The Price Of Chevron

Last week Chevron Pit posted heartbreaking pictures of Ecuadorians living in the area of Amazon that was devastated by Chevron’s contamination. Images of a fourteen-year-old girl suffering from birth defects because her mom was exposed to toxins when she was pregnant; a little boy with deformed arm and numerous cancer victims will bring you to the verge of tears. Chevron’s lawyers, however, do not care and claim billions of gallons of toxic waste didn’t harm anyone. According to them there are no victims and people who are suing the oil giant are not important at all. Chevron Pit quotes one of the lawyers:

“The plaintiffs are really irrelevant. They always were irrelevant. There were never any real parties in interest in this case”

Read more here.

Chevron Still NOT Doing The Right Thing

Chevron lost the fight. The oil giant IS responsible for the contamination in Ecuador and was ordered by a court to pay $18 billion fine. Chevron’s lawyers and PR team have tried pretty much everything to get out of the responsibility, but being found guilty doesn’t stop them from going even further in their dirty battle.

Bringing relief to the Ecuadorians suffering because Chevron’s toxic waste has contaminated their homeland should be a priority, but the oil giant simply refuses to do it. All of the company’s assets in Ecuador have been sold so Ecuadorians can’t collect them and people fighting for the justice on behalf of the victims are being intimidated and spied on! Two lead lawyers for the Ecuadorians are being followed and taped by the investigative firms that Chevron has hired! Even their families are under Chevron’s constant surveillance!!

Chevron is fighting so hard to avoid paying for its own mess but wasting money on private investigators hired to harass innocent people is apparently not a big deal.

Read Chevron Pit for more details.

Chevron’s Worst Enemy: Its Own Law Firm, Gibson Dunn

Chevron’s law firm Gibson Dunn is quickly turning into the oil giant's worst enemy. According to the Chevron Pit , Gibson Dunn has taken Chevron down a litigious path that is benefiting only Gibson Dunn's bottom line. Over 60 Gibson Dunn lawyers are working for Chevron against the indigenous tribes who recently won an $18 billion judgment against the oil giant. All total, 500 lawyers and legal assistants are on Chevron's payroll, the Chevron Pit reports. What a waste -- money better spent on helping the Ecuadorians clean up the billions and billions of toxic waste and oil dumped into the soil and waterways of the rainforest. Talk about greedy lawyers? Start with Gibson Dunn.

Chevron Dodging Explanations About Its Misconduct Again

Anytime I read "no comment" or "refused to answer questions," I am immediately suspect. More often than not, Chevron clams up when questions get tough and direct. See this Chevron Pit for another example of the company dodging explanations about their misconduct in Ecuador, where the company faces an $18 billion judgment for one of the world's worst environmental disasters ever.

Defending Chevron

Ecuadorians living in the region of the Amazon that was polluted by toxins deliberately dumped by Chevron there, are dying of cancer and other oil related diseases. The oil giant has brought no relief to them and refuses to properly clean up the sludge that is contaminating the land they depend on for survival. It is a tragedy, both humanitarian and environmental and Chevron was found guilty of causing it. You’d think people would be outraged by Chevron’s behavior but apparently for a little bit of money, you can find supporters no matter how sordid your crime is. Look at the law firm-Gibson Dunn- that is defending Chevron. The money that should be put towards cleaning up the mess in Ecuador is going into the pockets of Gibson Dunn’s lawyers and they, just like Chevron, won’t stop at anything. The law firm that will break the law to help Chevron evade responsibility.

Visit Chevron Pit to find out more about Gibson Dunn.

Chevron Paying For Support

What does a company that is facing worldwide criticism for its unethical behavior and disregard for the environment do to improve its image? You’d think it would get on the right track and clean up its messes, right? Not Chevron! Chevron prefers to take an easy way out and simply pay people to speak positively about them. The Chevron Pit gives us a few examples of Chevron’s team trying to buy people’s support. In 2009 Gene Randall, former CNN correspondent, took part in Chevron produced fake news report, that the oil giant tried to distribute online as real news. Next year, journalist Mary Cueddehe was offered $20,000 by the oil giant to go undercover and spy on Ecuadorians suffering from Chevron’s contamination. There’s also Zennie Abraham- San Francisco Chronicle blogger who continuously posted one sided articles putting Chevron in a positive light. Read Chevron Pit’s latest post to find out more about Zennie’s “sponsored” posts.

