Comments on: The Giant International Pickpocket War

By: johnvere

johnvere — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 17:23:48 +0000

A sensible well argued viewpoint on this matter at last. Why don’t we get this one floating around the net instead of all the other crap.
$10 billion to Manhatten Lawyers and Karen Hinton! No wonder they get so hysterical. Are they the sort of people ‘who function to make as much money as they can’? Heaven forbid. And I’m sure when the author calls Chevron ‘a pretty high quality corporate citizen’ he is only speaking relatively by the way, that is in comparison to other oil companies (texaco for instance, or PetroEcuador), or maybe 3rd World military junta govts with whom Texaco did business, or even Manhatten law firms or gun for hire PR firms like Karen Hinton’s. These are simply the sort of evaluations you have to make in the real world if you wish to achieve valid outcomes. Sorry but it seems to me that waving placards and sloguns and assertions while definitely useful is a different business altogether.

By: Joseph

Joseph — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 16:34:28 +0000

“Chevron is a pretty high quality corporate citizen”??

I rather think we have to face the unpleasant, if obvious, reality that oil companies function to make as much money as they can. They were not founded as anthropological or altruistic entities. Their international human rights violations, blatant disregard for the environment, and gouging at the pump have more than proven this.

In Ecuador, Chevron has consistently tried to distract from the core evidence recorded in court documents that Texaco DELIBERATELY dumped 18 billion gallons of toxic water of formation into Amazon waterways, abandoned more than 900 unlined toxic waste pits, and burned millions of cubic meters of noxious gases in the open air. As a consequence of its defective infrastructure it also accidentally spilled 17 million gallons of oil due to pipeline ruptures.

There is no socially responsible oil company. An oxymoron if ever there was one. And it’s a serious stretch of the imagination to refer to Chevron as a high quality corporate citizen because it pays for greenwashing ads that say it is…

As sensible as the suggestion is, Chevron will never pay into a super fund to clean up the Ecuadorian rainforest unless it is forced to do so by a court order.

That is why this case is so important. It will set a precedent and send a message that sometimes – if not often enough – even the disenfranchised victims of multinational corporate malfeasance ultimately have their day in court.

By: Matt

Matt — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 20:57:11 +0000

I am sure the mean old oil companies have it coming. It’s all about nature and not about money. And, it won’t impact what we pay at the pump.

Meanwhile – the President is sending US dollars in a loan to Petrabras – so BRAZILE can drill OFFSHORE.

And, The Cubans and their Chinese partners are scouting sites to drill off the coast of Florida.

I’ve stumbled into Bizarro World.