Chevron in Ecuador

The archive of the Clean Up Ecuador campaign website


News and Multimedia from 2009

Chevron Finishing Brutal Year On Ecuador Issue

Obama's Extension of Trade Benefits Latest of Several Harsh Setbacks for Oil Giant Over $27B Liability
30 December 2009 | Amazon Defense Coalition

The signing this week by President Barack Obama of an extension of trade benefits for Ecuador – over strenuous objections from Chevron – caps a brutal year of legal and lobbying setbacks for the oil giant in its attempts to evade a multi-billion dollar liability for environmental damage in the Amazon rainforest.     Read more...

Letter from Atossa Soltani to New Chevron CEO, John Watson

You Have an Opportunity to Resolve Human Tragedy in Ecuador
17 December 2009

On January 1st, John Watson will become the new Chairman and CEO of Chevron Corporation. Within the first few months of his tenure, a judgment is expected on a monumental environmental lawsuit for cleanup of oil contamination affecting tens of thousands of people living in an Amazon rainforest region of Ecuador.     Read more...

Twenty-Six Members of Congress Ask USTR to Reject Chevron Interference in Landmark Ecuador Legal Case

House Members Express "Concern" About Oil Giant's Effort to Use Trade Policy to Deny Due Process in Environmental Lawsuit
15 December 2009 | Amazon Defense Coalition

Chevron has been dealt a major setback in the Congress as more than two dozen representatives have signed a letter urging that the United States Trade Representative reject efforts by the oil giant to cancel Ecuador's trade preferences.     Read more...

LA Times Blasts Chevron For Interfering With U.S. Trade Policy Over $27 Billion Ecuador Lawsuit

Says Private Interests of One Company Should Not Trump U.S. Policy
04 December 2009 | Amazon Defense Coalition

The Los Angeles Times editorial page has blasted Chevron by urging Congress to ignore the company's multi-million dollar lobbying campaign to deny trade preferences for Ecuador in retaliation for the $27 billion oil contamination lawsuit brought by Amazon communities.     Read more...

Trading with Ecuador

Washington Must Resist Efforts by Chevron to Interfere with an Andean Trade Agreement
03 December 2009 | Los Angeles Times

Facing the possibility of a $27 billion pollution judgment against it in an Ecuadorean court, Chevron launched an aggressive lobbying and public relations campaign to try to prevent the judgment as well as reverse a deeply damaging story line.      Read more...

US Rep. Linda Sanchez, Environmentalist Trudie Styler & Human Rights Activist Kerry Kennedy Criticize Chevron For Failing to Address Ecuador Disaster and Challenge Chevron To Act

3 December 2009 | Amazon Defense Coalition

Washington, DC – Three leading female environmental and human rights advocates – Congresswoman Linda Sanchez (D-CA), Trudie Styler, co-founder of the Rainforest Foundation with husband Sting, and Kerry Kennedy, President of the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights – have issued independent calls for Chevron to clean up the company's Ecuador environmental disaster on the eve of a court judgment where the oil giant faces a potential $27 billion liability.     Read more...

Chevron Using Six Public Relations Firms to Discredit Indigenous Groups In $27.3 Billion Environmental Case In Ecuador

Lobbyists – Mac McLarty, John Breaux, Trent Lott, Mickey Kantor, Carla Hills and Others – Charged With Misrepresenting Facts
20 November 2009 | Amazon Defense Coalition

Chevron has retained at least twelve public relations firms and lobbyists to discredit claims of Amazon indigenous groups on the eve of an expected multi-billion dollar judgment against the oil giant in an environmental lawsuit in Ecuador, according to representatives of the tribes in the U.S.     Read more...

U.S. Congresswoman Labels Chevron's Trade Preferences Lobbying Effort "Extortion" In Testimony

Oil Giant's Attempts to Evade Justice in Ecuadorian Rainforest Criticized Before Congressional Ways & Means Hearing
17 November 2009 | Amazon Defense Coalition

U.S. Congresswoman Linda Sanchez of California today urged Congress to reject Chevron's attempts to co-opt US foreign trade policy and programs so that the company could gain an advantage in private litigation.     Read more...

Chevron's Lobby Campaign Backfires

16 November 2009 | Politico

Facing the possibility of a $27 billion pollution judgment against it in an Ecuadorean court, Chevron launched an aggressive lobbying and public relations campaign to try to prevent the judgment as well as reverse a deeply damaging story line.      Read more...

Fraud in Ecuadorian Oil Battle

The case against oil giant Chevron may finally be coming to an end after at least 16 years in the court system
09 November 2009 | Reportage Enviro

The long running environmental case against oil giant Chevron over its activities in the Amazon rainforest of Ecuador gained momentum recently, when two Chevron lawyers committed fraud in their testimony.     Read more...

Kerry Kennedy Accuses Chevron of Cultural Genocide in Ecuador Rainforest

Daughter of RFK Appalled by "Chevron’s Chernobyl"
06 November 2009 | Amazon Defense Coalition

The massive oil contamination for which Chevron faces a potential $27 billion liability in Ecuador's courts is a "clear violation" of the rights of indigenous peoples to life, security, and self-determination, said Kerry Kennedy, a human rights advocate and daughter of the late Robert F. Kennedy.     Read more...

Chevron and Cultural Genocide in Ecuador

04 November 2009 | The Huffington Post

Traces of paradise are still visible. From the air, the rainforest appears as silvery mist and swaths of verdant green. But beneath the cloud cover and canopy, the jungle is a tangle of oil slicks, festering sludge, and rusted pipeline.     Read more...

Chevron's Man in Ecuador: Felon, Drug-Trafficker, and Liar, Oh My!

31 October 2009 | The Huffington Post

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.     Read more...

Revelation Undermines Chevron Case In Ecuador

29 October 2009 | 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.     Read more...

Report Adds Bizarre Twist to Ecuador Chevron Case

29 October 2009 | Reuters

A lawsuit against Chevron over pollution of Ecuador's jungle in the 1990s took another bizarre turn when the plaintiffs released a report saying a man who helped force the removal of an Ecuadorean judge from the $27 billion case is a convicted drug smuggler.     Read more...

Felon Involved in Clandestine Videos

29 October 2009 | Associated Press

One of two men who made clandestine video recordings allegedly showing government bias and kickback-soliciting in a $27 billion oil contamination lawsuit is a convicted felon with a history of legal troubles.     Read more...

Ecuador Oil Pollution Case Takes New Turn

Ecuador Oil Pollution Case Takes New Turn

29 October 2009 | Al Jazeera

Lucia Newman, Al Jazeera's Latin America editor, reports from Ecuador on the case, and Karen Hinton, a spokesperson for the plaintiffs, talks about the recent developments in the lawsuit, including the revelation that Chevron's key witness in the alleged bribery scandal is a convicted felon with a checkered past.     Read more...

American Who Shot Secret Videos for Chevron in Ecuador Is Convicted Drug Trafficker

Investigation Reveals Life of Deception, No Connection to Oil Remediation, and No Stable Employment
29 October 2009 | Amazon Defense Coalition

Wayne Hansen, the American businessman who helped make the secret videos being used by Chevron in an attempt to taint an environmental trial where the company faces a $27 billion liability, is a convicted felon who was charged with conspiring to import more than 275,000 pounds of marijuana from Colombia to the United States.     Read more...

Chevron Admits Its Lawyers Present at Key Meeting with Ecuador Man Who Taped Video Scandal

In New Letter, Company Refuses to Turn Over Forensic Analysis of Videos; Confirms Ongoing Payments to Ecuadorian Contractor Who Made Tapes
28 October 2009 | Amazon Defense Coalition

In a stunning admission, Chevron's top outside counsel on the Ecuador environmental case has publicly conceded that the company's own lawyers met with a Chevron contractor regarding his secret video recordings just days before he taped a critical meeting in Ecuador about a purported bribe that the company is trying to use to taint a trial where it faces a $27.3 billion environmental liability.     Read more...

