Shamrocks and Oil Slicks: A People's Uprising Against Shell Oil in County Mayo, Ireland

by Fred A. Wilcox

Overview

The inspiring story of a successful struggle to preserve what’s left of the natural world

County Mayo, Ireland, is spectacularly beautiful. Dolphins, whales, and seals frolic in bays, rivers teem with salmon. Into this tranquil, unspoiled region, in early 2002, came Shell Oil, announcing plans to build a gas refinery. Shell promised wonderful things: new jobs, improved roads, money for schools. Church officials called this project a “godsend,” while honest, hard-working families, who had lived in Mayo for generations, certainly saw no harm in the project. But when the citizens of County Mayo realized what Shell actually intended to do, they rose up. Shamrocks & Oil Slicks tells the story of County Mayo—the fishermen, farmers, teachers, business people—who, motivated by love for their environment, their community, and their country, fought one of the planet’s most powerful destroyers to a standstill.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781583678480
Publisher:	Monthly Review Press
Publication date:	09/24/2019
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	160
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

Fred A. Wilcox is a writer, teacher, veterans’ advocate, and peace activist. He has devoted his life to chronicling the effects of chemical warfare in Vietnam, and to exposing the government’s criminality in all of its many forms. He is the author of several books, including Waiting for an Army to Die: The Tragedy of Agent Orange and Scorched Earth: Legacies of Chemical Warfare in Vietnam.

Editorial Reviews

"In Shamrocks and Oil Slicks, Mr. Wilcox has crafted a poignant and powerful tale of one determined community’s fight against greedy corporate polluters and their craven government enablers. This story is a critical one, as it can and should be used to inform and inspire the activism of all those waging similar fights against fossil fuel calamity throughout the world today."

Frackopoly: The Battle for the Future of Energy and the Environment - Wenonah Hauter

"Shamrocks and Oil Slicks is a moving and important story of resistance by human beings who love their home, against the power of the corporate/government interlock. Simultaneously, it is a model for, and call to, precisely the sort of action we need to defend life on this planet from the depredations of capitalism."

The Myth of Human Supremacy - Derrick Jensen

"We all owe Fred Wilcox a gigantic thank you. He has provided us just what we need in this moment: a reminder of the power of people coming together, standing up to a powerful fossil fuel corporation, and fighting with everything they have, because what is at stake is everything they love. Shamrocks & Oil Slicks is an inspiring tale for all of us fighting against the odds for a better future."

The Story of Stuff - Annie Leonard

"Fast-paced and inspiring, Shamrocks and Oil Slicks chronicles the well-honed, divide-and-conquer tactics of one of the most powerful fossil-fuel companies on earth, as it splits up families while recruiting politicians, clergy, journalists, and cops as corporate allies. Some are bought off, others propagandized or 'just following orders.' But the 'stars' of the book are the ordinary citizens who become extraordinary activists—surviving jail, police violence, job loss, and ostracism to sustain a fifteen-year struggle. Naomi Klein would call them 'heroes of Blockadia'; the Standing Rock Sioux call them 'water protectors.' The story is set in Ireland’s County Mayo, but it could be coming to a community near you."

Cable News Confidential: My Misadventures in Corporate Media - Jeff Cohen