world’s population. The story covered the effects of Chevron’s operations in places such as Nigeria, Angola, Ecuador, Chad, Cameroon, and Myanmar. The importance of this story concerned the hidden costs of the maintenance of the North American standard of living.
Original Source: Antonia Juhasz, “The True Cost of Chevron: An Alternative Annual Report,” True Cost of Chevron, May 27, 2009, http://truecostofchevron.com/report.html .
Update: The coverage of the costs to local populations in the areas where resource extraction occurs continues to be lacking in the corporate media in the US. Coverage of issues surrounding resource extraction often appears only in the business press. The stories covered in these venues are consistently framed to fit the perspective of the business interests who are the typical consumers of information from these sources. Occasionally the consequences for local populations of major resource extraction projects do find their way into the corporate media. The set of court cases involving Chevron and local populations residing in the area of former Texaco extraction operations in Ecuador is one such occasion (Texaco was acquired by Chevron in 2001).
The legal, political, and public relations battles over who is responsible for environmental damage caused by oil extraction in the formerly Texaco-operated fields in the Oriente region of Ecuador took what might seem to be an odd turn when Chevron filed a civil RICO suit against the legal team and hired consultants of the plaintiffs in the case. The purpose of this suit is to call into question the validity of the ruling of the Ecuadoran courts in the eyes of the US court system. The Ecuadoran courts must rely on the US court system to enforce the settlement because Chevron has no assets in Ecuador. Among the allegations included in the RICO lawsuit are charges that the lawyers for the plaintiffs conspired to falsify environmental impact reports and intimidate the presiding judge. It is Chevron’s position that the legal proceedings in Ecuador have been tainted from the beginning of the process and the RICO suit is the legal reflection of that position.
What this fight over liability for environmental damage in Ecuador fails to address are the larger issues of energy consumption in the developed world and the frontier settlement policy in the developing world. Resource extraction companies exist as a result of a materialist culture that every year consumes greater and greater quantities of energy and resources. That Petroecuador, Texaco, and a variety of other European, Chinese, North and South American resource extraction companies are responsible for pollution in the Ecuadoran Amazon is not a matter for honest dispute. However, it is a lifestyle that hundredsof millions of people choose to live which is ultimately responsible for the excesses of the extraction industry and its effects on local populations. The true cost of Chevron is, in reality, the true cost of the excesses of the so-called “western” lifestyle.
Corporate Source: Lawrence Hurley, “Chevron’s RICO Lawsuit in Pollution Case Part of Wider Legal Strategy,”
New York Times
, February 2, 2011, http://www.nytimes.com/gwire/2011/02/02/02greenwire-chevrons-rico-lawsuit-in-pollution-case-part-o-68778.html .
Sources: Martha Niel, “Chevron Shifts Gears, Files Civil RICO Suit Against Plaintiffs,”
ABA Journal
, February 3, 2011, http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/chevron_rico_suit_says_plaintiffs_law_firm_falsified_expert_reports/ ; Maria Kielmas, “All Could Lose in Ecuadorian Judgement Against Chevron,” Suit101, February 16, 2011, http://www.suite101.com/content/all-could-lose-in-ecuadorian-judgement-against-chevron-a348321 .
Censored 2011 #20
Obama’s Charter School Policies Spread Segregation and Undermine Unions
Update by Kelli Baumgartner
Charter schools continue to stratify students by race, class, and sometimes language, and are more racially isolated than
Original Source: Antonia Juhasz, “The True Cost of Chevron: An Alternative Annual Report,” True Cost of Chevron, May 27, 2009, http://truecostofchevron.com/report.html .
Update: The coverage of the costs to local populations in the areas where resource extraction occurs continues to be lacking in the corporate media in the US. Coverage of issues surrounding resource extraction often appears only in the business press. The stories covered in these venues are consistently framed to fit the perspective of the business interests who are the typical consumers of information from these sources. Occasionally the consequences for local populations of major resource extraction projects do find their way into the corporate media. The set of court cases involving Chevron and local populations residing in the area of former Texaco extraction operations in Ecuador is one such occasion (Texaco was acquired by Chevron in 2001).
The legal, political, and public relations battles over who is responsible for environmental damage caused by oil extraction in the formerly Texaco-operated fields in the Oriente region of Ecuador took what might seem to be an odd turn when Chevron filed a civil RICO suit against the legal team and hired consultants of the plaintiffs in the case. The purpose of this suit is to call into question the validity of the ruling of the Ecuadoran courts in the eyes of the US court system. The Ecuadoran courts must rely on the US court system to enforce the settlement because Chevron has no assets in Ecuador. Among the allegations included in the RICO lawsuit are charges that the lawyers for the plaintiffs conspired to falsify environmental impact reports and intimidate the presiding judge. It is Chevron’s position that the legal proceedings in Ecuador have been tainted from the beginning of the process and the RICO suit is the legal reflection of that position.
What this fight over liability for environmental damage in Ecuador fails to address are the larger issues of energy consumption in the developed world and the frontier settlement policy in the developing world. Resource extraction companies exist as a result of a materialist culture that every year consumes greater and greater quantities of energy and resources. That Petroecuador, Texaco, and a variety of other European, Chinese, North and South American resource extraction companies are responsible for pollution in the Ecuadoran Amazon is not a matter for honest dispute. However, it is a lifestyle that hundredsof millions of people choose to live which is ultimately responsible for the excesses of the extraction industry and its effects on local populations. The true cost of Chevron is, in reality, the true cost of the excesses of the so-called “western” lifestyle.
Corporate Source: Lawrence Hurley, “Chevron’s RICO Lawsuit in Pollution Case Part of Wider Legal Strategy,”
New York Times
, February 2, 2011, http://www.nytimes.com/gwire/2011/02/02/02greenwire-chevrons-rico-lawsuit-in-pollution-case-part-o-68778.html .
Sources: Martha Niel, “Chevron Shifts Gears, Files Civil RICO Suit Against Plaintiffs,”
ABA Journal
, February 3, 2011, http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/chevron_rico_suit_says_plaintiffs_law_firm_falsified_expert_reports/ ; Maria Kielmas, “All Could Lose in Ecuadorian Judgement Against Chevron,” Suit101, February 16, 2011, http://www.suite101.com/content/all-could-lose-in-ecuadorian-judgement-against-chevron-a348321 .
Censored 2011 #20
Obama’s Charter School Policies Spread Segregation and Undermine Unions
Update by Kelli Baumgartner
Charter schools continue to stratify students by race, class, and sometimes language, and are more racially isolated than
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