Chevron
True Cost of Chevron: Alternative Annual Report 2010 now available!
Download here: http://truecostofchevron.com/2010-alternative-annual-report.pdf
[JINN is a contributing author to the report and a member of the True Cost of Chevron coalition.]
Press release from True Cost of Chevron coalition:
As public outrage at the oil industry intensifies and questions on how to reign in the industry abound, an unprecedented global coalition of communities harmed by – and fighting back against – the industry present both a groundbreaking report, “The True Cost of Chevron: an Alternative 2009 Annual Report,” and a landmark organizing model for taking on Big Oil.
Written by dozens of community leaders from sixteen countries and ten states across the United States where Chevron operates, the 60-page report encompasses the full range of Chevron’s activities, from coal to chemicals, offshore to onshore production, pipelines to refineries, natural gas to toxic waste, and lobbying and campaign contributions to greenwashing.
From the coalfields of Alabama to the oil fields of Indonesia, the report reveals Chevron operations mired in accusation of extreme human rights abuse (Angola, Burma, Indonesia, Chad, and Nigeria); mass environmental and human health devastation (including Ecuador, Kazakhstan, and Canada); toxic abuse of its neighbors (including Alabama, California, Mississippi, Texas, Thailand, and the Philippines); abuse of its workers (including Utah); threats to endangered species (including Australia and the U.S. Gulf Coast); and, in Iraq, intensifying the violent insurgency and putting the lives of U.S. and Iraqi service members at greater risk.
All the while, Chevron continued to promote itself as a ‘green’ energy company while, the report reveals, expanding its coal operations (it was recently named as operating one of the most dangerous mines in the U.S., the Kemmerer, WY mine), offshore, and Canadian Tarsands operations; being named California’s single largest stationary Greenhouse Gas emitter; and being identified by Barrons as one of the ‘oiliest’ of the world’s major oil companies.
“Chevron spent less than 2% of its total capital and exploratory budget on green energy in 2009, its lowest rate in any year since at least 2006,” explained Antonia Juhasz, lead author and editor of the report and author of The Tyranny of Oil: the World’s Most Powerful Industry-And What We Must Do To Stop It. “Chevron’s misrepresentation of its actual business practices translates across Chevron’s operations and is the reason why it is the focus of one of the largest and most unique networks of communities organizing to hold the oil industry to account.”
On May 25, forty report authors will appear in Houston at a press conference to address the true cost of Chevron’s operations in their communities. On May 26, they will deliver the report directly to Chevron inside the company’s Annual General Meeting (AGM) while supporters rally outside.
The 2009 report has gained even greater import in the wake of the BP/Transocean explosion as it exposes Chevron’s role as the largest leaseholder in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico and its role at the forefront of lobbying to expand offshore drilling across the U.S. and around the world. Chevron also contracts with Transocean for its massive offshore operations.
Report author, Bryan Parras, of Texas Environmental Justice Advocacy Services (TEJAS) in Houston, explained, “The oil industry operates with impunity here in Houston and across the Gulf Coast. It is critical that our communities work together to hold these companies to account.”
For more information on the authors, fact sheets, visuals and a schedule of Houston events, go to:
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FULL REPORT AVAILABLE FOR DOWNLOAD AT: www.TrueCostofChevron.com
Organizations Contributing to The True Cost of Chevron: An Alternative Annual Report: Amazon Watch, Black Warrior River Keeper, Coalition for a Safe Environment, Communities for a Better Environment, Cook Inletkeeper, CorpWatch, Crude Accountability, Dooda Desert Rock, EarthRights International, Environment California, Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria, Environment Texas, Filipino-American Coalition for Environmental Solidarity, Friends of the Earth Indonesia (WALHI), Global Exchange, Gulf Coast Sierra Club, Iraq Veterans Against the War, Justice in Nigeria Now, Kebetkache Women Resource and Development Centre, Organizacion Wayuu Munsurat, Open Society Initiative for Southern Africa, Powder River Basin Sierra Club, Project for Ecological Awareness Building, Rainforest Action Network, Richmond Progressive Alliance, Surfrider Foundation, Texas Environmental Justice Advocacy Services, Trustees for Alaska, Turtle Island Restoration Network, West County Toxics Coalition, The Wilderness Society of Western Australia.
Protest Rally at Chevron in Houston
Wednesday, May 26 2010 7-11am
Houston, TX
On May 26, 2010, Chevron will move its annual shareholder meeting from San Ramon, California (where it is based) to its Houston, Texas headquarters (in the infamous Enron Building). Chevron is trying to run from its critics.
Chevron can run, but with your help, it cannot hide!
Community leaders from Angola, Burma, New Mexico, Australia, Kazakhstan, Alaska, Ecuador, Texas, Nigeria, California, Colombia, Mississippi, Canada, Thailand, Wyoming, and more will go inside the meeting to address the gathered shareholders. Outside, there will be a celebratory, colorful, and fun protest rally at Chevron’s headquarters at 1500 Louisiana.
Please join us!
Location:
Chevron’s Houston Headquarters
1500 Louisiana
Houston, TX
Contact:
Ginger info@changechevron.com
Sponsored By:
The True Cost of Chevron Network
Come to a Special screening of Sweet Crude in Houston
Tuesday, May 25, 2010 830pm
Houston, TX
Come to a Special screening of Sweet Crude, followed by Q & A with Macon Hawkins, an oil worker held hostage by armed militants who remains sympathetic to the needs of those living in the Niger Delta; Emem Okon, a leader of Nigeria’s women’s movement; and Omoyele Sowore, an activist from a Chevron production area in Nigeria. This must-see screening takes place at Houston’s Angelika Theater, on May 25th, 8:30pm.
