Product Description

Why are oil and gas prices so high?

Who's really controlling those prices?

How much oil is left?

How far will Big Oil go to get it?

And at what cost to the environment, human rights, the economy, worker safety, public health, and democracy?

The answers aren't what you think. They're much worse. But there's also plenty that we can do about it.

As oil prices—and public outrage—skyrocket, Antonia Juhasz, a leading industry critic and expert on corporations and globalization, gives us the hardest-hitting exposé of the oil industry in decades. In The Tyranny of Oil she investigates the true state of the U.S. oil industry—uncovering its virtually unparalleled global power, influence over our elected officials, and lack of regulatory oversight, as well as the truth behind $150-a-barrel oil, $4.50-a-gallon gasoline, and the highest profit in corporate history. Exposing an industry that thrives on secrecy, Juhasz shows how Big Oil manages to hide its business dealings from policy makers, legislators, and, most of all, consumers. She reveals exactly how Big Oil gets what it wants—through money, influence, and lies.

The Tyranny of Oil offers both a new take on problems and a new set of solutions as Juhasz puts forward an immediate call to action—a formula for reining in the industry, its governmental lobbying power, environmental destruction, and violence while reducing global dependence on oil. Her thought-provoking answers to the most pressing energy questions speak directly to readers concerned about oil and gas prices, global warming, wars for oil, and America's place in the world. With the major players in the world's most powerful industry charged with collusion, price-gouging, anticompetitive behavior, and unabashed greed, Juhasz calls boldly for the breakup of Big Oil.

Drawing on considerable historical research, Juhasz explores the parallels between today's companies and Standard Oil, the most powerful corporation of the early twentieth century, whose stranglehold on the economy and government was broken only by the vision and persistence of activists and like-minded politicians. We are in a similar position today, she argues, with powerful opportunities available for ordinary Americans to come together, reclaim their voices, and shore up our nation's crumbling democratic foundation.

A tool for meaningful change that blends history, original investigative research and reporting, candid interviews with key insiders, and a unique focus on activism, The Tyranny of Oil is required reading for every concerned global citizen.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #391051 in Books
• Published on: 2008-10-01
• Released on: 2008-10-07
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 480 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780061434501
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

From Publishers Weekly
Starred Review. In this thorough, readable takedown of Big Oil, the most profitable industry in the world, Juhasz (The Bush Agenda) exposes the ways in which a half dozen oil companies have achieved control over American families and U.S. politics, triggering environmental and humanitarian catastrophes they have no intention of resolving. Within 10 years of Standard Oil's founding in 1870, John D. Rockefeller monopolized the refining, marketing and output of U.S. oil; ever since 1890's Sherman Antitrust Act split the company into small constituent parts, oil players have scrambled to evade regulation, regather into ever-larger corporations and regain the ability to set prices and control output. Debunking industry claims over recent oil price escalation, Juhasz exposes how Big Oil has used techniques like speculative futures markets and the "Enron Loophole"--along with massive operations opacity--to reap record profits year after year while growing their political influence; indeed, Juhasz locates the current "oiligarchy" making "the most pressing decisions of our time" from inside George W. Bush's White House, crafting policy and advocating war. Calling for a "Separation of Oil and State," this excellent, wide-ranging study of disastrous monopoly capitalism should shake up notions that major energy players are interested in any alternative to more oil, money and power.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist
Juhasz is a leading activist and expert on international trade and the author of The Bush Agenda (2006). Her indictment of Big Oil traces its anticompetitive roots back to the founding of Standard Oil by John D. Rockefeller in the late 1800s. Standard Oil was broken up by the Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890, and the majority of the today’s well-known oil companies are its descendants, which have merged into giants once again. Juhasz shows how these corporate interests wield power in Washington, influence the energy-futures markets, deny global climate change, and obstruct the development of alternative fuels. George W. Bush received more financial support from the oil and gas industry than any candidate in history and named more than 30 energy-industry executives to key positions in his administration. As a result, the oil companies have received access to national lands to drill for oil, billions in corporate welfare, and the easing of environmental regulations. Juhasz advocates a course to reduce Big Oil’s stranglehold on our government and create an energy policy that would reduce consumption of fossil fuels and promote greener alternatives. --David Siegfried

