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The inspiring story of a successful struggle to preserve what’s left of the natural world
County Mayo, Ireland, is spectacularly beautiful. Dolphins, whales, and seals frolic in bays, rivers teem with salmon. Into this tranquil, unspoiled region, in early 2002, came Shell Oil, announcing plans to build a gas refinery. Shell promised wonderful things: new jobs, improved roads, money for schools. Church officials called this project a “godsend,” while honest, hard-working families, who had lived in Mayo for generations, certainly saw no harm in the project. But when the citizens of County Mayo realized what Shell actually intended to do, they rose up. Shamrocks & Oil Slicks tells the story of County Mayo—the fishermen, farmers, teachers, business people—who, motivated by love for their environment, their community, and their country, fought one of the planet’s most powerful destroyers to a standstill.
— Wenonah Hauter, Executive Director of Food & Water Watch; author
"We all owe Fred Wilcox a gigantic thank you. He has provided us just what we need in this moment: a reminder of the power of people coming together, standing up to a powerful fossil fuel corporation, and fighting with everything they have, because what is at stake is everything they love. Shamrocks & Oil Slicks is an inspiring tale for all of us fighting against the odds for a better future."
— Annie Leonard, Director, Greenpeace US; author
"Shamrocks and Oil Slicks is a moving and important story of resistance by human beings who love their home, against the power of the corporate/government interlock. Simultaneously, it is a model for, and call to, precisely the sort of action we need to defend life on this planet from the depredations of capitalism."
— Derrick Jensen, environmental activist; author
"Fast-paced and inspiring, Shamrocks and Oil Slicks chronicles the well-honed, divide-and-conquer tactics of one of the most powerful fossil-fuel companies on earth, as it splits up families while recruiting politicians, clergy, journalists, and cops as corporate allies. Some are bought off, others propagandized or 'just following orders.' But the 'stars' of the book are the ordinary citizens who become extraordinary activists—surviving jail, police violence, job loss, and ostracism to sustain a fifteen-year struggle. Naomi Klein would call them 'heroes of Blockadia'; the Standing Rock Sioux call them 'water protectors.' The story is set in Ireland’s County Mayo, but it could be coming to a community near you."
— Jeff Cohen, founder, Fairness & Accuracy In Reporting (FAIR); author