Dow knowingly spreads poison, pays a fine, withdraws a product from household use, and that product continues to be used in farming? I had to stop reading.
...And greenwash them away by grandiose ad campaigns such as "human element" where they portray themselves as a part of the (humanitarian) solution to potable water.
If they really cared a tiddly bit about devastating human costs caused by their wholly owned subsidiaries, they would have at least spent a miniscule fraction of what they spend on such ad campaigns to actually clean up their mess.
The particular example I have in mind is the Bhopal disaster, and contamination of Bhopal's groundwater caused by the same company but prior to the disaster. Notably they dont shy away from claiming any of the assets of their wholly owned subsidiary Union Carbide, but none of their liabilities. 20,000 have died because of these causes, more have been disabled beyond the capacity to earn livelihood wages, but they do zilch about it. Well, not quite correct, they spend billions in ad campaigns, sponsor olympics and get a free pass. While Chernobyl rules the roost in western media as a prominent example of an industrial disaster (fits the narrative of "look how bad Russian technology is" very nicely) few if at all recall Bhopal although it is a tragedy of as epic proportions, I would argue that its (official) human cost was more.
According to the Wikipedia article you linked to, 3787 deaths are confirmed as resulting from the incident and 16000 deaths are claimed in total. The page does not support the assertion that the disaster was responsible for 20000 deaths.
From the same page: "In 1994, UCC sold its stake in UCIL to Eveready Industries India Limited... Eveready Industries India, Limited, ended cleanup on the site in 1998, when it terminated its 99-year lease and turned over control of the site to the state government of Madhya Pradesh. Dow Chemical Company Purchased UCC in 2001, seventeen years after the disaster."
Dow Chemical did not own Union Carbide at the time of the incident. Additionally, EIIL had assumed, and shed, liability for the cleanup prior to Dow Chemical's acquisition of UCC. Dow Chemical is absolutely responsible for damaging the environment in various ways; however, constructing narratives to implicate the company in the Bhopal Disaster is disingenuous.
> "withdraws a product from household use, and that product continues to be used in farming?"
There are lots of things that would be potentially dangerous inside of my house that are at home on my cousin's farm. Those use cases are considerably different.
srean|11 years ago
If they really cared a tiddly bit about devastating human costs caused by their wholly owned subsidiaries, they would have at least spent a miniscule fraction of what they spend on such ad campaigns to actually clean up their mess.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bhopal_disaster
The particular example I have in mind is the Bhopal disaster, and contamination of Bhopal's groundwater caused by the same company but prior to the disaster. Notably they dont shy away from claiming any of the assets of their wholly owned subsidiary Union Carbide, but none of their liabilities. 20,000 have died because of these causes, more have been disabled beyond the capacity to earn livelihood wages, but they do zilch about it. Well, not quite correct, they spend billions in ad campaigns, sponsor olympics and get a free pass. While Chernobyl rules the roost in western media as a prominent example of an industrial disaster (fits the narrative of "look how bad Russian technology is" very nicely) few if at all recall Bhopal although it is a tragedy of as epic proportions, I would argue that its (official) human cost was more.
I have not started on Nemagon or dioxins.
nickles|11 years ago
From the same page: "In 1994, UCC sold its stake in UCIL to Eveready Industries India Limited... Eveready Industries India, Limited, ended cleanup on the site in 1998, when it terminated its 99-year lease and turned over control of the site to the state government of Madhya Pradesh. Dow Chemical Company Purchased UCC in 2001, seventeen years after the disaster."
Dow Chemical did not own Union Carbide at the time of the incident. Additionally, EIIL had assumed, and shed, liability for the cleanup prior to Dow Chemical's acquisition of UCC. Dow Chemical is absolutely responsible for damaging the environment in various ways; however, constructing narratives to implicate the company in the Bhopal Disaster is disingenuous.
lotharbot|11 years ago
There are lots of things that would be potentially dangerous inside of my house that are at home on my cousin's farm. Those use cases are considerably different.
tomphoolery|11 years ago
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agent_Orange (in case anyone isn't aware)
Along with everyone's best friend, Monsanto!
Lying to the masses to make some profit off of poison you peddle is kinda part of Dow's "DNA" as a company...
sliverstorm|11 years ago