Review
"A no-holds-barred book that traces the story of Big Oil from the rise of John D. Rockefeller's Standard Oil Company to the scandals and obscene profits of today." (Michael T. Klare, author of Rising Powers, Shrinking Planet: The New Geopolitics of Energy. )

"[A] timely, blistering critique.this white-hot polemic explores many of the industry's complex and secret practices..Explosive fuel for the raging debate on oil prices." (Kirkus Reviews )

"Well-written..presciently criticizes the weak oversight of the oil futures market." (Washington Post )

"A worthy successor to The Prize... A riveting read with a bold blueprint for ending the madness." (Terry Tamminen, former Secretary of the California Environmental Protection Agency. )

"Part homage to 150 years of anti-monopoly muckraking and trust-busting and part signpost to where the leading edge of the environmental and social activist movements are headed." (Toronto Star )

"Juhasz identifies and articulates an extraordinary problem, provides the critical details, offers real solutions, and gives concrete steps to achieve them. In a world that glorifies war and violence, Juhasz offers thoughtfulness and activism." (Jody Williams, 1997 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, International Campaign to Ban Landmines.Jody Williams, 1997 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, International Campaign to Ban Landmines.Jody Williams, 1997 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, International Campaign to B )

"In a time of crisis, Juhasz bravely and expertly exposes the inner workings of an industry and a government riddled with secrets, lies, and deception. She offers the crucial hard evidence-without which public awareness and reform are impossible. Read this book and refuse to be tyranny's accomplice." (Daniel Ellsberg, author of Secrets: A Memoir of Vietnam and the Pentagon Papers )

"If our military troops, and the American public, want to know why the US invaded and occupied Iraq, here is the answer. Get your notebooks ready for the facts about oil and the people and companies that are the richest in the world." (Colonel Ann Wright, Retired, U.S. Army Reserves )

"Juhasz lifts the veil covering Big Oil to uncover an orgy of speculation, mergers, collusion, deregulation, tax evasion, and unprecedented profits..[she] points the way out and inspires us to free ourselves from Big Oil's grip to build a more secure, sustainable and peaceful future. Read it and act!" (Medea Benjamin, cofounder of CODEPINK: Women for Peace and Global Exchange )

"A brave, groundbreaking case study..A good first step toward true energy independence is to read this insightful book." (Christian Science Monitor )

"[Juhasz] reminds us that those who don't learn the lessons of history are fated to repeat its mistakes." (USA Today )

"[A] thorough, readable takedown of Big Oil." (Publishers Weekly )

Customer Reviews

Massive and Magnificent
This timely tome is the best current overview of the oil industry out there, and the most ambitious examination of Big Oil since Daniel Yergin's "The Prize." I found it to be a lot more incisive than Yergin (who as an industry consultant, was reluctant to expose his clients' worst crimes, except as aberrations), since it is a more critical examination of the industry (in the tradition of the author's muckraker hero, Ida Tarbell, who she introduces early on), while being clearly written and amply referenced.

What results is a sweeping examination of virtually all the big controversies related to the oil industry -- from the recent history of weak antitrust policies to Peak Oil to Iraq and the relationship between Big Oil and the military -- to global warming. Given the volatility of oil and gas prices, the explanation of how the industry is structured and how futures markets work are particularly useful.

We are also introduced to people who suffer the immediate impacts of oil industry development -- from a poor African-American community downwind from Chevron's giant Richmond, CA refinery to Nigeria (where Chevron helicoptered in security forces that opened fire on nonviolent protesters) to Ecuador (where the company is being sued for dumping ten times more oil in a pristine area of the Amazon than was spilled by the Exxon Valdez).

The suggestions at the end of the book are bold but grounded in solid policy frameworks -- proposals that the post-oiligarchy administration will heed if they don't want to mere cosmetic and incremental reforms.

