speaker 6: So ESSO started to do this environmental impact assessment. It 349 00:22:57,320 --> 00:23:01,400 Speaker 6: was absolutely atrocious for a start, Jankie says. 350 00:23:01,480 --> 00:23:05,040 Speaker 2: Environmental impact assessments are supposed to be conducted by an 351 00:23:05,040 --> 00:23:08,679 Speaker 2: independent third party, but Exon used to firm and has 352 00:23:08,720 --> 00:23:10,560 Speaker 2: an ongoing contract with. 353 00:23:11,000 --> 00:23:14,399 Speaker 6: That rule was breached from day one. But people were 354 00:23:14,400 --> 00:23:17,200 Speaker 6: so excited about this oil that no one was focusing on. 355 00:23:17,119 --> 00:23:20,800 Speaker 2: This second Jankie says, each part of the offshore drilling 356 00:23:20,800 --> 00:23:25,080 Speaker 2: project should have its own environmental impact assessment, but that 357 00:23:25,119 --> 00:23:26,040 Speaker 2: didn't happen here. 358 00:23:26,880 --> 00:23:30,080 Speaker 7: You need an environmental impact assessment for each one of 359 00:23:30,080 --> 00:23:34,240 Speaker 7: the eight production wells, each of the six deep water wells, 360 00:23:34,400 --> 00:23:37,680 Speaker 7: each of the three gas wells, the sewage, the ballast, 361 00:23:37,760 --> 00:23:41,560 Speaker 7: the produced water, the cooling water, the transportation of the oil, 362 00:23:41,680 --> 00:23:45,600 Speaker 7: and so on. Even the seismic studies should have an 363 00:23:45,640 --> 00:23:49,960 Speaker 7: environmental impact assessment because of the impact on marine mammals. 364 00:23:51,000 --> 00:23:54,400 Speaker 2: The one that ESSO drafted for its first production site 365 00:23:54,600 --> 00:23:57,800 Speaker 2: does consider the impact of a large scale spill. They 366 00:23:57,840 --> 00:24:00,960 Speaker 2: calculated that if twenty thousand barrels a day were spilled 367 00:24:01,000 --> 00:24:06,119 Speaker 2: for thirty days, that quote little irreversible damage would be expected, 368 00:24:06,400 --> 00:24:09,240 Speaker 2: although it could take a decade or more for all 369 00:24:09,359 --> 00:24:12,920 Speaker 2: resources to fully recover, so. 370 00:24:12,960 --> 00:24:18,080 Speaker 7: The total spill would be six hundred thousand barrels of oil. Well, 371 00:24:18,119 --> 00:24:21,840 Speaker 7: in nineteen eighty nine, the Exxon Valdez spilled two hundred 372 00:24:21,880 --> 00:24:24,800 Speaker 7: and fifty seven thousand barrels of oil, so roughly half 373 00:24:24,840 --> 00:24:28,520 Speaker 7: what we're talking about at the moment. That spill covered 374 00:24:28,560 --> 00:24:32,159 Speaker 7: eleven thousand square miles. It killed hundreds of thousands of 375 00:24:32,160 --> 00:24:35,720 Speaker 7: birds and animals, and unknown quantities of salmon and herring, 376 00:24:35,800 --> 00:24:39,200 Speaker 7: and nearly thirty years later, the area has not recovered 377 00:24:39,240 --> 00:24:44,040 Speaker 7: and probably never will. This environmental impact assessment is a 378 00:24:44,160 --> 00:24:47,440 Speaker 7: totally inadequate assessment of the risk. 379 00:24:48,320 --> 00:24:51,520 Speaker 2: And the straw that broke Melinda Janki's back was when 380 00:24:51,560 --> 00:24:57,159 Speaker 2: she noticed that Guyana's Environmental Protection Agency there EPA issued 381 00:24:57,200 --> 00:25:01,959 