Incoming Chevron Chief Toes Company Line on Ecuador Oil Pollution Case During Debut in Nation’s Capital

Supporters of Amazon Residents Who Are Suing Chevron for Environmental Cleanup Put $27 Billion Contamination Case Front and Center During CEO-to-be John Watson's Chamber of Commerce Visit
27 October 2009

Incoming Chevron CEO John S. Watson’s debut speech in the nation’s capital addressed a range of issues from the future of the world’s energy economy to rising gas prices to the company’s $27 billion litigation in Ecuador for massive environmental contamination. Asked how he would address the massive oil pollution case as CEO, Watson toed the company line, vowing to continue Chevron’s practice of evading responsibility for the contamination inherited from Texaco upon its acquisition of the company in 2001.      Read more...

Ecuador: The Tribes vs. Chevron-Texaco

Ecuador: The Tribes vs. Chevron-Texaco

27 October 2009 | Latin Pulse

Latin Pulse talks with Joe Berlinger about his new film on the case, Crude, and with Amazon Watch about the worst environmental disaster since Chernobyl.     Read more...

Activists Confront CEO-to-be John Watson at the Chamber of Commerce

Activists Confront CEO-to-be John Watson at the Chamber of Commerce

Signs Spell Out "Mr. Watson, What Will You Do About Ecuador?"
27 October 2009

Activists organized by Amazon Watch and Rainforest Action Network challenged Mr. Watson as he spoke to the National Chamber Foundation at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.     Read more...

Not Simply an Underdog's Tale

23 October 2009 | The Washington Post

Had Michael Moore wanted to make a serious movie about capitalism, he would have made "Crude." And yet, "Crude" is that rare thing in fiction or nonfiction cinema, a movie that relies on its audience to draw the right conclusions.     Read more...

Kerry Kennedy Interviewed by Rick Sanchez on CNN

Kerry Kennedy Interviewed by Rick Sanchez on CNN

22 October 2009 | CNN

CNN's Rick Sanchez interviews Kerry Kennedy, President of the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Human Rights (and RFK's daughter). Kennedy, who visited parts of the Amazon province of Sucumbios by invitation of the plaintiffs to witness ecological damage, said that Chevron must be held responsible and compensate the local populations.     Read more...

Acclaimed Film About Chevron's Eco-Disaster In Ecuador To Open In Nation's Capital

Time of Intense Questioning of Chevron's Campaign to Undermine $27 Billion Trial
22 October 2009 | Amazon Defense Coalition

The award-winning documentary Crude, which chronicles the compelling 16-year struggle of indigenous groups in Ecuador's Amazon rainforest to hold Chevron accountable for the world's largest oil-related contamination, opens in the nation's capital Friday during a time of intense scrutiny of a trial where the oil giant faces a $27 billion liability that could eat up one-fifth of its market value.     Read more...

Statement by Human Rights Activist Kerry Kennedy After Touring the Chevron Oil Pits in the Ecuadorian Rainforest and Speaking to Local Residents

15 October 2009

I have read hundreds of pages of documents, and seen numerous videos and photographs, of the damage done in Ecuador by Texaco and its mothership Chevron, but nothing could prepare me for the horror that I witnessed last week.     Read more...

Chevron's Story on Ecuador Bribery Scandal Continues to Unravel

News Outlets Expose Discrepancies in Chevron Account; Ecuador Calls for DOJ to Investigate Possible Criminal Violations
13 October 2009 | Amazon Defense Coalition

Questions are mounting over Chevron's continued refusal to respond to new facts that suggest the company manufactured secret videos to undermine a civil trial in Ecuador.     Read more...

Big Oil Still the Big Dog

13 October 2009 | Seattle Post Intelligencer

Peter Maas, author of "Crude World", delivers a basic truth about the architects of our carbon economy: Big oil has no permanent allegiances, only permanent self-interests.     Read more...

RFK's Daughter Backs Ecuadoreans in Chevron Suit

9 October 2009 | Associated Press

Robert F. Kennedy's daughter sided with Ecuadorean Indians and farmers in their $27 billion environmental lawsuit against oil giant Chevron, saying Thursday after visiting former Amazon drilling sites that the case compares unfavorably to the 1989 Exxon Valdez tanker spill.     Read more...

Ecuador Oil Pollution Case Only Grows Murkier

9 October 2009 | The New York Times

The multibillion-dollar legal case between Amazon peasants and Chevron over oil pollution in Ecuador's rain forest keeps unfolding more like a mystery thriller than a battle of briefs.     Read more...

LA Times Blasts Chevron for "Shifty" Litigation Tactics

Negative Publicity Continues to Cast Shadow Over Oil Giant
5 October 2009 | Amazon Defense Coalition

Chevron’s attempt to move the battle over its $27 billion environmental liability in Ecuador to a secret international tribunal where indigenous groups would not be represented has been blasted by the Los Angeles Times, which characterized it as a "shifty shifting of venue" designed to avoid accountability for the company’s devastation of the Amazon rainforest.     Read more...

Affected Communities March Against Chevron Corruption in Ecuador

As Chevron CEO Retires, Plaintiffs "Bury" His Legacy
5 October 2009 | Amazon Watch

Over 400 people from indigenous and farming communities around Lago Agrio, Ecuador, marched to a toxic dump site today to protest Chevron's on-going attempts to derail the $27 billion lawsuit that will soon come to a close after more than 16 years of courtroom struggle.     Read more...

The Millennium Development Goals: Environmental Sustainability at Stake in Aguinda v. Chevron

2 October 2009 | EarthZine

In the fight for achieving environmental sustainability, eyes are currently fixed on Lago Agrio, Ecuador, where a ruling in one of the world's largest environmental lawsuits will be decided. It is a veritable David and Goliath battle pitting the inhabitants of the eastern section of Ecuador's Amazon rainforest known as the Oriente against American oil giant Chevron. At stake is the clean up of one of Earth's most delicate and important ecosystems.      Read more...

Chevron's Shifty Shifting of Venue

2 October 2009 | Los Angeles Times

The oil giant, facing a $27-billion damage claim in a pollution case brought by natives in Ecuador, shops the case to The Hague in a bid to escape liability.      Read more...

Chevron CEO’s Legacy Marred by Mishandling of Ecuador Environmental Crisis

Failure to Properly Vet Texaco for Liability Likely Drove O’Reilly to Retire Early, Say Amazonian Communities
September 30 2009 | Amazon Defense Coalition

David O’Reilly’s surprise early retirement as CEO of Chevron comes at a time he was under increasing pressure from shareholders and the media over an environmental liability in Ecuador that could eat up roughly 20% of the market value of the company and has caused a wave of negative publicity and scrutiny from Wall Street analysts and a potential criminal investigation by New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo.      Read more...

San Francisco Premiere of CRUDE

San Francisco Premiere of CRUDE

26 September 2009

Yet another sold out premiere! This screening of CRUDE, an award-winning documentary by acclaimed filmmaker Joe Berlinger was hosted by Amazon Watch in association with Rainforest Action Network.     Read more...

Questions about Chevron Role in Ecuador Bribery Scandal

September 2009

In what appears to be a last-ditch effort to evade a potential $27.3 billion environmental liability in Ecuador, Chevron recently posted to YouTube secret video recordings that the company claimed implicates the trial judge and government officials in a purported $3 million bribery scheme.     Read more...