The truth however is not that easy to hide. All of Chevron’s schemes are failing. As for Zennie Abrams… he got fired and will no longer be allowed to post Chevron scripted blogs on San Francisco Chronicle’s website.

Brazil Next Victim of Chevron’s Irresponsible Behavior

Chevron’s recent oil spill in Latin America has made Brazil the company’s most recent victim of environmental damage and contamination due to their irresponsible behavior.  Much like the situation in Ecuador, Chevron had been attempting to evade any fines  by trying to convince the Brazilian government that the oil spill that occurred at one of the Chevron’s undersea wells on November 7th was significantly smaller what investigations are proving. Visit Chevron Pit for more details

Chevron Trying To Hide Its Illegal Shenanigans Once Again

Chevron’s lawyers are fighting feverishly to withhold the documents that might prove Chevron’s continuous obstruction of law during the Ecuadorian pollution lawsuit. I learned from this press release that Chevron's lawyers are withholding 700 documents related to the 2009 bribery scheme and are refusing to release them, despite a court order to do. The Ecuadorians are fighting for the release of the documents in order to prove Chevron’s illegal attempts to derail the trial. Interestingly, last month, during proceedings in the San Francisco court, the lawyer who is representing Chevron’s dirty trick operative Diego Borja, admitted that Borja could be facing criminal charges in U.S. for his involvement in Chevron’s illegal operations. I'm sure there will be more to come!

Chevron’s Unethical Lobbying of Ecuador Government Revealed in Wikileaks Cables

Just days after Second Circuit Court of Appeals dissolved (link to yesterdays post) the injunction prohibiting the enforcement of multibillion judgment against Chevron; Wikileaks cables written by U.S officials exposed another attempt by the oil giant to illegally end the pollution lawsuit.

Wikileaks documents show that Chevron tried to manipulate Ecuadorian government to interfere with the lawsuit, knowing that such intervention is forbidden by the Ecuadorian Constitution and would be illegal.

Read Amazon Defense Coalition Press Release or Chevron Pit

Chevron Accuses Everyone But Is Blind to Its Own Wrongdoings

Chevron has been acting as if it is above the law from the very beginning of the pollution lawsuit in Ecuador. The oil giant has tried every possible move to avoid paying for the cleanup of its own toxic mess in the Ecuadorian rain forest. Some of Chevron's doings have been unjust and very often illegal. A perfect example would be Diego Borja admitting Chevron tried to manipulate the evidence.

Chevron seems to think blatant lies and manipulation are acceptable as long as it works in Chevron's favor, but the oil giant is very quick to accuse others of wrongdoing even when there's no reason to. Chevron accused Ecuadorian plaintiffs of illegally communicating with court appointed experts. But, there are two facts that Chevron chose to completely ignore. One- such meetings are completely acceptable. Two- Chevron's officials have met with with technical experts as well and Chevron did not find it inappropriate then. What makes Chevron look even more foolish is that after requesting the court to appoint an expert to conduct tests at some of the oil sites in Ecuador, Chevron refused to pay the expert after he found contamination at those sites.

Chevron's Shareholders Getting Worried

A few days before Chevron's annual shareholder meeting, a new report has been released on Chevron's liability risks. The authors, Simon Billenness and Sanford Lewis- corporate governance experts, point out that the 18 billion dollar liability for the contamination of the Ecuadorian rainforest exposed company's lack of proper risk management and put Chevron at risk of irreparable harm to its value and reputation.Chevron's board of directors has been avoiding shareholders' questions about the financial risks related to the pollution lawsuit in Ecuador and has given misleading statements to the investors. This is very typical of Chevron- refusing to answer to anyone's questions and going by its own rules.