Speaker 2: as is permit the same day received their Environmental Impact 382 00:25:01,960 --> 00:25:07,200 Speaker 2: Assessment and Environmental Management Assessment. Those documents are each hundreds 383 00:25:07,320 --> 00:25:08,480 Speaker 2: of pages long. 384 00:25:10,480 --> 00:25:15,080 Speaker 6: So it is a mystery as to when exactly the 385 00:25:15,200 --> 00:25:19,880 Speaker 6: Environmental Protection Agency read these documents if in fact they 386 00:25:19,880 --> 00:25:20,719 Speaker 6: did read them. 387 00:25:21,200 --> 00:25:24,040 Speaker 2: Jenki started going to every government event or meeting she 388 00:25:24,160 --> 00:25:26,359 Speaker 2: could about the oil project. 389 00:25:27,640 --> 00:25:30,480 Speaker 6: So at this event, the advisor to the President on 390 00:25:30,880 --> 00:25:33,359 Speaker 6: oil was telling people that they didn't really know the 391 00:25:33,400 --> 00:25:36,359 Speaker 6: oil industry and they had to trust the oil companies. 392 00:25:37,640 --> 00:25:40,280 Speaker 2: Let that sink in for a second. Knowing all we 393 00:25:40,359 --> 00:25:44,800 Speaker 2: know about how oil companies conduct business, the government was 394 00:25:44,840 --> 00:25:48,679 Speaker 2: opting to trust them in good faith, and JANKI was 395 00:25:48,720 --> 00:25:50,119 Speaker 2: not going to let that happen. 396 00:25:50,960 --> 00:25:55,240 Speaker 6: I was utterly outraged by that, particularly as it was 397 00:25:55,280 --> 00:25:59,000 Speaker 6: coming from someone who was very close to the president. 398 00:26:00,560 --> 00:26:03,840 Speaker 6: And I began talking to someone there and he said 399 00:26:03,880 --> 00:26:06,399 Speaker 6: he would like to do a case, but nobody would 400 00:26:06,400 --> 00:26:09,640 Speaker 6: do the case for him to challenge the oil and 401 00:26:09,720 --> 00:26:14,040 Speaker 6: I said, I'll do it. 402 00:26:14,040 --> 00:26:16,200 Speaker 2: It was one of those further moment decisions you make 403 00:26:16,240 --> 00:26:19,399 Speaker 2: without really thinking it through. Jankie had been out of 404 00:26:19,400 --> 00:26:22,439 Speaker 2: the litigation game for years by this point, and she 405 00:26:22,600 --> 00:26:25,760 Speaker 2: wasn't working with a firm anymore, but she wanted to 406 00:26:25,800 --> 00:26:28,359 Speaker 2: take on the oil companies, and she figured she'd be 407 00:26:28,400 --> 00:26:30,440 Speaker 2: able to find another lawyer to join her. 408 00:26:31,440 --> 00:26:35,439 Speaker 6: I thought, I'll get someone else to help with this, 409 00:26:35,560 --> 00:26:38,560 Speaker 6: but in fact I couldn't get anybody to help with it. 410 00:26:39,400 --> 00:26:42,119 Speaker 2: Many of the country's lawyers were already either working for 411 00:26:42,440 --> 00:26:45,880 Speaker 2: ESSO or for the government or for a supplier connected 412 00:26:45,920 --> 00:26:49,520 Speaker 2: to the project. Again, Ghana is small. There are only 413 00:26:49,560 --> 00:26:53,120 Speaker 2: so many lawyers and law clerks there. Jankie was quickly 414 00:26:53,160 --> 00:26:55,640 Speaker 2: finding that a whole lot of them just couldn't join 415 00:26:55,720 --> 00:26:59,200 Speaker 2: her because of those conflicts of interest, And then there's 416 00:26:59,240 --> 00:27:01,800 Speaker 2: the issue of folks just not want in that smoke. 