Highlights from the LA Premiere of CRUDE

Highlights from the LA Premiere of CRUDE

25 September 2009

Sean Penn, Isla Fisher, Stuart Townsend, Q'orianka Kilcher, Armand Assante, Billy Wirth, Rosanna Arquette Among Dozens of Celebrities Who Turn Up to Support Amazon Watch's Screening of CRUDE.     Read more...

Trudie Styler Personally Invites 6000 Chevron Employees to CRUDE

CRUDE Documentary to Premiere in Chevron’s Backyard
25 September 2009 | Amazon Watch

CRUDE, the acclaimed and controversial documentary chronicling the $27 billion lawsuit against Chevron in Ecuador, opens in San Francisco, Chevron’s backyard, this Friday. In advance of the premiere, today prominent human rights activist featured in CRUDE, Trudie Styler, has extended a personal invitation to all 6,000 Bay Area Chevron employees to attend a screening of the film for free.     Read more...

Ecuador Rejects Chevron Arbitration Claim

24 September 2009 | Associated Press

Ecuador on Thursday rejected as an inappropriate last-ditch effort Chevron Corp.'s attempt to force it into international arbitration so it might share liability in a $27 billion lawsuit over environmental damage in the Amazon rainforest.     Read more...

Chevron’s Recent Setbacks In U.S. Courts Forced Its Hand On Arbitration Claim, Lawyers Say

Latest Move to Avoid $27 Billion Environmental Liability Contains Risks for Oil Giant
24 September 2009 | Amazon Defense Coalition

Chevron’s filing of an arbitration claim against Ecuador’s government over a potential $27.3 billion environmental liability in Ecuador can best be explained by an embarrassing string of legal defeats the company has suffered in U.S. and Ecuadorian courts on several of the same issues the company will bring before the arbitration panel, lawyers for the Amazonian communities said today.      Read more...

Activist 911: CRUDE The Real Price of Oil

Activist 911: CRUDE The Real Price of Oil

23 September 2009 | Current Green

Current Green interviews Han Shan, activist with Amazon Watch about the new film, CRUDE. Three years in the making, this cinéma-vérité feature from acclaimed filmmaker Joe Berlinger is the epic story of one of the largest and most controversial environmental lawsuits on the planet.     Read more...

The Hollywood Premiere of CRUDE a Huge Hit

Sean Penn, Isla Fisher, Stuart Townsend, Q’orianka Kilcher, Armand Assante, Billy Wirth, Rosanna Arquette Among Dozens of Celebrities Who Turn Up to Support Amazon Watch’s Screening of CRUDE Chevron’s Fears Grow as Documentary Shines Spotlight on $27 Billion Lawsuit
18 September 2009 | Amazon Watch

Amazon Watch hosted the Hollywood premiere of CRUDE, an inspiring new film about Chevron’s $27 billion lawsuit, by award-winning filmmaker, Joe Berlinger.     Read more...

Los Angeles Premiere of CRUDE

Los Angeles Premiere of CRUDE

10 September 2009

Amazon Watch, in association with Rainforest Action Network, hosted this sneak preview screening of CRUDE, an award-winning documentary by acclaimed filmmaker Joe Berlinger.     Read more...

Lawyer Steven Donziger On Chevron's Warped Values In Ecuador

16 September 2009 | Forbes

For all the nice words, Chevron's actions – and values – have not always been so responsible. In fact, there is increasing evidence that some of those actions have been downright harmful to the environment and continue to create health risks for thousands of men, woman and children.      Read more...

Chevron Helps Hire Two Criminal Defense Attorneys In Ecuador Bribery Scheme

Oil Giant Trying to Block Investigation of Its Own Role in Doctoring Videos and Facilitating Misconduct,
Says Amazon Defense Coalition

15 September 2009 | Amazon Defense Coalition

Chevron has arranged for two prominent criminal defense attorneys in the San Francisco Bay Area to represent the men who secretly videotaped a purported bribery scheme in Ecuador, apparently to block an investigation to determine the company's own role in orchestrating the incident to disrupt a trial where Chevron faces a $27 billion liability.     Read more...

Chevron Fears CRUDE’s Box Office Succes

Chevron’s Board of Directors Urged to Investigate Management’s Role in the Attempted Bribery Scheme
September 15 2009 | Amazon Watch

CRUDE, the new documentary about the $27 billion lawsuit against Chevron opened in New York last week with the highest grossing film per-screen in the US. The film’s success and high profile has provoked increasingly desperate tactics from Chevron, including the release of a purported bribery scandal video in an attempt to confuse the public and delay the legal proceedings in the 16-year trial.     Read more...

Amazon Watch Letter to Chevron Board Members

15 September 2009 | Amazon Watch

We write to urge you to investigate recent activities of Chevron's management, legal team, and public relations firms which may have violated Chevron's own code of ethics, U.S. and Ecuadorian law, and exposed your company to significant criminal and civil liability.     Read more...

Crude Filmmaker Responds to Chevron’s Attacks on Acclaimed New Documentary

Chevron Becomes More Defensive as theaters fill up for "Crude"
11 September 2009

In the September 9 Reuters news story “Is Chevron Scared of ‘Crude’ The Movie?”, Chevron spokesperson Kent Robertson criticizes the award-winning new film Crude on the day of its theatrical premiere, calling it “long on emotion and short on facts.” Crude director Joe Berlinger responds to the allegations:     Read more...

New York City Premiere of CRUDE

New York City Premiere of CRUDE

10 September 2009

The September 9th New York City premiere of CRUDE was hosted by @Radical.Media and Trudie Styler.     Read more...

Is Chevron Scared Of "Crude" The Movie?

9 September 2009 | Reuters

One of the stars of "Crude," a documentary about a $27 billion environmental lawsuit filed against the company on behalf of residents of Ecuador's Amazon, certainly thinks so. A spokesman for Chevron vehemently denies it.     Read more...

Free Speech Radio News previews CRUDE

9 September 2009 | Free Speech Radio News

FSRN spoke with Mitch Anderson, the lead campaigner for Amazon Watch's Ecuador project.     Read more...

Ecuador Seeks Legal Action Against Chevron

9 Semptember 2009 | Dow Jones

Ecuador's attorney general wants legal action in the U.S. against Chevron Corp. after the company released videos that it says showed undue influence on a court case involving Chevron.     Read more...

American Businessman Wayne Hansen Has Ties to Chevron in Bribery Scheme, Investigation Finds

New Information Contradicts Earlier Claim by Oil Giant As Questions Grow About Chevron's Own Role
9 September 2009 | Amazon Defense Coalition

Washington, DC – Three leading female environmental and human rights advocates – Congresswoman Linda Sanchez (D-CA), Trudie Styler, co-founder of the Rainforest Foundation with husband Sting, and Kerry Kennedy, President of the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights – have issued independent calls for Chevron to clean up the company's Ecuador environmental disaster on the eve of a court judgment where the oil giant faces a potential $27 billion liability.     Read more...

LA Times Editorial Calls For Investigation Into Chevron’s Release Of Its “Sting” Videotapes

September 7 2009 | Amazon Defense Coalition

In an editorial this Saturday, the Los Angeles Times called for an investigation into Chevron’s production and release of its "sting" videotapes that seek to derail a $27 billion lawsuit brought against the company for oil contamination in the Ecuadorian rainforest.     Read more...

Chevron's Legal Fireworks

Seeking to change its fortunes in a Ecuador case it's expected to lose, the oil giant releases an explosive video.
5 September 2009 | Los Angeles Times

Only weeks ago, the 16-year legal battle between Chevron Corp. and thousands of indigenous people in Ecuador's Amazon seemed as if it were coming to a close. After years of delay, all that remained was for the judge -- there are no jury trials in Ecuador -- to deliver a verdict on whether the oil company is responsible for wide-scale contamination. But Chevron, which is widely expected to lose and could be assessed a staggering $27 billion in damages, is not going down without some legal pyrotechnics.
     Read more...

