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2021/6/1

  Today, since the even number students couldn't come to school last class, the odd number students explained to us what is going on between Steven Donziger and Chevron. They explained to me that Chevron spilled oil near the oceans of Ecuador causing severe damage to health and the environment. A lawyer, Steven Donziger, sued Chevron and went to court but got arrested. The odd number students explained to us very thoroughly without using the word "like". After we talked in our groups Mr. Paterson told us about a similar incident regarding the company Union Carbide and India. Union Carbide manufactured batteries. Since batteries include numerous chemicals, countries like the US and England have very high safety standards when it comes to producing them. Higher safety standards mean more money to produce, so Union Carbide built factories in India since it has lower safety standards compared to western countries. On top of that Union Carbide lowered the standard even more to profit more which was against Indian law; they knew they can bribe the Indian government. As a result of this, a gas leak occurred killing 30,000 people. Even though this incident was huge, Union Carbide still doesn't take responsibility. 

  I didn't know both of the incidents Mr. Paterson explained to us. My family used Chevron for gas when we lived in the US, I was shocked that we were purchasing it without knowing the tragedies it caused. I searched up the Bhopal gas leak on the Japanese media and it showed very detailed explanations of what happened, I was surprised because I've never heard of it but it was on mainstream media. I also searched this up on Indian media, The Hindu. Japanese media reported this incident as a tragedy, a sad accident but The Hindu reported it with anger and it treated Union Carbide like a criminal. This difference was very interesting to me because even though Japanese media covered this incident the impression it gives to the reader is different from what the Indian media shows. I could not feel any rage on the articles in Japanese and it seemed like it was happening far away, and it is just one of the many tragic incidents that occur in the world.

 

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