In sum, if you want one book that explains the key facts about the oil industry as well as the policies necessary to curb the threats it poses to democracy and our survival, read this book.

AN EXTENSIVE, SOBERING INVESTIGATION OF "BIG OIL" & ITS POWER
Four and a half ENGROSSING Stars!!! Everyone should read this book if you want to get the real story of oil in the USA and around the world! Investigative author Antonia Juhasz has produced an extensive, sobering study of the oil industry with all of its historical implications, background stories, and relevance to today's problems. In 2007, according to Ms Juhasz, the oil industry was "far and away the most profitable industry in the world", even considering Wal-Mart's burgeoning sales. This book is full of cases that range from the very first US oil gusher, to the birth of "Big Oil", expansionism, the countering Progressive and Populist Movements, oil wars, political scandals, illegalities, manipulations, and the negative impact on the environment, the author points to the long-lasting effects on the world and our lives. She is not in favor of just summarily shutting down the oil industry, but she has some unique ideas of what to do with it. She covers a wide range of additional oil matters from the preeminence of Standard Oil, antitrust laws like the Sherman Antitrust Act, the Federal Trade Commission, the Teapot Dome Scandal, foreign oil companies, lobbyists, ICE energy futures traders, alleged market manipulation, the different types of oil drilling, and how we arrived at the current situation. Of special interest is the 1911 breakup of Standard Oil which was such a huge monopoly that it had to be split into 34 separate companies and also of special interest are the sections on the oil implications of the Iraqi War and Iran which are highly informative. The author 'pulls no political punches' as she describes the Reagan administration's initiation of the dismantling of anti-trust legislation, how the Clinton administration let the "Enron loophole" slip through and how the Clinton and George W. Bush administrations allowed thousands of oil company mergers, including mega-mergers such as Exxon with Mobil, among others. She describes how Big Oil exercises its influence from the 'price at the pump' to the "erosion of democracy, environmental destruction, global warming, violence, and war". And how much oil is left? The answers by her estimates are surprising and disturbing, which may explain the gouging that's currently going on. She states we must not only end the tyranny of oil in our lives, but also that of the "Big Oil" organizations. Then she explains why we must do it and how, using concepts that are workable if somewhat idealistic. As a plus, the author solves the mystery of some of those unusual oil company names, logos & acronyms. Antonia Juhasz has written an outstanding and disturbing book, with some moderate repetitiveness, that points the way out of the present oil dilemma to a better future by remembering past mistakes. The words of Henry Demarest Lloyd reverberate across the pages of this book: "For the ignorance of the public is the real capital of monopoly". Indeed! Highly Recommended. Four and a half INVESTIGATIVE stars! (This review is based on an eReader digital download.)

It's time to bring the truth into the open
Antonia Juhasz's "Tyranny of Oil" is a well-written, scholarly work that is fully documented with footnotes supporting every factual statement. Her history of the oil industry is meticulous and revealing. People like Bojan Garic who dismiss this work with personal venom, like "this is the Worst Oil Book I have ever read" only reveal how desparate they are to marginalize someone like Juhasz who speak truth to power. Reviews like Garic's are to be expected when someone like Juhasz draws blood. Other reviewers, like Steve LeVine of the Washington Post have also been dispatched to spread the word that no intelligent, thoughtful person should read this book because it is so factually flawed that its theme can't be taken seriously. But Juhasz's case can't be ignored. It is factually documented where it can be, and it is tight, well-constructed and compelling where the evidence is only circumstantial. What else can one do in the absence of DNA, fingerprints or inculpatory tapes or e-mails? Juhasz readily admits that she has no smoking gun regarding the roll of Big Oil in America's debacle in Iraq, but she, neverhteless, says what needs to be said. She tells us what the 850 lb gorilla in the room is up to. Garic and LeVine, on the other hand, try to throw up a smoke screen arguing that the Gorilla isn't there because we don't have enough DNA for a 100% match. Ignore them. Everyone should read this book.