Statement from Amazon Defense Coalition Regarding Judge Recusal

From Steven Donziger on behalf of the Amazon communities
4 September 2009 | Amazon Defense Coalition

Statement of Amazon Defense Coalition on the recusal of Judge Nuñez in order for legal proceedings to continue uninterrupted in the $27 billion lawsuit against Chevron in Ecuador     Read more...

Major Flaws Emerge In Chevron Bribery Story

New Scrutiny of Chevron's Own Conduct In Possible "Dirty Tricks" Operation. Oil Giant Hiding Witnesses; DOJ Pressed to Investigate Role of Chevron Legal Team;
Company Refusing to Turn Over Evidence

3 September 2009 | Amazon Defense Coalition

Significant flaws are emerging in Chevron's version of events surrounding a purported Ecuador bribery scandal where company officials are trying to taint a long-running trial involving a potential $27 billion liability, representatives of the Amazon indigenous communities said today.     Read more...

Ecuador vs. Chevron: Evidence of a Fix, or Video Entrapment?

3 September 2009 | TIME Magazine

The videos, recorded in June, show Judge Juan Nuñez in meetings with two men, an American and an Ecuadorian, who are allegedly soliciting cleanup deals. Nuñez appears to be merely explaining to them the judicial process involved in the Chevron suit.     Read more...

Chevron Accused of Nixon-Style Dirty Tricks Operation In Ecuador

Chevron’s Video Transcripts Raise Questions About Oil Giant’s Misconduct to Delay $27 billion Environmental Trial In Ecuador. Department of Justice Asked to Focus on Chevron
1 September 2009 | Amazon Defense Coalition

In a maneuver reminiscent of Richard Nixon’s infamous “dirty tricks” operations, Chevron has posted a series of grainy videos on YouTube in an attempt to corrupt the trial proceedings where the company faces a $27 billion liability for environmental damage, representatives of the indigenous communities in Ecuador charged Tuesday.      Read more...

Statement of Amazon Defense Coalition Over Allegations by Chevron in $27B Ecuador Environmental Case

31 August 2009 | Amazon Defense Coalition

Washington, DC – Statement from Karen Hinton, spokeswoman from Amazon Defense Coalition.     Read more...

Chevron, Ecuador and a Clash of Cultures

Intertwined with the lawsuit are the indignities suffered by Ecuador's native peoples
29 August 2009 | Los Angeles Times

The facts of Aguinda vs. Texaco Inc. haven't changed since the lawsuit was first filed in 1993, but the world has. After 16 years of litigation in the United States and Ecuador, the lawsuit against Chevron Corp. has become a cause celebre among human rights activists and environmentalists.     Read more...

Oil, Ecuador and Its People

Today, a swath of the Ecuadorean Amazon remains contaminated beyond imagining. Neither side disputes the devastation, only who should pay for it. Chevron says it is the state oil company's responsibility
28 August 2009 | Los Angeles Times

Today, a swath of the Ecuadorean Amazon remains contaminated beyond imagining. Neither side disputes the devastation, only who should pay for it. Chevron says it is the state oil company's responsibility.     Read more...

Ecuadorean Lawyer Battles Big Oil

The award-winning activist has been working for years on a class-action lawsuit against Texaco
27 August 2009 | The Register-Guard

Troubled by the impact of oil industry contamination on his Lago Agrio region, Pablo Fajardo at 18 led a local group seeking cleanup and reparations. He became an attorney and at 35 assumed the role of lead counsel in a David vs. Goliath lawsuit against Chevron, which acquired Texaco in 2001.     Read more...

Corporation Responsible for Worst Oil-Related Disaster on Earth Sponsors Nonprofits Conference

Chevron Continues PR Campaign to Mask Human Rights Abuses in Ecuador
27 August 2009 | Amazon Watch

San Francisco – Chevron, a company facing widespread criticism by many Bay Area organizations for human rights abuses and environmental destruction, is the primary sponsor of CompassPoint's "Nonprofit Day".      Read more...

Amazon Watch Letter to CompassPoint Non-Profit Day Participants

27 August 2009 | Amazon Watch

As your organization participates in CompassPoint’s annual Nonprofit Day, we wish to share important information with you about the involvement of the event’s flagship sponsor - Chevron - in serious, ongoing human rights violations in what is being called the worst oil related disaster on the planet.     Read more...

Big Penalties Loom for Chevron in Ecuador

An Ecuadoran judge's ruling in an environmental case may make U.S. companies rethink the strategy of pushing lawsuits into overseas courts
24 August 2009 | Business Week

Sixteen years after it was first filed and seven years after it was tossed out of U.S. courts, an environmental contamination lawsuit growing out of Texaco's oil drilling in Ecuador has become a giant legal and public relations headache for Chevron (CVX), which bought Texaco in 2001.     Read more...

Groundbreaking Film CRUDE Nominated for "Best Documentary" at the 24th Imagen Awards

20 August 2009 | Amazon Watch

Amazon Watch has launched a special campaign to promote CRUDE, Joe Berlinger’s award-winning documentary film that chronicles the epic battle to hold oil giant Chevron (formerly Texaco) accountable for it’s systematic contamination of the Ecuadorian Amazon – an environmental tragedy experts call "the Rainforest Chernobyl."     Read more...

Chevron Suffers Further Setbacks in $27 Billion Ecuador Environmental Trial

Court Fines Chevron Lawyer for Causing Delay; Criminal Prosecution Gains Steam
18 August 2009 | Amazon Defense Coalition

An Ecuadorian trial judge dealt Chevron another setback when he fined the company’s local counsel for trying to delay the end of a $27 billion environmental trial and referred a court-ordered report to Ecuador’s national prosecutor for possible use in a criminal prosecution of the company, according to court papers made available this week.     Read more...

60 Seconds

60 Seconds

18 August 2009

Amazon Watch has a new animation from Mark Fiore that sends Chevron a stern warning to clean up their mess in Ecuador!     Read more...

Chevron Using Deep Pockets to Manufacture "Proof" in $27 Billion Environmental Trial

Army of Paid Consultants Seeks Favorable Media Coverage
13 August 2009 | Amazon Defense Coalition

Chevron is using its deep pockets to hire three public relations firms to strengthen a misinformation campaign to evade a $27.3 billion judgment against the company in Ecuador for creating the worst oil-related contamination on earth in the Amazon rainforest, said spokesmen for dozens of Amazonian communities in the South American nation.     Read more...

Chevron Withdraws Key Legal Claim Before U.S. Federal Court Over $27B Ecuador Liability

Facing Adverse Ruling, Company Chooses To Avoid Litigation Over Controversial Legal Release
3 August 2009 | Amazon Defense Coalition

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.     Read more...

Trailer for Crude: The Real Price of Oil

Trailer for Crude: The Real Price of Oil

28 July 2009

With the release of the documentary film CRUDE, we have an unprecedented opportunity to massively increase public demand that Chevron/Texaco be held accountable for its devastation of the Ecuadorian Amazon.     Read more...

Chevron Expects to Fight Ecuador Lawsuit in U.S.

As Largest Environmental Judgment on Record Looms, the Oil Company Reassures Shareholders It Won't Pay
20 July 2009 | Wall Street Journal

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.     Read more...

Does a Senior Obama Official Have Unseemly Ties to Notorious Human Rights Abuser Chevron?

The story of this slick oil company's romance with the government has recently taken a crude twist.
10 July 2009 | Alternet

"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.     Read more...

What's in a Name?