417 00:27:02,320 --> 00:27:05,880 Speaker 2: By this point, it wasn't just exon pushing the oil project. 418 00:27:06,280 --> 00:27:08,960 Speaker 2: The government was all for it too. And there's a 419 00:27:09,040 --> 00:27:12,919 Speaker 2: very real and relatively recent history in Guyana of the 420 00:27:12,960 --> 00:27:17,919 Speaker 2: government suppressing opposition, sometimes violently. That's a big part of 421 00:27:17,920 --> 00:27:20,680 Speaker 2: why Jankie's family left Guyana when she was a kid. 422 00:27:22,119 --> 00:27:24,960 Speaker 2: Now she was asking someone to take on that risk 423 00:27:25,119 --> 00:27:27,520 Speaker 2: for a case that only had a few thousand dollars 424 00:27:27,520 --> 00:27:32,359 Speaker 2: worth of crowdfunding. That's right. To fund the case. They 425 00:27:32,359 --> 00:27:35,720 Speaker 2: got donations from citizens and from some Guyanese people who 426 00:27:35,720 --> 00:27:38,919 Speaker 2: were living outside of the country to get things going. 427 00:27:39,640 --> 00:27:42,919 Speaker 2: She started by filing cases around the permits, arguing that 428 00:27:42,960 --> 00:27:46,440 Speaker 2: the environmental impact assessments were faulty and that the Guyanese 429 00:27:46,520 --> 00:27:50,280 Speaker 2: government had violated its own laws by issuing an extra 430 00:27:50,400 --> 00:27:53,480 Speaker 2: long permit to essout, and she had an early win. 431 00:27:54,080 --> 00:27:57,200 Speaker 6: We cut SS permits down from over twenty three years 432 00:27:57,200 --> 00:27:58,040 Speaker 6: to five years. 433 00:27:58,560 --> 00:28:00,840 Speaker 2: Jankie felt like if the government would just use the 434 00:28:00,920 --> 00:28:03,920 Speaker 2: laws that were already on the books, they could make 435 00:28:03,960 --> 00:28:07,720 Speaker 2: this project too expensive to be worth Exon's attention at all, 436 00:28:08,440 --> 00:28:12,439 Speaker 2: because remember, part of what's driving Exon's increased presence in 437 00:28:12,480 --> 00:28:15,440 Speaker 2: Guyana is the fact that it can move quickly and 438 00:28:15,520 --> 00:28:19,119 Speaker 2: cheaply there. So if the government would just tell the 439 00:28:19,119 --> 00:28:23,160 Speaker 2: oil companies to slow down, be careful with all the rules, 440 00:28:23,520 --> 00:28:26,639 Speaker 2: then the contract that's got so many people upset, the 441 00:28:26,720 --> 00:28:29,280 Speaker 2: one we talked about last time, that some are pushing 442 00:28:29,320 --> 00:28:32,879 Speaker 2: to renegotiate, it would kind of be beside the point. 443 00:28:33,880 --> 00:28:38,560 Speaker 6: I think it's foolish, and I think it's naive. Exxon 444 00:28:39,080 --> 00:28:42,640 Speaker 6: and its partners are not going to come back to 445 00:28:42,720 --> 00:28:46,280 Speaker 6: the table to renegotiate anything unless they get a better deal. 446 00:28:47,200 --> 00:28:51,000 Speaker 2: She says. Those pushing for contract renegotiation should be cheering 447 00:28:51,080 --> 00:28:52,360 Speaker 2: on these cases too. 448 00:28:53,080 --> 00:28:57,840 Speaker 6: It's my feeling that if we actually properly enforce those laws, 449 00:28:58,360 --> 00:29:02,240 Speaker 6: this operation would have to be show and if that happens, 450 00:29:02,840 --> 00:29:07,840 Speaker 