SOS Clinton's supportive role in Chevron's toxic pollution of Ecuador's rainforest

[seafan]

The overview, June 13, 2015:

Chevron Corporation had been embroiled in a legal battle over allegations that it polluted a stretch of Ecuador's rainforest with toxic waste for years before Hillary Clinton joined the State Department.

But the oil conglomerate, which stood to lose billions of dollars from the lawsuit, funneled generous donations to the Clinton Foundation and a political pet project of Hillary Clinton's while it lobbied the State Department to intervene in the case on its behalf.

Chevron executives have participated in Clinton Global Initiative events that placed them on the stage with Clinton insiders such as George Stephanopoulos.

Chevron's CEO even made a personal appeal to Hillary Clinton at a State Department dinner in 2012.

The company's chief executive "took the opportunity to express our concerns about developments in the Chevron Ecuador litigation" to Hillary Clinton at the banquet, emails obtained through the Freedom of Information Act show.

While a Chevron spokesperson denied a link between the donations and the environmental lawsuit, the corporation scored a major victory in the case last year when a Clinton-appointed judge in New York blocked the enforcement of a multi-billion dollar ruling against the oil company in the U.S.

Timeline of Chevron-Ecuador litigation and the US State Department

May 7, 2003
"Justicia"

Residents of the Amazon city of Lago Agrio file a lawsuit against Chevron for environmental devastation to the region. Named after Texaco's former headquarters of Sour Lake (Texas), Lago Agrio had been known as Nueva Loja before Texaco's work in the Oriente region led to its rechristening. Onlookers unfurl a banner bearing the word "Justicia" outside of court when proceedings begin, and State Department human rights reports disregard the litigation for its first six years.

January 1, 2009
Madam Secretary

Six years into the Lago Agrio litigation, Chevron hits its peak lobbying expenditures at $20.8 million the same year that Hillary Clinton becomes Secretary of State. Before she took that post, the Clintons previously had "significant investments" in Chevron that they shifted to cash to avoid conflicts of interests, the Washington Post reported in 2007. A portion of Chevron's $725,000 donations to the Clinton Foundation also pre-dates her tenure.

February 25, 2009
Human Rights Report (2008)

Released roughly two months into Clinton's tenure, the annual human rights report harshly criticizes the corruption of the Ecuadorean judiciary. "While the constitution provides for an independent judiciary, in practice the judiciary was at times susceptible to outside pressure and corruption," the report states. A U.S. judge later cites an excerpt of this sentence in a portion of a ruling finding the country's judiciary unworthy of respect.

July 28, 2009
"This is Shameless."

At a dinner event at Washington's Ritz-Carlton Hotel, Secretary Clinton commends the corporate sponsors of the U.S.A. Pavilion in Shanghai. Chevron contributed $5 million to the project, which opened the next year. Encouraging the audience to see a model of the pavilion, Clinton quips: "This is shameless, I know, but that’s part of the job."

August 9, 2009
Chevron in Angola

In Angola's capital city of Luanda, Secretary Clinton remarks: "Let me especially thank Chevron for recognizing that it is important to give back to the countries where the natural resources come from.” The Oil & Gas Journal, a leading trade publication, reports the sum of Chevron's commitment at $6 million, in addition to its longstanding partnership with the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAid).

April 8, 2011
Human Rights Report (2010)

Devoting multiple paragraphs to Chevron's litigation complaints in Ecuador, this year's human rights report notes that Ecuadorean prosecutors have investigated the oil giant's lawyers for allegedly lying about an environmental remediation on government forms. While rainforest villagers have long accused Texaco of conducting a "sham" remediation, prosecutors later drop the charges.

May 24, 2012
Human Rights Report (2011)

As Clinton's tenure as Secretary draws to a close, Foggy Bottom releases the last human rights report under her watch — and the final one to mention the Chevron litigation to date. It highlights both the Lago Agrio judgment in Ecuador and the filing of Chevron's racketeering case in New York.

November 17, 2012
"Proud to Go to Bat"

In a talk on "Delivering on the Promise of Economic Statecraft," Clinton boasts: "We're proud to go to bat for the Boeings and Chevrons and General Motors and so many others." All three companies contributed hundreds of thousands to the Clinton Foundation and millions to initiatives that Hillary championed during her time at Foggy Bottom.

November 29, 2012
"Corporate Excellence"

Though Chevron receives a nomination as a finalist for the 14th annual Secretary of State’s Award for Corporate Excellence, the award ultimately goes to the Intel Corporation, another donor to the Clinton Foundation and the Pavilion. The Clinton Global Initiative also "recognized" Intel that year for a health partnership in Kenya, according to the company's press release.

State Department photo
Secretary Clinton presents the ACE award to the Intel Corporation's CEO Paul Otellini, who beat out Chevron that year for the award. Both companies are Clinton Foundation donors.

February 1, 2013
Hillary's Farewell

With Clinton's successor John Kerry taking over, Chevron's litigation stops appearing in human rights reports for Ecuador, despite significant developments in the litigation. The only human rights report released so far under the Kerry State Department ignores Chevron's racketeering trial and new accusations of judicial bribery by their opponents.

This country sorely needs a new direction. A political revolution. And we need it now.

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1. GD-P? Really?

Environment/Energy maybe.

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