Critics are troubled by an award to Chevron named after Richard Holbrooke, a high-ranking Obama official.
7 July 2009 | Newsweek

It's no secret that Chevron finds lots of ways to influence the debate in Washington: they make campaign contributions, they hire high-powered lobbyists and they invest heavily in advertising campaigns to persuade the public (and capital decision makers) that they are good "corporate citizens."     Read more...

Chevron Fails in Effort to Lift Trade Benefits

2 July 2009 | Inter-Press Service

In the latest in a string of setbacks that could cost the U.S. oil giant Chevron billions of dollars in damages, President Barack Obama decided this week to extend trade preferences for Ecuadorean exports for another six months under the 1991 Andean Trade Preferences Act (ATPA).     Read more...

Chevron Rebuffed On Ecuador Trade Benefits By Obama Administration

Oil Giant Had Tried to Lobby USTR Over $27 Billion Environmental Liability in Ecuador’s Amazon
1 July 2009 | Amazon Defense Coalition

In a setback over its attempt to avoid a $27 billion environmental liability, Chevron has failed for the third time in as many years to convince the Obama and Bush administrations to cancel bilateral trade benefits for Ecuador in retaliation for letting indigenous groups sue the oil giant in that country’s courts.
     Read more...

US Senators Seek Chevron/Ecuador Trial Without US Meddling

30 June 2009 | Reuters

Four senators have written to U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk, criticizing what they understand is a push by Chevron Corp to cut trade benefits for Ecuador, where the oil company faces a $27 billion claim in court.     Read more...

U.S. Supreme Court Refuses to Hear Chevron Appeal Over $27 Billion Ecuador Environmental Case

Latest in Series of Legal Setbacks for Oil Giant
29 June 2009 | Amazon Defense Coalition

The U.S. Supreme Court today refused to hear an appeal by Chevron of a decision by a U.S. federal trial judge that denied the oil giant's attempt to shift a $27.3 billion liability for environmental contamination in the Amazon rainforest to Ecuador's state-owned oil company.     Read more...

Supreme Court Rejects Chevron Appeal Against Ecuadorian Oil Co.

29 June 2009 | Dow Jones

The U.S. Supreme Court said Monday that it won't decide whether an Ecuadorian oil company can be held partially responsible in a $27 billion case against its former business partner, Texaco Petroleum Co., a unit of Chevron Corp.      Read more...

Four Senators Urge USTR to Ignore Chevron Petition On Ecuador Legal Case

Sens. Wyden, Casey, Durbin and Leahy Sign Letter Expressing “Concern” About Chevron Effort to Link Environmental Case to Trade Benefits
29 June 2009 | Amazon Defense Coalition

Four U.S. Senators are urging the United States Trade Representative to reject efforts by Chevron to threaten the cancellation of trade benefits for Ecuador because the oil giant faces a $27.3 billion liability in the South American nation for dumping billions of gallons of toxic waste into the Amazon rainforest.     Read more...

Chevron's Amazon 'Fake Cleanup' Trial

25 June 2009 | United Press International

A report submitted this week to a court in Ecuador finding dangerous levels of contamination at oil wells Chevron says it cleaned up in the 1990s is expected to reinforce a fraud indictment against two Chevron lawyers in a $27.3 billion environmental lawsuit against the oil company.     Read more...

New Evidence of Chevron Fraud From Final Judicial Inspections in $27 Billion Environmental Case

24 June 2009 | Amazon Defense Coalition

Evidence that two Chevron lawyers committed fraud in Ecuador apparently has grown stronger with a new court-ordered report finding extensive levels of toxic contamination at two oil well sites that the company claimed to have “remediated” in the mid-1990s.      Read more...

Gene Randall “Reporting,” Inc.

Will journalists’ flight toward PR mean the end of reportorial integrity?
16 June 2009 | Columbia Journalism Review

Deep in the northern Ecuadoran rain forest, next to pits filled with noxious sludge, a lawyer on his very first case argued that a U.S. oil company had deliberately fouled a swath of jungle nearly the size of Delaware during two decades of production.     Read more...

Amazonian Leaders Blast Chevron CEO David O'Reilly For Deceitful Answers At Public Debate

Chevron Chief Clearly Uncomfortable With Ecuador Topic
16 June 2009 | Amazon Defense Coalition

Amazonian leaders in Ecuador are blasting Chevron CEO David O'Reilly for engaging in "lies and deceit" during a public debate last week in San Francisco over energy-related topic that included the company's expected $27.3 billion liability in Ecuador.     Read more...

Oil and Indians Don't Mix

12 June 2009 | Truthout

Here's an easy way to find oil. Go to some remote and gorgeous natural sanctuary, say Alaska or the Amazon, find some Indians, then drill down under them.     Read more...

Chevron CEO David O'Reilly Tries to Duck Ecuador Controversy at Public Debate

Refuses to Talk About Ecuador At Commonwealth Club Debate
10 June 2009 | Amazon Watch

Battered by a shareholder revolt and negative publicity related to a potential $27 billion environmental liability in Ecuador, Chevron CEO David O'Reilly is refusing to appear at a public debate tonight unless the Ecuador issue is taken off the table as a discussion topic.     Read more...

At Least $37 Billion in Chevron Shares Voted to Defy O’Reilly’s Management Over Human Rights Issues At Annual Meeting

Major "No Confidence" Vote By Large Pension Funds
8 June 2009 | Amazon Defense Coalition

A new analysis of shareholder votes at Chevron's annual meeting in late May indicates the company's management suffered a far more serious rebuke over its growing human rights problems in Ecuador and elsewhere than originally had been reported.     Read more...

Chevron Providing Misleading Information to Shareholders about Failed Remediation

Evidence Shows Oil Giant Continues to Deceive Shareholders
4 June 2009 | Amazon Defense Coalition

Battered by negative publicity and shareholder pressure over a potential $27 billion environmental liability in Ecuador, Chevron’s legal team is mischaracterizing the scientific evidence in a lawsuit to try to claim billions of gallons of toxic waste it dumped in the Amazon pose no risk to human health, representatives of the Amazon communities charged today.     Read more...

Chevron Fights Massive Lawsuit in Ecuador

Chevron Fights Massive Lawsuit in Ecuador

A case about responsibility for cleaning up a toxic drilling site could cost the company billions and send a chill through the industry.
29 May 2009 | Christian Science Monitor

An article and video photo essay exploring Chevron, who knowingly unleashed toxins across an estimated 1,700 square miles in the Ecuador Rainforest – roughly the size of Rhode Island.     Read more...

KQED's Forum Discussion of "The True Cost of Chevron: An Alternative Annual Report"

28 May 2009 | KQED Forum

We talk with Antonia Juhasz, policy analyst, author of "The Tyranny of Oil" and lead author and editor of "The True Cost of Chevron: An Alternative Annual Report" and look at the latest news and geopolitical issues surrounding the company.      Read more...

Chevron Charged with Engaging in Intense Lobbying Battle to Defeat Shareholder Resolution, but Results Mixed for Company

$9B In Chevron Shares Ended Up Defying Company Management
27 May 2009 | Amazon Defense Coalition

San Ramon, CA (May 27, 2009) – In the days ahead of its annual meeting, Chevron’s management engaged in a fierce and unconventional lobbying campaign to convince shareholders to defeat a shareholder resolution over the company’s potential $27 billion liability in Ecuador but investors holding $9 billion in Chevron shares voted for it anyway, officials with the environmental group Amazon Watch said today.     Read more...

