This Friday morning, at the Fairmont Miramar Hotel in Santa Monica, leaders of the Achuar people will speak at the Occidental Petroleum shareholder meeting. They will be joined by activists in a press conference and rally to demand that LA-based Oxy clean up the Achuar home, the Peruvian Amazon -- "the Heart of the World" as described by Atossa Soltani, Executive Director of Amazon Watch.

Despite the corporation's announcement in December 2006 to pull out of the Amazon, a report released by Amazon Watch today reveals that for over 30 years, OXY ignored industry standards and employed out-of-date practices. To put it briefly, Oxy conducted drilling practices that are illegal here in the US -- including dumping over 850,000 barrels per day of toxic oil byproducts directly into rivers and streams, resulting in severe cadmium and lead poisoning among the communities of the Amazon.

At an event at a private home last night, I heard the Achuar share their story. Andres Sandi Mucushua, President of the Federation of Native Communities of the Corrientes River, said "We have seen our rivers, farms and animals sicken, and we have become ill and died from the contanimation. We have opposed oil drilling in our territory. It is important that Oxy shareholders are told what Oxy has done and continues to do in the Peruvian Amazon."

Meanwhile, as they backpedal on their agreements with the forest, the executives of Oxy, living in our LA neighborhoods, are making extraordinary amounts of money. The CEO made over $400 million last year -- at the very direct expense of the people, plants and animals in a forest critical in the life-support of every one of us on the planet.

This reminds me of the "non-locality" of every issue. As I got in my car and drove home from the event last night, I wondered how much of the gas in my car -- and the wood in my home, and the food in my fridge, etc. etc. -- came from the Amazon.

We as shareholders, and purchasers of goods, play a direct role, and have a direct responsibility, since we are truly connected to everything that is going on on the planet.

So, I decided to head down to the corner of Wilshire and Ocean this Friday morning and speak with the Heart of the Earth at Oxy's Shareholder meeting. Will you join me?

[Top image: People of Achuar; left image: Fairmont tree]