“Tyranny of Oil” author to appear at PLU

A nationally-known expert and critic of Big Oil will speak at PLU on Saturday, October 18, at 7:30 p.m. in Xavier Hall, Nordquist Lecture Hall, off Park Avenue South. The address is free and open to the public. Antonia Juhasz has exposed an industry that thrives on secrecy and described how it hides its business dealings from policy makers, legislators, and most of all, from consumers to get what it wants through money, influence and deception. In her new 480-page book, “The Tyranny of Oil: The World’s Most Powerful Industry, and What We Must Do to Stop It” (William Morrow, October 7, 2008) Juhasz proposes a clear set of meaningful and achievable solutions, including the break-up of Big Oil. Drawing on considerable historical research, in her address Juhasz will explore the parallels between today’s companies and Standard Oil, the most powerful corporation of the early 20th century.

Juhasz holds a master’s in public policy from Georgetown University as well as a degree in public policy from Brown University. She has been associate fellow at the Institute for Policy Analysis and Ida Tarbell Fellow at Oil Change International, and is also the author of “The Bush Agenda” (William Morrow, 2006).

Juhasz has served as congressional aide to two members of Congress and as the project director of the International Forum on Globalization. She has published in the New York Times, the International Herald Tribune, and the Los Angeles Times, and is a frequent television and radio commentator.