6: then for throughnegotiation people at least then you could say, 451 00:29:07,960 --> 00:29:11,080 Speaker 6: if you were being commercially minded, as opposed to naive, 452 00:29:11,920 --> 00:29:16,520 Speaker 6: you can only restart if you give us a proper deal. 453 00:29:16,880 --> 00:29:19,280 Speaker 2: Keep in mind that Jankie has been inside the belly 454 00:29:19,280 --> 00:29:21,840 Speaker 2: of the beast, so to speak. She has been the 455 00:29:21,880 --> 00:29:25,040 Speaker 2: person on the other side of that conference table trying 456 00:29:25,080 --> 00:29:28,240 Speaker 2: to get oil companies more money. So she has a 457 00:29:28,280 --> 00:29:32,360 Speaker 2: better idea than most how to negotiate against them, and 458 00:29:32,480 --> 00:29:34,880 Speaker 2: since she knows they won't come back to the table, 459 00:29:35,480 --> 00:29:39,719 Speaker 2: her weapon of choice is lawsuits, which is why in 460 00:29:39,800 --> 00:29:43,840 Speaker 2: late twenty twenty two, she filed her sixth case, this 461 00:29:43,920 --> 00:29:47,000 Speaker 2: time arguing that the government is not requiring a large 462 00:29:47,120 --> 00:29:52,240 Speaker 2: enough insurance policy from Axon because you know, a spill 463 00:29:52,280 --> 00:29:55,480 Speaker 2: would likely be much more catastrophic than what they're projecting. 464 00:29:56,520 --> 00:29:58,960 Speaker 2: It's the first of Jenkie's arguments that seems to have 465 00:29:59,040 --> 00:30:03,920 Speaker 2: prompted a major marketing response from Exon. Here is Exon 466 00:30:04,000 --> 00:30:08,719 Speaker 2: Guyana's president, Alistair Routledge, in a promotional video about of 467 00:30:08,800 --> 00:30:12,680 Speaker 2: all things insurance. See if you can spot some of 468 00:30:12,720 --> 00:30:14,680 Speaker 2: the tactics we laid out last time. 469 00:30:16,680 --> 00:30:21,080 Speaker 5: Recognizing the ongoing discussion and in many cases misinformation around 470 00:30:21,120 --> 00:30:25,440 Speaker 5: oil spill insurance. Exomobile Guyana wishes to categorically state that 471 00:30:25,520 --> 00:30:29,840 Speaker 5: it has insurance coverage that meets international industry standards for 472 00:30:30,000 --> 00:30:32,360 Speaker 5: all its petroleum activities in Guyana. 473 00:30:33,440 --> 00:30:37,120 Speaker 2: Everyone else is spreading misinformation and we've got it covered. 474 00:30:38,000 --> 00:30:41,200 Speaker 2: But what Jenki has focused on in her suit goes 475 00:30:41,280 --> 00:30:44,360 Speaker 2: beyond the sort of insurance that Routledge is talking about. 476 00:30:45,040 --> 00:30:49,640 Speaker 2: She's arguing for something called financial assurance, which is effectively 477 00:30:49,680 --> 00:30:54,920 Speaker 2: an unlimited liability policy, meaning you break it, you fix it. 478 00:30:55,320 --> 00:30:57,920 Speaker 2: There's no limit on the amount of money Exon could 479 00:30:58,000 --> 00:31:01,480 Speaker 2: have to spend to clean up a major disaster. But 480 00:31:01,560 --> 00:31:05,880 Speaker 2: here's the thing. Guyanese law already requires financial assurance as 481 00:31:05,960 --> 00:31:10,600 Speaker 2: part of Exon's drilling permits, and still, Jankie says, the 482 00:31:10,640 --> 00:31:15,120 Speaker 2: government is just not enforcing its own laws, which is 483 00:31:15,200 --> 00:31:17,680 Speaker 2: part of what makes Guyana such an appealing place to 484 00:31:17,720 --> 00:31:21,840 Speaker 2: do business for companies like Exxon. The government is providing 485 00:31:22,120 --> 00:31:28,720 Speaker 2: little oversight of the project. We talked earlier about a 486 00:31:28,760 --> 00:31:32,920 Speaker 2: faulty gas compressor on Exon's first production rig. The company 487 00:31:32,960 --> 00:31:35,520 Speaker 2: claims that today the compressor is fixed and everything is 488 00:31:35,560 --> 00:31:38,920 Speaker 2: working as it should be. Jankie's point is the fact 489 00:31:38,920 --> 00:31:42,040 Speaker 2: that it wasn't working for so long is exactly the 490 00:31:42,120 --> 00:31:45,560 Speaker 2: kind of thing that makes the unlimited liability policy necessary. 491 00:31:46,480 --> 00:31:49,240 Speaker 2: If the companies were continuing to pump oil with a 492 00:31:49,280 --> 00:31:53,600 Speaker 2: piece of equipment they knew was faulty, she argues, how 493 00:31:53,640 --> 00:31:56,680 Speaker 2: can Guyana trust that won't happen again, or that it 494 00:31:56,720 --> 00:32:01,360 Speaker 2: won't be catastrophic next time, because remember. 495 00:32:00,440 --> 00:32:04,680 Speaker 6: Little things were what caused the bpmcondo well blowout. The 496 00:32:04,960 --> 00:32:08,480 Speaker 6: bpmcondo well blowout happened in the Gulf of Mexico. The 497 00:32:08,600 --> 00:32:13,959 Speaker 6: United States of America has more experience, more resources, more expertise, 498 00:32:14,080 --> 00:32:18,520 Speaker 6: more technology, more boats, more everything than anybody. And that 499 00:32:18,680 --> 00:32:23,360 Speaker 6: happened in just in the Gulf of Mexico, and yet 500 00:32:24,400 --> 00:32:25,560 Speaker 6: it was devastating. 501 00:32:28,760 --> 00:32:32,360 Speaker 2: Gana not only lacks a regulatory system for oil, it 502 00:32:32,400 --> 00:32:36,080 Speaker 2: also does not have a bench of petroleum experts just 503 00:32:36,200 --> 00:32:39,800 Speaker 2: hanging out in Georgetown waiting to jump into action if 504 00:32:39,800 --> 00:32:43,480 Speaker 2: a blowout occurs, or even just a large spill. And 505 00:32:43,520 --> 00:32:47,320 Speaker 2: according to Exon's own environmental impact assessments for some of 506 00:32:47,320 --> 00:32:51,040 Speaker 2: its more recent production sites, in some parts of the 507 00:32:51,040 --> 00:32:54,240 Speaker 2: offshore project, if there were a spell, ocean currents could 508 00:32:54,280 --> 00:32:59,720 Speaker 2: carry oil throughout the Caribbean, impacting up to fourteen Caribbean islands. 509 00:33:00,440 --> 00:33:04,160 Speaker 6: This country knows nothing about oil and even less about 510 00:33:04,360 --> 00:33:10,800 Speaker 6: oil danger and oil spills. The risk to Guyana is incredible. 511 00:33:10,920 --> 00:33:16,560 Speaker 6: This oil production. This is a reckless gamble by the 512 00:33:16,600 --> 00:33:21,480 Speaker 6: government of Guyana with the future of Guyana. It's a 513 00:33:21,520 --> 00:33:25,840 Speaker 6: reckless gamble by the governments of Guyana for the entire Caribbean. 514 00:33:26,720 --> 00:33:30,640 Speaker 6: The maps show that if there is a well blowout, 515 00:33:31,000 --> 00:33:35,280 Speaker 6: that oil is going to end up on in Caribbean countries, 516 00:33:35,480 --> 00:33:37,440 Speaker 6: our Caribbean sisters and brothers. 