This is from the Times of London (via Democratic Underground):
"Jim Ratcliffe, the reclusive billionaire behind Ineos, Britain’s largest private company, has warned Gordon Brown that hundreds of thousands of jobs will be lost if the prime minister commits Britain to tougher EU curbs on carbon emissions.
Ratcliffe issued the warning in a letter last week that was also signed by Paul Thompson, chief executive of GrowHow, the UK’s last remaining fertiliser manufacturer, and Steve Elliott, head of the Chemical Industries Association."
Read the rest here
Could someone please tell me how do these CEO's sleep at night knowing their demands is a threat not only to their (our) ecconomy but to our environment? I'm livid! I can't believe this type of brazen disregard for the life of fellow human beings on the planet.
My biggest question to all this is could this type of behavior happen here if an Obama administration adhere to the Kyoto Protocol agreement and offer tougher new environmental rules on all industries? I think I know the answer to this one; I also know of what can happen when a President and Legislative Branch cave to the demands of one industry solely to codify their needs (think the housing crisis).
What really torques me about this news item is the fact this billionaire--this "reclusive" billionaire-- seems to think the industry he gains his fortune doesn't have the right to be regulated. He thinks his world will be safe behind whatever English castle or mansion he occupies. But he is like many breeds of million and billionaires raping the world for their own profit and damn the torpedoes. To me they are not better than the drug dealers on the street; so long as they get theirs they don't care about the harm they are doing to others. And the world suffer while he goes to the banks.
I found this short (and sweet) link about his life on Wikipedia:
Listed the 25th riches person in the UK
I also tried to find out if there was an e-mail addy to encourage Prime Minister Gordon Brown to not let these "bullies" keep him from doing the right thing for our planet. Then I thought, "I need to do my part to try and turn this country in a similar direction for the sake of my children and my children's children. Question: What do I do?
For those of you who are already active in the matter of the environment what can a "bloke" like me do to try and change the world around while these greedy billionaires reap off of the raping of our planet? I'll read each and every one of them because I would like to know some practical things we can do to send a message to oil/chemical/energy companies we, the people, mean business. Curb the sludge and crap you put into our water and air or face the full wrath of the people's voice.