Read more about the report here.

John Watson made $14 million in 2010!

I blogged about the raise Chevron’s CEO John Watson recently received that increased his salary to $1.6 million, but I was not aware of the perks that come from being the CEO of one of the least reputable U.S. Corporations. I didn’t mention performance-based bonuses, stock options, contributions to an employee savings plan and small things like the use of company airplane.

According to an Associated Press analysis John Watson made $14 million in 2010 alone!

Isn’t life great when you are Chevron’s top executive? It’s a shame though that while chasing those millions Chevron trampled over so many innocent people’s lives and now does not have the decency to clean up its mess in Ecuador. Shameful.

Chevron giving away millions to its executives…

Instead of spending at least a small portion of the huge profits on the cleanup of the toxic mess in Ecuador and bringing relief to those suffering from Chevron’s contamination, Chevron’s board of directors decided to give that money to its top officials.  Chevron’s CEO John Watson has just received a raise and is now making $1.6 million a year!!!

Apparently to make millions you need to be unscrupulous, manipulative and make sure your company ranks high among the least reputable American corporations. Never mind billions of gallons of toxins deliberately dumped in the Ecuadorian Amazon; never mind thousands of people suffering from the contamination; never mind all the lies and manipulation!

More On Judge Lewis Kaplan

Chevron Pit just posted a few quotes form Lewis Kaplan, the judge who blocked the enforcement of the $9.5 billion judgment against Chevron for oil contamination in the Amazon rainforest.

“On the other hand, we are dealing here with a company of considerable importance to our economy that employs thousands all over the world, that supplies a group of commodities, gasoline, heating oil, other fuels and lubricants on which every one of us depends every single day. I don't think there is anybody in this courtroom who wants to pull his car into a gas station to fill up and finds that there isn't any gas there because these folks have attached it in Singapore or wherever else.”

Judge Kaplan sounds very worried about Chevron’s wellbeing and shows absolutely no concern for Chevron’s victims.

Read more here.

Chevron’s Heartless Team

I started this blog because I was outraged by Chevron’s lack of concern for the environment and the communities suffering because of Chevron’s refusal to clean up its own toxic mess. With each shocking development in the lawsuit, I wonder who stands behind Chevron’s abusive defense campaign. Who would willingly choose to stand in the way of Ecuadorians fighting for justice? Apparently, with the right amount of money, a team of heartless experts is not hard to find. To meet all of the Chevron’s Human Rights Hitmen visit Chevron Pit and RAN’s websites.

Video: oil worker talking about Chevron's operation in Ecuador

Chevron dumped over 16 billion gallons of wastewater polluting rivers and streams in the Ecuadorian rainforest. It is horrible especially since Chevron knew how harmful the toxins were, but what makes it even worse is the fact that Chevron had a safer system designed but chose NOT to use it in order to save money.

Watch this unbelievable video of an oil worker talking about Chevron instructing the employees to drain the chemicals straight into the environment.

Chevron & The Koch Brothers

Chevron’s campaign to defame the Ecuadorians suing the company for oil contamination is starting to sound a lot like the attacks by the arch-conservative Koch Brothers, the billionaires who have financed campaigns against liberal groups, like Common Cause. This blog by Carl Pope, Chairman of the Sierra Club makes that clear. I’m not surprised that Chevron is following the Koch Brothers’ playbook — the company’s general counsel, Hew Pate, and the former general counsel, Charles James, worked for the Justice Department under George Bush and with the lawyers who wrote the torture memos. What a resume these guys have!

A Gang of Thieves -- Without Honor or Humor

Carl Pope
Chairman, Sierra Club
Posted: February 16, 2011 01:47 PM

San Francisco -- That's the thought that comes to mind this week, watching the behavior of Big Oil. In Ecuador, a Court found that Chevron owes local communities $8 billion for damages left behind from an oil drilling business Chevron inherited when it took over Texaco. Chevron's response was not that the damages hadn't been done, but that the Ecuadoran decision was "illegitimate" and that the company simply wouldn't pay its debts. (Does this remind you of Exxon-Mobile around the Valdez decisions? It would be nice if the oil industry was satisfied to be the world's richest, but at least paid its bills.)