517 00:33:41,360 --> 00:33:45,760 Speaker 2: Those countries depend largely on tourism and fishing for their economies, 518 00:33:45,840 --> 00:33:48,480 Speaker 2: two industries that could be wiped out for years if 519 00:33:48,520 --> 00:33:50,880 Speaker 2: oil were to wash up on shore in a big way. 520 00:33:52,720 --> 00:33:56,240 Speaker 2: Jenkie says she remembers watching the people of Valdez, Alaska 521 00:33:56,400 --> 00:33:59,440 Speaker 2: fight for years to get Exxon to properly clean up 522 00:33:59,480 --> 00:34:02,680 Speaker 2: that spell, and she doesn't think the Guyanese government should 523 00:34:02,720 --> 00:34:06,080 Speaker 2: trust that they're going to get any better treatment, especially 524 00:34:06,120 --> 00:34:08,960 Speaker 2: if Guyana finds itself on the hook for damages in 525 00:34:09,040 --> 00:34:14,200 Speaker 2: other countries. Jenkie argues that because the industry isn't properly regulated, 526 00:34:14,760 --> 00:34:17,640 Speaker 2: the government could be held liable for any damages the 527 00:34:17,719 --> 00:34:20,839 Speaker 2: project inflicts on neighboring countries. 528 00:34:22,080 --> 00:34:25,920 Speaker 6: So you have a situation where Guyana's oil production could 529 00:34:26,000 --> 00:34:32,000 Speaker 6: potentially destroy Caribbean economies. We are talking about billions of 530 00:34:32,080 --> 00:34:39,160 Speaker 6: dollars worth of loss in addition to devastating the biodiversity 531 00:34:39,280 --> 00:34:42,440 Speaker 6: of the region, and you can't put a price on that. 532 00:34:43,320 --> 00:34:47,040 Speaker 6: It's all very well to say, well, we can compensate 533 00:34:47,080 --> 00:34:49,960 Speaker 6: the tourism sector, but you can't walk into a shop 534 00:34:50,000 --> 00:34:53,719 Speaker 6: and buy a new sperm whale. The wildlife that is 535 00:34:53,760 --> 00:34:57,680 Speaker 6: in this part of the world is incredible. We have 536 00:34:57,880 --> 00:35:03,360 Speaker 6: rare species and all of this is at risk because 537 00:35:03,360 --> 00:35:06,960 Speaker 6: of this oil drilling. So has a permit. Now, if 538 00:35:07,080 --> 00:35:10,319 Speaker 6: Essay is in breach of that permit, who's liable. Well, 539 00:35:10,440 --> 00:35:12,600 Speaker 6: of course we would say that SOO is liable, But 540 00:35:12,920 --> 00:35:15,600 Speaker 6: I already told you this is an offshore company that 541 00:35:15,719 --> 00:35:18,799 Speaker 6: doesn't have billions of dollars worth of assets. It's going 542 00:35:18,880 --> 00:35:20,200 Speaker 6: to come back to Guyana. 543 00:35:20,280 --> 00:35:22,360 Speaker 2: In other words, if there's a massive spill in the 544 00:35:22,400 --> 00:35:26,480 Speaker 2: region and nearby countries like Trinidad or Barbados have their 545 00:35:26,560 --> 00:35:30,520 Speaker 2: fishing and tourism industries ruined by oil from Guyana, they're 546 00:35:30,600 --> 00:35:34,239 Speaker 2: likely to come looking to Guyana for compensation. 