To defend itself in a major environmental lawsuit in Ecuador, it appears that American oil giant Chevron is employing methods -- and people -- that are as dirty as the toxic waste pits it left scattered across the rainforest floor.
According to The New York Times:
"An American whose secret recordings have placed him at the center of a $27 billion lawsuit against Chevron in Ecuador is a convicted drug trafficker, records show, throwing another complication into a case already tainted by accusations of bribery and espionage."
Click on the link to read my full story on Alternet about Chevron's contrived "corruption scandal" and its desperate attempts to derail a lawsuit by 30,000 indigenous people and campesinos in Ecuador who are seeking to hold the oil giant accountable for massive contamination of their rainforest communities.To defend itself in a major environmental lawsuit in Ecuador, it appears that American... more
As always happens with the news from far away countries, Burma is remembered only when there are street protests or when there is one more trial of Aung San Suu Kyi, the opposition leader imprisoned for years. But of course the tragedy of the Burmese people continues, and sometimes manifests itself externally in other ways, as in the mass exodus to China of certain minorities, which occurred recently.As always happens with the news from far away countries, Burma is remembered only when... more
Come sempre accade per le notizie da paesi lontani, la Birmania viene ricordata solo quando ci sono proteste di piazza o quando si tiene l'ennesimo processo a Aung San Suu Kyi, la leader dell'opposizione imprigionata da anni. Ma ovviamente il dramma del popolo birmano continua, e a volte si manifesta all'esterno anche in altri modi, come nella fuga di massa verso la Cina di alcune minoranze, avvenuta recentemente.Come sempre accade per le notizie da paesi lontani, la Birmania viene ricordata solo... more
Chevron is one of six major oil companies in the world. Against this economic giant there is a trial underway in Ecuador, for environmental damage caused by Texaco company, now owned by Chevron, in the region of Lago Agrio. The oil company would have shed 130 million gallons of oil waste in the area, damaging the 30,000 inhabitants of the Amazon in Ecuador, at least 1400 of whom have developed cancer and physical deformities.Chevron is one of six major oil companies in the world. Against this economic giant... more
La Chevron è una delle sei maggiori compagnie petrolifere al mondo. Contro questo gigante economico c'è un processo in corso in Ecuador, per i danni ambientali causati dalla compagnia Texaco, ora proprietà della Chevron, nella regione del Lago Agrio. La compagnia petrolifera avrebbe versato 130 milioni di litri di rifiuti oleosi nella zona, danneggiando i 30.000 abitanti dell'amazzonia ecuadoriana, almeno 1400 dei quali hanno sviluppato tumori e malformazioni fisiche.La Chevron è una delle sei maggiori compagnie petrolifere al mondo. Contro questo... more
After 16 years in litigation, a monumental environmental lawsuit by 30,000 indigenous people and campesinos against Chevron appears to be drawing to a close. The oil company has publicly said that it expects to be found liable for up to $27 billion in damages for what has become known as the 'Amazon Chernobyl.' And in less than a week, a high-profile documentary film about the case- acclaimed filmmaker Joe Berlinger's CRUDE- comes out in U.S theaters.
And so, time to change the subject. Ready for Chevron's 'September Surprise?'
On Monday, Chevron breathlessly declared that it had video footage implicating the judge presiding over the trial in a "$3 million bribery scheme."
Except it didn't.
The company instead revealed videos showing a former Chevron contractor named Diego Borja and an American businessman named Wayne Hansen, who appear to be trying fruitlessly to entrap the presiding Judge, Juan Nuñez. Borja and Hansen secretly shot the videos themselves using a spy-camera pen and watch they bought in a catalog.
As The San Francisco Chronicle reports: ...After 16 years in litigation, a monumental environmental lawsuit by 30,000 indigenous... more
Now this is the renewable energy America needs to see more of.
excerpt:
The protest at Chevron was part of a campaign to generate political pressure and “street heat” leading up to the international climate change talks to be held in Copenhagen in December. Other protests will be held later in the year and in other parts of the country.