Chevron CEO O'Reilly Under Intense Fire At Shareholder Meeting for Negligence on Ecuador Case

Refuses to Let Board Members Answer Own Questions As Conflict of Interest Becomes Evident
27 May 2009 | Amazon Defense Coalition

San Ramon, CA (May 27, 2009) – Several large investors blasted Chevron CEO David O’Reilly today at the company’s annual meeting for mishandling a potential $27 billion liability in Ecuador, while O’Reilly left open the possibility he would visit Ecuador to inspect the damage personally after being invited by a well-known local community leader.     Read more...

Chevron Botching Ecuador Case, Says Influential Report

$27 Billion Liability in Ecuador “Poorly Handled” By Chevron’s Top Management, Analyst Tells Leading Trade Publication
27 May 2009 | Amazon Defense Coalition

New York, NY (May 27, 2009) – Platt’s Oilgram News, the leading trade publication for the oil industry, is reporting that “momentum seems to be growing against Chevron” in the long-running environmental case brought by Amazon communities in Ecuador that could lead to a $27 billion judgment later this year.     Read more...

Chevron Annual Meeting Heats Up Over Ecuador Suit

27 May 2009 | Associated Press

In a combative and sometimes colorful annual meeting, Chevron's CEO and chairman exchanged barbs with activists over pollution in the Amazon rain forest and the company's human rights record, twice scolding speakers who addressed executives.     Read more...

Chevron AGM 2009 Action

Chevron AGM 2009 Action

27 May 2009

Representatives of indigenous and farming communities from Ecuador's Amazon brought their 15-year battle for justice to Chevron's doorstep.     Read more...

An Open Letter to America

27 May 2009 | MatadorChange

Emergildo Criollo Quenama, a leader of the indigenous Cofan of Ecuador’s Amazon, writes an open letter to Americans in which he shares his experiences living with the direct effects of Chevron’s environmental and human rights abuses.     Read more...

Chevron Falls Short On Disclosure Obligations Relating to $27 Billion Ecuador Liability, Says Investor Advisory Group

Oppenheimer Warns Ecuador Problem Could “Depress” Chevron Stock; Risk Metrics Urges Greater “Transparency” From Oil Giant
26 May 2009 | Amazon Defense Coalition

New York, NY (May 26, 2009) – In another setback to Chevron management, a leading investment advisory group is urging the oil giant to disclose more details of a potential $27 billion environmental liability in Ecuador just before what is expected to be a major showdown on the issue at the annual shareholder’s meeting May 27th in California.

     Read more...

Chevron CEO O'Reilly Faces Major Challenge Over Ecuador Lawsuit At Annual Meeting

New Questions Relating to Chevron's Lack of Financial Disclosure of $27 Billion Liability
26 May 2009 | Amazon Defense Coalition

San Francisco, CA – A growing number of shareholders are challenging Chevron CEO and Board Chairman David O'Reilly's management and oversight of the environmental and human rights policies of the nation's third largest company at a Chevron shareholders' meeting this week.     Read more...

Uprising Radio Interview on Chevron Shareholder Meeting

26 May 2008 | Uprising Radio

Ahead of its annual shareholder meeting tomorrow, the Chevron Corporation is facing increasing scrutiny for its business practices around the world from California to Ecuador.     Read more...

Interview on

Interview on "The True Cost of Chevron: An Alternative Annual Report"

26 May 2009 | Democracy Now

Just ahead of Chevron's shareholder meeting, a new report tells shareholders more about the hidden and underreported costs of these profits. The alternative annual report brings together stories from communities across the world directly affected by and in struggle against Chevron's operations     Read more...

Chevron Shareholders Warned That Board of Directors Is Shirking Its Fiduciary Duties On Ecuador

On Eve of Showdown At Annual Meeting, Letter Explains How Management Puts Out False and Misleading Information
Former Sen. Sam Nunn Cited for Failing to Listen to Concerns

25 May 2009 | Amazon Watch

Representatives of indigenous and farming communities from Ecuador’s Amazon will be present at Chevron's Annual General Meeting to bring their 15 year battle for justice to the oil giant's doorstep. They will address CEO David O’Reilly before shareholders. There will be an accompanying protest by a large coalition of human rights and environmental organizations outside the building.     Read more...

Amazon Watch Letter to Shareholders

25 May 2009 | Amazon Watch

We write to inform you of important facts relating to this liability that Chevron management appears to be hiding from shareholders as part of an 11th-hour campaign to defeat Resolution 10 at the company's annual meeting on May 27, 2009. We also write to correct information that is false, misleading, or incomplete that Chevron has filed with the SEC and sent to shareholders.     Read more...

Amazonian Leaders from Ecuador Arriving for Showdown with Chevron at Annual General Meeting

With Record Court Judgment Looming, Goldman Prize Winner and Cofán Indigenous Leader to Confront Chevron CEO
22 May 2009 | Amazon Watch

Representatives of indigenous and farming communities from Ecuador’s Amazon will be present at Chevron's Annual General Meeting to bring their 15 year battle for justice to the oil giant's doorstep. They will address CEO David O’Reilly before shareholders. There will be an accompanying protest by a large coalition of human rights and environmental organizations outside the building.     Read more...

Chevron Management Dealt Major Blow with CalPERS Announcement on Ecuador

California Pension Fund Voting for Resolution Stemming from Chevron’s $27 Billion Ecuador Liability in Rainforest
21 May 2009 | Amazon Defense Coalition

San Francisco, CA (May 21, 2009) – Chevron is facing a shareholder rebuke at its annual meeting next week over the company's $27 billion Ecuador liability with the announcement that the nation's largest public pension fund in California is defying the recommendation of company management and voting for a resolution on the issue.      Read more...

Chevron Board Member Armacost Tied to Conflict of Interest Over Cancer Study in Ecuador’s Amazon

Disclosure Follows Investigation by New York Attorney General into Shareholder Complaints
19 May 2009 | Amazon Defense Coalition

New York, New York (May 19, 2009) – A highly-criticized study financed by Chevron to “prove” that the dumping of billions of gallons of toxic waste into Ecuador’s rainforest did not cause cancer failed to disclose that the study was conducted by a company tied to a member of Chevron’s Board of Directors, say representatives of the Amazon Defense Coalition.      Read more...

Chevron Liability in Ecuador Pollution Case Approaches $27 Billion

Court Judgment Expected this Year
18 May 2009 | Trillium Asset Management

Five years ago, I had the privilege of getting a firsthand look at the evidence in one of the most important lawsuits being heard anywhere in the world. The exhibits are a number of oily pits and ponds scattered throughout the state of Sucumbios, Ecuador, right in the middle of the Amazon rainforest.      Read more...

In Ecuador, Resentment of an Oil Company Oozes

15 May 2009 | The New York Times

Mention to Anita Ruíz the name of the giant oil company Chevron, and she trembles with rage. At her wooden hut here in the Amazon forest, where oil-project flares illuminate the night sky, she points to a portrait of her youngest son, who died seven years ago of leukemia at age 16.     Read more...

Chevron Trying to “Greenwash” Polluter Image in Washington Conference on Clean Technology

Oil Company Scrambling after Media Coverage Exposes Environmental Damage Left Behind in Ecuador
14 May 2009 | Amazon Defense Coalition

Washington, D.C. (May 14, 2009) – Chevron today is taking part in a “Green Technology” roundtable in an apparent attempt to deflect some of the harm caused by its increasingly high profile as a corporate polluter in Ecuador, where it faces a potential $27 billion clean-up tab for dumping billions of gallons of toxic waste into the Amazon, campaigners who monitor the company said today.     Read more...

When Chevron Hires Ex-Reporter to Investigate Pollution, Chevron Looks Good

10 May 2009 | The New York Times

What did Chevron do when it learned that "60 Minutes" was preparing a potentially damaging report about oil company contamination of the Amazon rain forest in Ecuador? It hired a former journalist to produce a mirror image of the report, from the corporation's point of view.     Read more...

