“Juhasz bravely and expertly exposes the inner workings of an industry and a government riddled with secrets, lies, and deception.”—Daniel Ellsberg, author of Secrets: A Memoir of Vietnam and the Pentagon Papers
In the tradition of the Academy Award-winning documentary An Inconvenient Truth, Antonia Juhasz’s The Tyranny of Oil offers a chilling exposé of the modern American oil industry and its dire abuse of power. A leading international trade and finance policy expert and the author of The Bush Agenda, Juhasz presents eye-opening truths about a potentially catastrophic global energy crisis that only promises to get much worse in the coming years—and provides possible solutions for meaningful change. Terry Tamminen, former Secretary of the California Environmental Protection Agency, calls The Tyranny of Oil “a bold blueprint for ending the madness,” and the Christian Science Monitor tells us, “a good first step toward true energy independence is to read this insightful book.”
Antonia Juhasz is a leading oil industry, international trade, and finance policy expert. She is the author of The Bush Agenda. A frequent media commentator, Juhasz's writing has been featured in the New York Times, International Herald Tribune, and the Los Angeles Times, among other publications. She is a director at Global Exchange in San Francisco, California.
Table of Contents
Preface to the Paperback Edition vii
1 Big Oil's Last Stand 1
2 The Birth and Breakup of Standard Oil 18
3 Big Oil Bounces Back: From the Breakup to the Near Reconvergence of Standard Oil 56
4 Driving the Price of Crude 126
5 Paying the Price: Consolidation, High Gas Prices, and Contempt 169
6 Lobbyists, Lawyers, and Elections: How Big Oil Kills Democracy 209
7 Big Oil's Big Plans for the Future, Part I: Environmental Destruction 273
8 Big Oil's Big Plans for the Future, Part II: Wars for Oil 319
9 Taking On Big Oil 370
Acknowledgments 399
Notes 401
Index 435
What People are Saying About This
Jody Williams
“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.”
Colonel Ann Wright
“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.”
Medea Benjamin
“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!”
Terry Tamminen
“A worthy successor to The Prize... A riveting read with a bold blueprint for ending the madness.”
Michael T. Klare
“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.”
Daniel Ellsberg
“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.”