“People, not corporations, should drive the critical climate talks in Copenhagen,” said Ananda Lee Tan, a member of the Mobilization for Climate Justice spokescouncil and the U.S. Campaign Coordinator for the Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives. “To date, at the United Nation’s climate talks, corporate lobbyists have outnumbered representatives of governments and civil society groups by a ratio of as high as 4 to 1. We want Chevron and all corpor ate lobbyists banned from, and frontline community voices represented at these talks.” ”The MCJ seeks to empower community-based activist groups and networks to lead a global climate justice movement in confronting the root causes of climate change at home,” said Torm Nompraseurt of theAsian Pacific Environmental Network, “while defining community priorities and self-determination pathways for a new energy economy.”
The Mobilization for Climate Justice-West includes more than 35 diverse groups: AFSCME Local 444, Amazon Watch, Art in Action, Asian-Pacific Environmental Network, Bay Area Labor Committee for Peace and Justice, Bay Localize, Burmese American Democratic Association, Communities for a Better Environment, Contra Costa Greens, Direct Action to Stop the War, Earth First!, Environmental Justice & Climate Change Initiative, Filipino American Coalition for Environmental Solidarity (FACES), Forest Ethics, Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives, Global Exchange, Global Justice Ecology Project, Greenaction for Health and Environmental Justice, Greenpeace, Headrush, International Forum on Globalization, International Rivers, Justice in Nigeria Now!, Movement Generation, Pacific Environment, Poor Magazine, Rainforest Action Network, Richmond Mayor’s Task Force on Environmental Justice and Health, Progressive Bengali Network, Richmond Progressive Alliance, Ruckus Society, Rising Tide North America, Solidarity, West County Toxics Coalition, Youth In Focus, 350.orgNow this is the renewable energy America needs to see more of.
excerpt:
The... more
Across the globe, as mining and oil firms race for dwindling resources, indigenous peoples are battling to defend their lands – often paying the ultimate price.
It has been called the world's second "oil war", but the only similarity between Iraq and events in the jungles of northern Peru over the last few weeks has been the mismatch of force. On one side have been the police armed with automatic weapons, teargas, helicopter gunships and armoured cars. On the other are several thousand Awajun and Wambis Indians, many of them in war paint and armed with bows and arrows and spears.
In some of the worst violence seen in Peru in 20 years, the Indians this week warned Latin America what could happen if companies are given free access to the Amazonian forests to exploit an estimated 6bn barrels of oil and take as much timber they like. After months of peaceful protests, the police were ordered to use force to remove a road bock near Bagua Grande.
In the fights that followed, at least 50 Indians and nine police officers were killed, with hundreds more wounded or arrested. The indigenous rights group Survival International described it as "Peru's Tiananmen Square".
"For thousands of years, we've run the Amazon forests," said Servando Puerta, one of the protest leaders. "This is genocide. They're killing us for defending our lives, our sovereignty, human dignity."
Yesterday, as riot police broke up more demonstrations in Lima and a curfew was imposed on many Peruvian Amazonian towns, President Garcia backed down in the face of condemnation of the massacre. He suspended – but only for three months – the laws that would allow the forest to be exploited. No one doubts the clashes will continue.
Peru is just one of many countries now in open conflict with its indigenous people over natural resources. Barely reported in the international press, there have been major protests around mines, oil, logging and mineral exploitation in Africa, Latin America, Asia and North America. Hydro electric dams, biofuel plantations as well as coal, copper, gold and bauxite mines are all at the centre of major land rights disputes.
A massive military force continued this week to raid communities opposed to oil companies' presence on the Niger delta. The delta, which provides 90% of Nigeria's foreign earnings, has always been volatile, but guns have flooded in and security has deteriorated. In the last month a military taskforce has been sent in and helicopter gunships have shelled villages suspected of harbouring militia. Thousands of people have fled. Activists from the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta have responded by killing 12 soldiers and this week set fire to a Chevron oil facility. Yesterday seven more civilians were shot by the military.
The escalation of violence came in the week that Shell agreed to pay £9.7m to ethnic Ogoni families – whose homeland is in the delta – who had led a peaceful uprising against it and other oil companies in the 1990s, and who had taken the company to court in New York accusing it of complicity in writer Ken Saro-Wiwa's execution in 1995.