Chevron Must Clarify Risk in Ecuador Suit, Cuomo Says

6 May 2009 | Bloomberg

Chevron Corp. may have misled shareholders about the risk it faces in a potential $27 billion lawsuit alleging it caused “massive” oil pollution in Ecuador, New York’s attorney general said in a letter to the company.     Read more...

Chevron Lying About Toxins In Mr. Salinas’ Water Well, Evidence Shows

Elderly Man In Ecuador's Rainforest Becomes Target of Global Internet Attacks Fostered by Oil Giant
08 May 2009 | Amazon Defense Coalition

Lago Agrio, Ecuador (May 8, 2009) – Yes, the scientific evidence at trial in Ecuador proves that the freshwater well at the house of Manuel Salinas in Ecuador’s Amazon – featured on 60 Minutes on Sunday – is contaminated with toxic carcinogens. Sorry, Chevron, but Mr. Salinas knows more than you do about his own well.      Read more...

N.Y. Asks Chevron To Explain Pollution Case

7 May 2009 | San Francisco Chronicle

New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo sent Chevron Corp. a letter this week questioning whether the oil company has adequately warned shareholders about the risks it faces in a landmark pollution lawsuit in Ecuador.     Read more...

NY Attorney General Questions Chevron in Pollution Lawsuit

6 May 2009 | Associated Press

New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo has sent a letter to the Chevron Corp., questioning whether executives have been upfront with shareholders about the company's potential liability for decades of pollution in the jungles of Ecuador.     Read more...

Chevron’s Misrepresentations to Shareholders over Ecuador Liability Have Been Obvious for Months

Company “Clearly Hiding” Risk Factors from Investors and Financial Markets, Representatives Say
06 May 2009 | Amazon Defense Coalition

LAGO AGRIO, Ecuador (BUSINESS WIRE)--Behind the letter sent by New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo to Chevron over its potential $27 billion environmental liability in Ecuador is a growing concern in the investor community that the company is providing misleading information about its financial risk to regulatory authorities and investors, said an Amazon Defense Coalition official.     Read more...

Chevron Lawyer Stumbles in 60 Minutes Interview over Ecuador Oil Contamination

Sylvia Garrigo Compares Makeup on Her Face to Heavily Contaminated Toxic Waste Pits; "Public Relations Disaster " for Chevron
4 May 2009 | Amazon Defense Coalition

New York, NY – Chevron shocked the public relations and legal worlds Sunday by allowing a relatively unknown in-house lawyer to stumble through an interview trying to defend the company on 60 Minutes.     Read more...

Chevron Produces Phony Online News Coverage to Spread Misinformation about Ecuador Disaster

Oil Giant Fails to Disclose That It Paid for "News" Video Narrated by Former CNN Correspondent Gene Randall
3 May 2009 | Amazon Defense Coalition

To promote a misinformation campaign about its role in the oil contamination of a pristine area of the rainforest in Ecuador, Chevron recently produced a video that copies the format and style of television news shows and portrays Texaco, now owned by Chevron, as completely blameless in the dumping of billions of gallons of toxic waste into the Amazon jungle.     Read more...

Amazon Crude on 60 Minutes

Amazon Crude on 60 Minutes

3 May 2009 | CBS

New York (May 3, 2009) -- This important documentary is entitled Amazon Crude and focuses on on the class action lawsuit against Chevron for deliberately contaminating the Ecuadorian Amazon and causing a wave of cancer and miscarriages in the region.     Read more...

60 Minutes To Air Segment On Chevron’s “Amazon Chernobyl” In Ecuador’s Rainforest

Shareholders Increasingly Nervous About Possible $27 Billion Liability for Oil Giant
1 May 2009 | Amazon Defense Coalition

Washington, D.C. (May 1, 2009) – The CBS investigative news show 60 Minutes has announced it will air a segment this Sunday about Chevron’s complicity in the contamination of pristine rainforest deep in the Amazon jungle of Ecuador. The highly-acclaimed news show is expected to focus on the sub-standard practices used by Texaco, now owned by Chevron, for oil exploration from 1964 to 1990 when it extracted more than one billion barrels of oil from a pristine area of rainforest that was once home to six thriving indigenous groups.     Read more...

Rain Forest Residents, Texaco Face Off In Ecuador

30 April 2009 | National Public Radio

Morning Edition, April 30, 2009 · A judge is preparing to render a decision in a long-running, multibillion-dollar lawsuit filed by residents of Ecuador's Amazonian rain forest against Texaco for fouling their land.     Read more...

Chevron Blasted before U.S. Congress for Violating Human Rights in Ecuador’s Amazon Rainforest

More than 1,400 Cancer Deaths Reported By Experts
30 April 2009 | Amazon Defense Coalition

Washington, D.C. (April 30, 2009) – Chevron is responsible for creating a “humanitarian crisis of epic proportions” in Ecuador’s rainforest where more than 1,400 people reportedly have died of cancer and indigenous groups are struggling to survive the dumping of billions of gallons of toxic waste, a representative of the local communities testified this week before the U.S. Congress.      Read more...

In Ecuador, High Stakes in Case Against Chevron

Legal Battle in the Amazon
28 April 2009 | The Washington Post

After 16 years, attorneys are wrapping up a landmark pollution lawsuit brought by Ecuadoran Indians against U.S. oil company Chevron Texaco.      Read more...

In Ecuador, High Stakes in Case Against Chevron

28 April 2009 | The Washington Post

Deep in the northern Ecuadoran rain forest, next to pits filled with noxious sludge, a lawyer on his very first case argued that a U.S. oil company had deliberately fouled a swath of jungle nearly the size of Delaware during two decades of production.     Read more...

Mickey Kantor Criticized for Lobbying Former Agency that he Led

Accused of Trying to Help Chevron Quash Contamination Lawsuit in Ecuador
27 April 2009 | Amazon Defense Coalition

WASHINGTON, April 27, 2009 (BUSINESS WIRE)--Citing new lobbying rules put into place by the Obama Administration, two environmental groups are strongly criticizing Mickey Kantor for lobbying on behalf of Chevron before the same trade agency he led for several years under the Clinton Administration.     Read more...

Chevron's Amazon Chernobyl Lawsuit in Ecuador Subject of Congressional Hearing on Environment and Human Rights

27 April 2009 | Amazon Defense Coalition

Exploring the specific examples of communities in Ecuador, Nigeria, and West Papua, the Commission hearing will analyze the relationship between environmental degradation and human rights, particularly in relation to indigenous and traditional peoples around the globe.      Read more...

Pension Funds Fret as Chevron Faces Ecuador Ruling

8 April 2009 | The Wall Street Journal

Big public pension funds are raising concerns about an impending court judgment that could hold Chevron Corp. liable for billions of dollars in alleged environmental damages in the Ecuadorian jungle.

The funds, which together hold $1 billion in Chevron shares, are worried that the oil giant could face as much as $27 billion in damages in the 15-year-old class-action case, which was filed by a U.S.

     Read more...

Chevron Deceiving U.S. Government to Protect Ill-Gotten Profits in Ecuador, Indigenous Groups Say

Chevron Lobbyists Misleading USTR Over Ecuador Environmental Case
23 April 2009 | Amazon Defense Coalition

Washington – A team of prominent Chevron lobbyists are again misleading the U.S. Trade Representative as part of a campaign to retaliate against Ecuador’s government for refusing to interfere in a private environmental lawsuit against the oil giant, representatives of Amazonian communities say.     Read more...

Chevron shareholders to vote on environmental report

16 April 2009 | Business News Americas

Chevron's shareholders will decide May 27 whether the board must prepare a report on the California-based oil major's compliance with host country environmental policies.      Read more...

