Tony Hayward Gets His Life Back

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/energycommerce/4720992001/sizes/m/in/photostream/">energycommerce</a>/Flickr

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Remember when Tony Hayward said he wanted his life back, shortly after BP unleashed 4.9 million barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico? Well, first the wayward CEO was relocated to Siberia. But then he was released, with a severance package worth at least $1.56 million salary. Now he appears to be getting his life back up in the wilds of northern Minnesota.

As MinnPost‘s Don Shelby reports today, Hayward has been hired as the head of environment and safety at Glencore, the multinational mining and commodities trading company. Glencore, perhaps best known because it was founded by Marc Rich, the wealthy Democratic donor indicted for violating federal law in making oil deals with Iran, who was pardoned by Bill Clinton on his last day in office.

As Shelby notes, Glencore recently became the principal investor in a hard rock mining operation in Hoyt Lakes, Minn. This is probably bad news for the Land of 10,000 Lakes—just like his reign at BP was for the Gulf of Mexico. From the piece:

Iron mining and northern Minnesota have gone hand in glove for a century. But the proposed PolyMet mine in Hoyt Lakes is a different animal. It is called hardrock sulfide mining. It will be going after copper and nickel and precious metals. It promises jobs in a job-starved part of our state. But there are two things you should know about hardrock sulfide mining. The first thing is that the Environmental Protection Agency says hardrock mining generates more toxic waste than any other sector of the U.S. economy. The second thing you should know is that the history of this sort of mining shows that when the metals run out, the companies decamp. The real pollution starts after they leave with the winnings, go broke, or sell out.

I’m sure all those nice folks in Minnesota will be happy to help Hayward get his life back.

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WHO DOESN’T LOVE A POSITIVE STORY—OR TWO?

“Great journalism really does make a difference in this world: it can even save kids.”

That’s what a civil rights lawyer wrote to Julia Lurie, the day after her major investigation into a psychiatric hospital chain that uses foster children as “cash cows” published, letting her know he was using her findings that same day in a hearing to keep a child out of one of the facilities we investigated.

That’s awesome. As is the fact that Julia, who spent a full year reporting this challenging story, promptly heard from a Senate committee that will use her work in their own investigation of Universal Health Services. There’s no doubt her revelations will continue to have a big impact in the months and years to come.

Like another story about Mother Jones’ real-world impact.

This one, a multiyear investigation, published in 2021, exposed conditions in sugar work camps in the Dominican Republic owned by Central Romana—the conglomerate behind brands like C&H and Domino, whose product ends up in our Hershey bars and other sweets. A year ago, the Biden administration banned sugar imports from Central Romana. And just recently, we learned of a previously undisclosed investigation from the Department of Homeland Security, looking into working conditions at Central Romana. How big of a deal is this?

“This could be the first time a corporation would be held criminally liable for forced labor in their own supply chains,” according to a retired special agent we talked to.

Wow.

And it is only because Mother Jones is funded primarily by donations from readers that we can mount ambitious, yearlong—or more—investigations like these two stories that are making waves.

About that: It’s unfathomably hard in the news business right now, and we came up about $28,000 short during our recent fall fundraising campaign. We simply have to make that up soon to avoid falling further behind than can be made up for, or needing to somehow trim $1 million from our budget, like happened last year.

If you can, please support the reporting you get from Mother Jones—that exists to make a difference, not a profit—with a donation of any amount today. We need more donations than normal to come in from this specific blurb to help close our funding gap before it gets any bigger.

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