Meanwhile in West Papua, Indonesian forces protecting some of the world's largest mines have been accused of human rights violations. Hundreds of tribesmen have been killed in the last few years in clashes between the army and people with bows and arrows.
"An aggressive drive is taking place to extract the last remaining resources from indigenous territories," says Victoria Tauli-Corpus, an indigenous Filipino and chair of the UN permanent forum on indigenous issues. "There is a crisis of human rights. There are more and more arrests, killings and abuses.
...full article at linkAcross the globe, as mining and oil firms race for dwindling resources, indigenous... more
Chevron has quietly withdrawn a key legal claim in U.S. federal court against Ecuador's government over a $27.3 billion environmental liability in the Amazon, casting doubt about the company's public statements that it will not pay for a clean-up and raising questions about the effectiveness of its legal strategy, according to court records and lawyers representing indigenous communities in Ecuador.
Chevron's withdrawal of the claim, which resulted in a dismissal of the case recently by a U.S. federal judge in Manhattan, was the fifth consecutive time since 2007 that U.S. federal courts have failed to accept the company's arguments that Ecuador's government is responsible for the clean-up in Ecuador's Amazon rainforest. Experts consider the damage caused by Texaco (now Chevron), which operated a large oil concession in Ecuador from 1964 to 1990, to be the world's largest oil-related remediation project.
Chevron withdrew the claim because it feared a decision would interfere with its political campaign in the U.S. to discredit Ecuador's courts, said Steven Donziger, an American who advises the plaintiffs in a separate civil lawsuit filed against Chevron in Ecuador by an estimated 30,000 rainforest residents. The Ecuador civil lawsuit is where the oil giant faces the $27.3 billion damages claim.
"A negative decision by a U.S. court was too great a risk for Chevron's public relations and lobbying campaign, which is based on the illusion that the company does not have to pay damages in Ecuador because of an earlier clean-up when in fact such a clean-up has been proven to be a sham," Donziger said.
"Chevron now has lost every important legal decision in the U.S. and Ecuador for the last three years over environmental damage in Ecuador," added Donziger. "The company's latest decision to bail out of a U.S. court is a telling indication of how Chevron's lawyers actually feel about the merits of their own case."
With no public announcement or filing with securities regulators, Chevron in late July notified U.S. federal judge Leonard B. Sand that it was withdrawing its claim against Ecuador's government that a release received in 1995 immunized it from liability. The claim asserted that a limited environmental remediation by Texaco in the 1990s, which the plaintiffs have claimed was fraudulent, shifted responsibility for any further clean-up to Ecuador's government.
In effect, Chevron is giving up on its strategy to use a U.S. federal court to try to trump an expected adverse decision in the civil case in Ecuador, said Donziger. If Chevron had won before Judge Sand, it could have used the U.S. court decision as a defense to any enforcement action in the U.S. of an expected multi-billion dollar Ecuador judgment. Chevron has announced it will not pay any judgment in Ecuador, even though the company agreed to jurisdiction in the country as a condition of getting the case transferred there from U.S. federal court in 2002.
In the civil lawsuit in Ecuador, which has been ongoing since 2003 and is expected to end later this year, Chevron's primary defense also is that Texaco's purported remediation and release immunizes it from liability. The plaintiffs also assert the release does not apply to their claims, as they never signed off on it.
Chevron's withdrawal of the legal claim over the release from U.S. court means that Ecuador's courts alone will determine the issue. To this point, no court in either the U.S. or Ecuador has accepted Chevron's interpretation of the release, despite multiple rulings dating to 1995.
Donziger characterized Chevron's withdrawal of the legal claim as a "major setback" for the company's prospects.Chevron has quietly withdrawn a key legal claim in U.S. federal court against... more
A major project at Chevron's Richmond Refinery designed to increase efficiency and reduce emissions is temporarily stopped by a lawsuit. As a result, more than 1000 construction workers lose their jobs.A major project at Chevron's Richmond Refinery designed to increase efficiency and... more
A $27 billion lawsuit brought by an Ecuadorian attorney against Chevron-Texaco blames the oil company for crude spills that have polluted Ecuador's formerly pristine Amazon jungle. Yet, in what would be the biggest environmental lawsuit in history (costing the equivalent of half Ecuador's gross domestic product), two important parties are missing from the picture: the Ecuadorian government and its state-owned company, Petroecuador.