Of course, Chevron's Ecuadoran bill is more than matched by the amount of direct subsidies Big Oil draws from American taxpayers. The Obama Administration, in its proposed new budget, thinks that there are probably better ways to spend taxpayer dollars, and has proposed eliminating $54 billion of these subsidies, including $10 billion that flows from the U.S. Treasury to such governments as Saudi Arabia. (You might not have known that oil producers are, in fact, one of the major recipients of this form of foreign aid. Big Oil pays the Saudis, and the Treasury reimburses Big Oil.) The new Tea Party-influenced Republican leadership in Congress doesn't seem to agree: the Defense Department, the nuclear industry, and Big Oil are virtually the only items in the federal budget protected from proposed slash-and-burn budget cuts.

If you are running this kind of racket, it is always good to have friends in high places, and the oil industry is making sure that politicians remain in its hock. The billionaire Koch Brothers announced that in 2012 they plan to raise $88 million to purchase influence in Washington. When Common Cause organized a protest at the secret Palm Springs gathering the brothers host, conservatives yelled "foul" and began organizing dirty tricks against Common Cause. This is classic Koch style; they've also brought a lawsuit against pranksters who sent out a press release last December saying the brothers had seen the light and would no longer fund global warming denial groups. The lawsuit claimed that the spoof press release's authors were "guilty of trademark infringement, cybersquatting, unfair competition, and violating the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act," a criminal statute that penalizes those who hack into protected governmental and private computer systems.

It's hard to take such a lawsuit seriously. But the Koch Brothers are serious. Anyone who shines a light on their secretive effort to take over the U.S. government can expect this kind of bullying. And while Big Oil is too restrained to carry on these kinds of shenanigans here in the U.S., the Chevron response in Ecuador shows their true face.

Chevron Tells More Lies!

Chevron must have a bottomless box full of dirty tricks. The oil giant has been using all kinds of schemes for 18 years to get out of the responsibility for the toxic mess left behind in Ecuador. When you think you have seen it all, Chevron comes up with another deplorable lie. This time Chevron is alleging that some of the plaintiffs’ signatures were forged on the lawsuit!

I understand that Chevron’s executives are in panic mode because they could face a multi-billion damage award, but have they not learned anything yet? Most of those schemes not only failed, but also backfired and hurt Chevron’s reputation in the end.

Earlier this week, more than two dozens of the plaintiffs whose signatures Chevron claims were forged gathered at one of the oil waste pits to verify their signatures. Chevron’s spokesperson James Craig called it a “media circus”. From my perspective, though, the only clown is Chevron.

UPDATE

I haven’t posted anything in a while. I have been traveling and wasn’t able to update the blog regularly. There have been a few developments but two things have not changed: Ecuadorians are still getting sick and dying because of Chevron’s contamination and Chevron refuses to do anything about it.

Here are a few headlines I missed:

Chevron Accused Of 'World's Worst Oil-Related Disaster' In Ecuador: Alleged Evidence Submitted In Lawsuit

Diego Borja, his wife Sarah Portilla, and collaborator Wayne Hansen have left California after being called to testify about falsifying evidence in Ecuador environmental trial

Comedy Video Rips Chevron's New "Greenwashing" PR Campaign

Chevron’s Andrea Neuman Sanctioned For Abusive Questioning

Chevron lawyers’ unprofessional practices are not going unnoticed anymore. Andrea Neuman , one of the lead lawyers in the Ecuador lawsuit is the fourth Chevron lawyer to be sanctioned by either an Ecuadorian or a U.S. court. Neuman is accused of trying to intimidate an American technical expert during a recent deposition. Chevron has been playing by its own rules for a long time blatantly ignoring the rule of law.

Visit Chevron Pit for more details.

Andrea Neuman