547 00:35:35,239 --> 00:35:38,120 Speaker 6: SO doesn't have the billions of dollars that it could 548 00:35:38,200 --> 00:35:42,560 Speaker 6: compensate people for. And what happens then, well, the Caribbean 549 00:35:42,600 --> 00:35:48,640 Speaker 6: countries could come to Guyana and ask Guyana to pay compensation. Now, 550 00:35:48,719 --> 00:35:53,040 Speaker 6: under international law, you can be liable for trans boundary harm. 551 00:35:53,840 --> 00:35:57,120 Speaker 2: Jankie says. There's every reason to believe that Guyana would 552 00:35:57,200 --> 00:36:01,720 Speaker 2: be found liable because even international financial analysts are calling 553 00:36:01,760 --> 00:36:04,759 Speaker 2: attention to the lack of oversight on the project. 554 00:36:05,520 --> 00:36:10,200 Speaker 6: Ghana is not doing its due diligence. It's not ensuring 555 00:36:10,400 --> 00:36:15,200 Speaker 6: that s SO adheres to the Environmental Protection Act, it's 556 00:36:15,280 --> 00:36:19,320 Speaker 6: not ensuring that s is running its operations properly. Why 557 00:36:19,360 --> 00:36:22,160 Speaker 6: on Earth would you allow somebody to continue producing oil 558 00:36:22,200 --> 00:36:26,399 Speaker 6: when you know that their gas compressor is defective. What 559 00:36:26,520 --> 00:36:31,240 Speaker 6: sort of government allows an oil company to operate above 560 00:36:31,480 --> 00:36:32,839 Speaker 6: the safety limits. 561 00:36:33,560 --> 00:36:36,600 Speaker 2: Then there's the pollution that's produced even when everything is 562 00:36:36,680 --> 00:36:41,560 Speaker 2: working as it should. Greenhouse gases which exacerbate climate change, 563 00:36:42,120 --> 00:36:46,359 Speaker 2: and volatile organic compounds and particulate matter, which have been 564 00:36:46,400 --> 00:36:49,400 Speaker 2: linked to lower life expectancy, and a whole host of 565 00:36:49,520 --> 00:36:53,080 Speaker 2: respiratory and cardiac issues are part for the course in 566 00:36:53,160 --> 00:36:56,560 Speaker 2: oil and gas production. You cannot produce and refine oil 567 00:36:56,600 --> 00:37:00,759 Speaker 2: and gas without generating carbon dioxide and methane, the two 568 00:37:00,880 --> 00:37:06,200 Speaker 2: primary drivers of climate change, and Guyana isn't just on 569 00:37:06,280 --> 00:37:09,960 Speaker 2: the frontier of the global oil industry, it's also on 570 00:37:10,040 --> 00:37:14,480 Speaker 2: the front lines of the climate crisis. Here's investigative journalist 571 00:37:14,600 --> 00:37:15,960 Speaker 2: Antonia Jujaz again. 572 00:37:16,440 --> 00:37:19,680 Speaker 4: By twenty thirty, Georgetown and most of the coast is 573 00:37:19,719 --> 00:37:20,800 Speaker 4: expected to be underwater. 574 00:37:21,440 --> 00:37:25,800 Speaker 2: That's the same year financial analysts predict Guyana will finally 575 00:37:25,920 --> 00:37:26,920 Speaker 2: pay off Exxon. 576 00:37:28,000 --> 00:37:31,920 Speaker 6: I think it's really important that people stop thinking of 577 00:37:31,960 --> 00:37:34,800 Speaker 6: Guyana as a developing country that needs to be helped 578 00:37:35,719 --> 00:37:40,040 Speaker 6: and starts looking at us and saying, well, these guys 579 00:37:40,080 --> 00:37:44,000 Speaker 6: are a carbon sink and they are under threat because 580 00:37:44,560 --> 00:37:48,080 Speaker 6: of Exon Mobile and of the oil companies. And we 581 00:37:48,239 --> 00:37:52,280 Speaker 6: have a responsibility to rein in those oil companies because 582 00:37:52,320 --> 00:37:56,040 Speaker 6: those are oil companies coming from the global North. 