For years, radical environmentalists have blamed American companies for pollution while blithely ignoring the environmental damage wrought by state-owned companies that is commonplace in the Andes.
Consider the case of the Andean community of La Oroya, Peru, in which an antiquated government-operated smelter turned into what Newsweek once described as "a vision from hell." Fortunately for La Oroya, the American mining company Doe Run bought the facility in 2007, installed modern pollution controls and launched numerous civic projects. Nevertheless, several years later, Oxfam and Christian Aid, two of the world's largest nongovernmental organizations, accused Doe Run Peru of polluting the air and water. Neither group ever complained when the state-run company operated and heavily polluted La Oroya.
This is not the first such suit against Chevron. In 1993, Massachusetts-based lawyer Cristobal Bonifaz and New York-based attorney Steven Donziger--who is advising the plaintiffs in the current suit--sued Chevron-Texaco for $1.5 billion, claiming that its operations had led to increased cancer deaths in Ecuador. A court in California dismissed the suit on the grounds that at least three of the plaintiffs did not have cancer at all, and fined Bonifaz $45,000. Now Donziger is back for another round.A $27 billion lawsuit brought by an Ecuadorian attorney against Chevron-Texaco blames... more
As Largest Environmental Judgment on Record Looms, the Oil Company Reassures Shareholders It Won't Pay
Chevron Corp. (CVS), which expects to be on the losing end of a long-running environmental lawsuit in Ecuador, is turning its attention to fighting the expected multibillion-dollar verdict in the U.S.
The plaintiffs in the case, residents of Ecuador's oil-producing Amazonian rainforest, are seeking to hold Chevron responsible for environmental contamination they say was caused by Texaco, which operated in Ecuador from 1964 to 1990 and was bought by Chevron in 2001. An expert appointed by the Ecuadorian court has recommended the judge award the plaintiffs $27 billion in damages from Chevron, which would be the biggest environmental judgment against an oil company to date.
Chevron denies the allegations, arguing that Texaco's operations in Ecuador met local and international standards, that a $40 million cleanup effort in the 1990s resolved any environmental liability the company had there, and that any remaining problems are the responsibility of Petroecuador, the state-run oil company that took over Texaco's operations.
The stakes are high. Damages of $27 billion would represent roughly a tenth of the company's 2008 revenue, and a record-setting judgment could tarnish Chevron's image at a time when it has been trying to establish itself as environmentally friendly.
Chevron says it has given up the prospect of winning the case because the Ecuadorian court system is heavily influenced by President Rafael Correa, who has publicly sided with the plaintiffs. The company says it plans to appeal the case in Ecuador, but has little hope of prevailing. Both sides expect a ruling in the case later this year.
Chevron itself has never operated in Ecuador, and Texaco pulled out in 1992, leaving behind almost no assets for the court to seize in case of a judgment against the company. Therefore the plaintiffs will need to try to enforce any ruling in a country where Chevron does have assets, most likely the U.S.
Chevron has been reassuring shareholders that it doesn't expect to be forced to pay any judgment imposed by Ecuador.
"We're not paying and we're going to fight this for years if not decades into the future," Chevron spokesman Don Campbell said in an interview.
To prevent enforcement of a potential judgment in the U.S., Chevron will likely need to convince a U.S. judge it didn't get a fair trial in Ecuador -- something legal experts say won't be easy. "It's going to have to be pretty conclusive evidence," said Ralph Steinhardt, a law professor at George Washington University.