Pension Funds Reportedly Worried Over Chevron Suit

Environmental case in Ecuador at heart of a dispute involving the SEC
8 April 2009 | MarketWatch

NEW YORK – The Securities and Exchange Commission has sided with public pension funds in a dispute over whether Chevron Corp. should be required to include a shareholder proposal citing an environmental court case in Ecuador for which the oil giant is potentially liable for billions of dollars.     Read more...

SEC Rejects Chevron Attempt to Block Shareholder Resolution on Ecuador Environment Case

Chevron Fines Have Tripled In Recent Years
8 April 2009 | Amazon Defense Coalition

WASHINGTON – The Securities and Exchange Commission has rejected an attempt by Chevron management to block a vote by shareholders on a high-profile resolution that threatens to focus attention on the company’s record-breaking $27 billion environmental liability in Ecuador, according to a letter made available by the regulatory agency on its website.      Read more...

Chevron P.R. Director Donald Samson Behind Secret Payments to Bloggers to Hide Ecuador Liability

Shareholders Increasingly Nervous About Possible $27 Billion Liability for Oil GiantMisinformation Posted by Zennie Abraham Paid For By Oil Giant
31 March 2009 | Amazon Defense Coalition

San Francisco, CA (March 31, 2009) -- Chevron public relations director Donald Samson is orchestrating secret payments to bloggers to make on-line postings attacking Ecuador’s courts for determining the oil giant might owe up to $27 billion for the dumping of billions of gallons of toxic waste into the rainforest, the Amazon Defense Coalition charged today. The practice of paying bloggers for editorial content is considered highly unethical and Chevron shareholders should be aware company management engages in the practice to hide its actual financial risk in Ecuador, said Julio Prieto, a lawyer for the group, which represents 30,000 rainforest residents in the legal case.     Read more...

Film Depicting Chevron's Amazon Chernobyl To Have D.C. Premiere on Capitol Hill

U.S. Congressman Jim McGovern Hosts Screening
26 March 2009 | Amazon Defense Coalition

Washington, DC – The acclaimed film Crude, a compelling independent documentary about the epic legal battle between indigenous tribes and oil giant Chevron over massive oil contamination in Ecuador's rainforest, will have its D.C. premiere on Capitol Hill March 31st.     Read more...

New Evidence of Fraud in Chevron's "Amazon Chernobyl" In Ecuador

On Eve of Final Inspections, Proof that Dozens of Waste Pits Never Touched Were Counted As "Remediated"
25 March 2009 | Amazon Defense Coalition

With judicial inspections in Chevron's long-running environmental trial in Ecuador about to end, new proof has emerged that the oil giant never touched the majority of toxic waste pits that it certified as "clean" to Ecuador's government in exchange for a legal release, said a lawyer for the Amazon Defense Coalition.     Read more...

Trudie Styler: Why I Had To Use My Celebrity To Try To Save the Rainforest

22 March 2009 | The Observer

The film producer, champion of ecological causes and wife of Sting, talks about the environmental outrage at the heart of her new screen project, and why - as a frequent flyer - she dismisses carbon offsetting as 'a crock'.     Read more...

Chevron Lawyers Explode In Anger After More Oil Found at "Remediated" Sites In Ecuador Trial

Tirade Marks End of Difficult Week of Setbacks for Chevron In $27 Billion Case
15 March 2009 | Amazon Defense Coalition

After a frustrating week of setbacks in an environmental trial in Ecuador's rainforest, two Chevron lawyers exploded in anger at representatives of the victims after a technical expert demonstrated for the third time in a week that oil was visible at a well site that the company claimed to have "remediated" a decade ago.     Read more...

Oil Visible At "Remediated" Sites As Judge Rejects Chevron's Motion to Delay $27 Billion Trial

Chevron's Legal Strategy Backfires During Ecuador Court Inspections
11 March 2009 | Amazon Defense Coalition

As part of a last-ditch effort to delay a final decision in the world's largest environmental trial, additional soil testing demanded by Chevron backfired Tuesday when waste pits in Ecuador's Amazon jungle that the company claimed to have "cleaned" a decade ago revealed large amounts of oil clearly visible to the naked eye.     Read more...

Chevron Spokesman James Craig Blasted by Rainforest Leaders for Meddling In Historic Environmental Trial

Complaints to Be Filed In Ecuador and United States
9 March 2009 | Amazon Defense Coalition

Amazonian leaders today blasted James Craig, an American public relations official with Chevron affiliated with the J. Walter Thompson advertising agency, for undermining a long-running environmental trial in Ecuador where the oil giant faces a $27 billion liability for dumping toxic waste into the rainforest.     Read more...

Chevron Abusing Courts to Delay Judgment in $27 Billion Environmental Suit, Amazon Leaders Say

20 February 2009 | Amazon Defense Coalition

Trying to make good on its promise of a "lifetime of litigation" for indigenous groups in the Amazon, Chevron is using fraudulent tactics to delay an Ecuadorian trial court.     Read more...

Chevron Misleads SEC Over Ecuador Lawsuit, Assert Rainforest Residents

Information in 10-Q Called "Dishonest" and "Misleading"
17 February 2009 | Amazon Defense Coalition

Chevron is deceiving shareholders and the financial markets by filing misleading information with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to downplay its $27 billion potential liability in a environmental lawsuit in Ecuador, representatives for the plaintiffs in that case asserted today.     Read more...

Chevron Blasted For Misconduct and Corruption in Ecuador Trial

Accused of Using Political Pressure and Junk Science to Evade Court Judgment Over "Amazon Chernobyl"
13 February 2009 | Amazon Defense Coalition

Chevron's legal department was blasted today by the leaders of indigenous groups in the Amazon for engaging in misconduct in an effort to sabotage a lawsuit in Ecuador over environmental contamination where the company faces a potential $27 billion liability.      Read more...

Questions Raised About Chevron's Political Position in Washington After $27 Billion Ecuador Disaster

Negative Publicity Casts Shadow over Oil Giant As It Tries To Explain Liability to Congress and Journalists
5 February 2009 | Amazon Defense Coalition

Chevron's lobbying team is spreading inaccurate information in Congress to combat negative publicity about a $27 billion environmental liability in Ecuador.     Read more...

New Evidence Shows Chevron Manipulated Lab Results in Landmark Environmental Trial

Chevron Faces $27 Billion Liability for Toxic Catastrophe in Ecuador's Amazon Rainforest
4 February 2009 | Amazon Defense Coalition

Scientists in the $27 billion class action lawsuit against Chevron in Ecuador's Amazon have discovered that the company manipulated laboratory results to evade a judgment at trial.     Read more...

Press Kit for Landmark Legal Case, Aguinda v. ChevronTexaco (2009)

February 2009 | Amazon Watch

This press kit provides background and updated information in the landmark legal case against Chevron by 30,000 rainforest residents entitled Aguinda v.

     Read more...

"Crude" Press Kit

Understanding the Lawsuit Behind the Film
Background Information on Aguinda v. ChevronTexaco

18 January 2009 | Amazon Watch

Download the electronic press kit for Joe Berlinger's "Crude," premiering today at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival.     Read more...

Chevron's Amazon Disaster Lands at Sundance

Joe Berlinger’s “Crude” Shows David v. Goliath Legal Battle to Hold Oil Giant Accountable for Destroying Rainforest
Trudie Styler and Sting Join Indigenous Leaders at Opening Jan. 18

15 January 2009 | Amazon Watch

A new documentary which portrays the epic 15-year legal battle between indigenous tribes and oil giant Chevron over massive oil contamination in Ecuador’s Amazon.     Read more...