Reply #6: We need a cartoonist to draw the SS Condoleeza with Rice as a [View All]

[happydreams]

figurehead.




Condi Rice Renamed

Energy giant Chevron Corp. has quietly renamed one of its big oil tankers.


The Condoleeza Rice, named after the former Chevron director and current National Security Adviser to President Bush, was renamed the Altair Voyager, the San Francisco Chronicle reported in May.


In April, at a White House press briefing, assistant press secretary Scott McLellan was asked about the oil tanker.
The reporter put it this way: “Before she became National Security Advisor, was on the board of directors of Chevron Corporation. Chevron –– before she left –– named an oil tanker after her. There’s an oil tanker named the Condoleeza Rice. It’s a 136,000 ton oil tanker that carries oil around the world. Given that Chevron has been accused of human rights abuses with the Nigerian Mobile Police against civilians in Nigeria, I’m wondering whether the president thinks it’s wise to have this close a relationship with Chevron.”


McLellan said that he thought “the issue has already been addressed by Dr. Rice and she will uphold the highest ethical standards in office.”


When asked whether the president should call the CEO of Chevron and say, “Take the name off the tanker,” McLellan said, “I think the issue has been addressed.”
“We made the change to eliminate unnecessary attention caused by the vessel’s original name,” says Chevron spokesperson Fred Gorell.


Asked whether the White House had asked for the name change, Gorell told the San Francisco Chronicle “that’s not for me to discuss.”


In April, when the controversy was brewing, a spokesperson for Chevron said that the company would not rename the Condi Rice tanker. “If you remember, Carla Hills was on our board, and went off the board to take a role in the administration, and we did not rename the tanker,” the spokesperson said at the time.

multinationalmonitor.org/mm2001/01june/june01names.html