Complicating the matter for Chevron, after the plaintiffs originally sued Texaco in the U.S., Texaco convinced a U.S. court that the case should be heard in Ecuador, praising Ecuador's judicial system in court filings.As Largest Environmental Judgment on Record Looms, the Oil Company Reassures... more
As Largest Environmental Judgment on Record Looms, the Oil Company Reassures Shareholders It Won't Pay
Chevron Corp. (CVS), which expects to be on the losing end of a long-running environmental lawsuit in Ecuador, is turning its attention to fighting the expected multibillion-dollar verdict in the U.S.
The plaintiffs in the case, residents of Ecuador's oil-producing Amazonian rainforest, are seeking to hold Chevron responsible for environmental contamination they say was caused by Texaco, which operated in Ecuador from 1964 to 1990 and was bought by Chevron in 2001. An expert appointed by the Ecuadorian court has recommended the judge award the plaintiffs $27 billion in damages from Chevron, which would be the biggest environmental judgment against an oil company to date.
Chevron denies the allegations, arguing that Texaco's operations in Ecuador met local and international standards, that a $40 million cleanup effort in the 1990s resolved any environmental liability the company had there, and that any remaining problems are the responsibility of Petroecuador, the state-run oil company that took over Texaco's operations.
The stakes are high. Damages of $27 billion would represent roughly a tenth of the company's 2008 revenue, and a record-setting judgment could tarnish Chevron's image at a time when it has been trying to establish itself as environmentally friendly.
Chevron says it has given up the prospect of winning the case because the Ecuadorian court system is heavily influenced by President Rafael Correa, who has publicly sided with the plaintiffs. The company says it plans to appeal the case in Ecuador, but has little hope of prevailing. Both sides expect a ruling in the case later this year.
Chevron itself has never operated in Ecuador, and Texaco pulled out in 1992, leaving behind almost no assets for the court to seize in case of a judgment against the company. Therefore the plaintiffs will need to try to enforce any ruling in a country where Chevron does have assets, most likely the U.S.
*more at linkAs Largest Environmental Judgment on Record Looms, the Oil Company Reassures... more
Last month Chevron was awarded the "Richard C. Holbrooke Award for Business Leadership" in "recognition of the company's global public health programs." (And, no, this is not a story from The Onion.) It was first reported by Newsweek's Michael Isikoff. The award, from the Global Business Coalition, was bestowed upon Chevron at a June 24 ceremony in honor of its work "to eradicate HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria." In a world where war criminals like Henry Kissinger receive the Nobel Peace Prize and murderous thugs like former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Colombia's Alvaro Uribe are given the U.S. "Presidential Medal of Freedom," perhaps this award should not come as a surprise. Other award recipients included Shell Oil (which just paid $15.5 million to settle a lawsuit over its alleged involvement in the killing of Nigerian playwright Ken Saro-Wiwa and eight other activists), Marathon Oil and Anglo Coal of South Africa. In giving Chevron the award, the GBC asserted Chevron "has long been a leader in the fight for global health." But those who have monitored the company's record for years beg to differ.
"Giving Chevron an award for its fight against malaria is like giving Phillip Morris an award for smoking cessation programs," says Steve Kretzmann, a longtime environmental activist and Executive Director of Oil Change International. "Chevron is doing everything it can to lobby against climate change legislation and produce more oil, which causes climate change. A changing climate will greatly increase the spread and range of malaria globally, and higher rates of HIV in oil producing communities owing to the prevalence of prostitution is well documented."
Judith Chomsky, an attorney with the Center for Constitutional Rights, which sued Chevron for its involvement in killings and other abuses in the Niger Delta says the awarding of such a "prize to Chevron elevates form over substance," adding, "Outside of photo ops and international scrutiny, where the populations are poor and lacking the ability to effect Chevron's behavior, Chevron operates in total disregard for the health and environmental consequences of its operations." In recognizing Chevron, the GBC cited the company's work in Nigeria. But Chomsky charges that in Nigeria the company has severely damaged the environment and harmed indigenous communities. "The fact that Chevron uses some of its ill-gotten profits for public displays of civic actions does not balance out the greater harm for which it is responsible," she says.