583 00:37:56,560 --> 00:38:03,759 Speaker 2: That's our story. Next time, Lights Sweet Crude is a 584 00:38:03,840 --> 00:38:08,719 Speaker 2: drilled and Damage's co production. Both shows are critical frequency originals. 585 00:38:09,040 --> 00:38:13,240 Speaker 2: Our editor and senior producer is Sarah Ventri. Sound design, 586 00:38:13,440 --> 00:38:17,440 Speaker 2: mixing and mastering by Martin Saltz Austwick. Our fact checker 587 00:38:17,560 --> 00:38:21,000 Speaker 2: is Anna Pujel Mazzini, and our first amendment attorney is 588 00:38:21,080 --> 00:38:24,680 Speaker 2: James Wheaton. The show is reported and written by me 589 00:38:24,880 --> 00:38:28,840 Speaker 2: Amy Westerboldt, additional reporting by Keana Wilberg in Guyana and 590 00:38:28,880 --> 00:38:33,160 Speaker 2: Antonio Juhaz in DC. We had additional assistants in Guyana 591 00:38:33,160 --> 00:38:37,200 Speaker 2: from Jamal Thomas, Salvador de Caarre's Wilderness Explorers and the 592 00:38:37,280 --> 00:38:41,759 Speaker 2: staff at Kaiman House. Special thanks to Michael McCrystal for 593 00:38:41,800 --> 00:38:45,120 Speaker 2: his help as well. Our theme song is Bird in 594 00:38:45,160 --> 00:38:48,920 Speaker 2: the Hand by Foreknown. The song nam Tera Dishmann is 595 00:38:48,960 --> 00:38:53,000 Speaker 2: performed by Joyce or Milla Harris in Guyana. The song 596 00:38:53,440 --> 00:38:57,800 Speaker 2: Liquidator is a cover of a Harry j Allstars song 597 00:38:58,040 --> 00:39:02,600 Speaker 2: performed by the Young Ones of Guyana, licensed by BME Music. 598 00:39:03,440 --> 00:39:06,759 Speaker 2: The song Beiji Bogi is written and recorded by Bill 599 00:39:06,880 --> 00:39:11,240 Speaker 2: Rogers and licensed from the BBC Music Library. Special thanks 600 00:39:11,280 --> 00:39:15,160 Speaker 2: to Susy Buttress of the Casual Birder podcast for her 601 00:39:15,400 --> 00:39:19,759 Speaker 2: bird song recordings which we used in this episode. Our 602 00:39:19,880 --> 00:39:23,360 Speaker 2: artwork is by Matt Fleming. Marketing is handled by the 603 00:39:23,400 --> 00:39:27,240 Speaker 2: Great Maggie Taylor pr and media outreach by the wonderful 604 00:39:27,239 --> 00:39:32,320 Speaker 2: folks at Tink Media. Lauren Passel, Ariel Nissenblatt, and Devin Andrade. 605 00:39:32,719 --> 00:39:35,799 Speaker 2: The show is supported in part by generous grants from 606 00:39:35,880 --> 00:39:40,600 Speaker 2: the Doc Society, File Foundation, the William Collins Kohler Foundation, 607 00:39:40,920 --> 00:39:43,880 Speaker 2: and you are listeners. If you would like to support 608 00:39:43,920 --> 00:39:46,279 Speaker 2: our work, you can sign up for our newsletter at 609 00:39:46,360 --> 00:39:50,640 Speaker 2: drilled podcast dot com. You can also access transcripts of 610 00:39:50,680 --> 00:39:54,839 Speaker 2: the show there and additional information. Paid subscribers also get 611 00:39:54,880 --> 00:39:59,160 Speaker 2: access to ad free episodes, early releases, and bonus content. 612 00:39:59,440 --> 00:40:02,240 Speaker 2: It also it really helps us if you would please 613 00:40:02,320 --> 00:40:05,359 Speaker 2: rate or review the podcast wherever you're listening and share 614 00:40:05,400 --> 00:40:08,279 Speaker 2: it with friends. Thanks for listening and we'll see you 615 00:40:08,320 --> 00:40:08,759 Speaker 2: next time.