While giving such an award to Chevron is perverse enough on its own, let's remember whom it is that the award is named after. Richard C. Holbrooke is currently the Obama administration's point man on Afghanistan and Pakistan with a substantial portfolio that includes areas of Chevron's current and, likely, future operations. Before becoming Obama's "Af/Pak" envoy, Holbrooke was the president and CEO of GBC, an organization he spent the past decade building. Holbrooke, who cut his teeth working for Henry Kissinger during Vietnam, has, for decades, marched back-and-forth over the golden bridge linking corporations and government. Chevron received the award in large part because it committed $30 million over three years to the GBC-affiliated Global Fund in 2008 while Holbrooke was GBC's president and CEO.
In its press release on the award, Chevron labeled the prize "prestigious" despite the fact that it is the first time it has been presented and was named after Holbrooke after he joined the Obama administration.
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It never really changes, does it?Last month Chevron was awarded the "Richard C. Holbrooke Award for Business... more
Vanguard correspondent Mariana van Zeller writes on the Vanguard blog about her experiences in the Nigerian delta. Just today, Nigerian militants have reportedly taken captive crewmembers of a Russian oil tanker.Vanguard correspondent Mariana van Zeller writes on the Vanguard blog about her... more
Current's Mariana van Zeller travels to one of the most unstable regions in the world - Nigeria's oil-rich Niger Delta. She investigates what's behind the growing number of kidnappings and attacks in Africa's largest oil producer and the US's fifth largest energy supplier.Current's Mariana van Zeller travels to one of the most unstable regions in the world... more
Last week Current Green interviewed Climate Journalist Greg Dalton just hours before the historic meeting he organized with Chevron CEO Dave O’Reilly and Carl Pope, Executive Director of The Sierra Club (it will be the first time the two have met, and will accept questions from a live audience).
Current Green had the good fortune of catching up with Climate Journalist Greg Dalton just hours before the historic meeting he organized with Chevron CEO Dave O’Reilly and Carl Pope, Executive Director of The Sierra Club (it will be the first time the two have met, and will accept questions from a live audience).
Current Green: Who are you and why should we care?
Greg Dalton: I’m a former journalist who founded Climate One at The Commonwealth Club after visiting the Russian Arctic in 2007, a year of historically low sea ice levels. When we weren’t flying around on helicopters or listening to lectures from climate experts, I read Tim Flannery’s “Weathermakers.” That was a transformative experience. Climate One is now a thriving leadership dialogue for engaging top executives from business, government, advocacy and academia.
The United Nations Development Program unveiled its first major report on climate change at Climate One in November 2007.
Last year, Governor Schwarzenegger announced his governor’s climate summit in a conversation with me at Climate One.
A few days later, I had a conversation with Google CEO Eric Schmidt, who unveiled the Google 2030 Energy Plan.
Two weeks later I convened a broad group of people to engage in a private conversation with John Hofmeister, former CEO of Shell Oil USA. The group included environmental activists, including one who “spent my youth banging my head against Shell Oil.” It also include investors, a reverend, retired California Senator Byron Sher, and two people (Van Jones and Diana Farrell) who now work in the White House for President Obama. Around small tables for a few hours, they made new connections and discussed building a path to a prosperous low carbon economy. That set the stage for engaging Chevron and The Sierra Club.
Current Green: What is the significance of this meeting?
Greg Dalton: This is the first time Chevron CEO Dave O’Reilly will meet Carl Pope, Executive Director of The Sierra Club. Chevron is the largest corporation in California. The Sierra Club is the state’s largest environmental organization. The chiefs of two California icons sitting down for the very first time. More than 500 people are participating. It is open to the public and anyone can submit a written question to the moderator, Alan Murray, deputy managing editor of The Wall Street Journal. Interestingly, both Chevron and The Sierra Club opted out of the US Climate Action Partnership, a group of 40 large corporations and environmental groups that are recommending a cap and trade system for reducing carbon pollution. USCAP has been a main venue for compromises between environmentalists and large corporations in polluting industries. The fact that Chevron and The Sierra Club haven’t been participating makes this meeting even more significant. Oil companies and environmental advocates realize they need to communicate with each other, respectfully, even though they have very different views about the role of fossil fuels in powering our future.