Join us for this powerful documentary about Nigeria, the U.S. and oil, plus Q & A with an amazing set of speakers–on the eve of Chevron’s May 26th Shareholder meeting in Houston!
Contact abby@justiceinnigerianow.org
The True Cost of Chevron Public Forum Tuesday, May 25th 2010 6-8pm
Houston, TX
On May 25, community leaders from Angola, Burma, New Mexico, Australia, Kazakhstan, Alaska, Ecuador, Texas, Nigeria, California, Colombia, Mississippi, Canada, Thailand, Wyoming, and more will share their stories of struggles and success against the oil giant at a Public Forum on May 25 from 6-8pm at the Rice Media Center
Will you join us?
Learn more:
Please click here for the list of Event Speakers
Location:
Rice Media Center
Entrance 8 on the Rice University Campus
Stockton @ University Blvd
Houston, Texas 77005
Contact: Karla Aguilar karlitaguanaca@gmail.com
Sponsored By: The True Cost of Chevron Network
True Cost of Chevron Press Conference Tuesday, May 25th 2010
Houston, TX
Authors of the newly updated True Cost of Chevron: An Alternative Annual Report, 2010 will host a press conference the morning of May 25th. Authors from Angola, Burma, New Mexico, Australia, Kazakhstan, Alaska, Ecuador, Texas, Nigeria, California, Colombia, Mississippi, Canada, Thailand, Wyoming, and more will be there.
Location: TBA
Contact:
Diana Wu dianapeiwu[at]gmail.com
Sangita Nayak emailsangita[at]gmail.com
Sponsored By: The True Cost of Chevron Network
Outreach Event at Monkey Wrench Books Saturday, May 22nd 2010 7pm
Austin, TX
T.J. Buonomo, a member of Iraq Veterans Against the War and former U.S. Army Intelligence Officer and Antonia Juhasz, director of The Chevron Program at Global Exchange and the author of The Tyranny of Oil: The World’s Most Powerful Industry–and What We Must Do To Stop It (HarperCollins, 2009), will be at Monkey Wrench Books to recruit YOU to come to Houston on May 25 and 26th for a landmark gathering of community leaders harmed by — and fighting back against – the Chevron Corporation. Attend the public forum and then join the protest at Chevron’s annual shareholder meeting!
Location:
MonkeyWrench Books
110 E. North Loop
Austin, Texas 78751
Contact: MonkeyWrench Books: (512) 407-6925
Dance Against Chevron with Afrolicious! Friday, May 21st 2010 @ 10pm
San Francisco, CA
We’re going to rock out and raise funds this Friday night with Afrolicious and Pleasuremaker @ Coda in the Mission (at Duboce) to support the Bay Area’s massive efforts to Confront Chevron in Houston May 25 and 26th!
Come out and have fun!
Location:
Coda
1710 Mission St.
San Francisco, California
photo: Patrick Herms
From Richmond to Houston
We Will Protest Chevron
at Elixir Saloon in San Francisco
April 26, 2010 at 9:00 pm
Join us! April 26, 2010 — as Communities for a Better Environment, Global Exchange, West County Toxics Coalition, Asian Pacific Environmental Network, Justice in Nigeria Now, Filipino/American Coalition for Environmental Solidarity (FACES), and many others host a fundraiser to support getting Richmond and other Bay Area community members, organizers, and activists to Houston, Texas.
On May 26, 2010, Chevron will move its annual shareholder meeting from San Ramon, California (where it is based) to its Houston, Texas headquarters (in the infamous Enron Building). Chevron is trying to run from its critics.
Well, it can run, but, with your help, it can’t hide
Join us at Elixir Saloon at 16th and Guerrero in San Francisco
Guest Bartenders! Raffling items from around the world! Music! Dancing!
Mark your calendars MONDAY APRIL 26th 9pm-2am, DRESS COUNTRY WESTERN THEMED and drag your friends out as we have fun fighting the fifth largest corporation in the world!
Richmond Not Among Chevron’s Slated Cutbacks or Shutdowns
On March 9, 2010, the Chevron Corporation quelled a range of rumors regarding where it would cut back on its operations and shut down refineries. In its Security Analyst meeting, Chevron announced that it will lay off 2,000 workers in its global downstream division, where gas is made and sold. Chevron also announced its intent to sell its refinery in Pembroke, Wales, and to solicit bids on downstream operations in Europe, the Carribbean, and Central America.
Chevron did not mention Richmond in its discussion of cutbacks–contrary to the fears of some when Chevron first announced it would be scaling back its operations and shutting down facilities.
Chevron derives most of its profit from pumping and selling crude oil, which allows the company to remain profitable–from its operations in regions like the Niger Delta–even when its marketing and refining operations take a hit.
Read more on this story in the San Francisco Chronicle.
Chevron pollutes fresh water in Nigeria. Ads designed by Underground Ads
THE TRUE COST OF CHEVRON
TrueCostofChevron.com
JINN is one member of a large coalition of organizations who are standing up to hold Chevron accountable for its human rights abuses and environmental destruction in Nigeria and around the the world. In May of 2009 the True Cost of Chevron coalition released an alternative annual report and a parody ad campaign to enlighten shareholders about what the company does not talk about in their yearly report.
Chevron’s 2008 annual report is a glossy celebration of the company’s most profitable year in its history.
What Chevron’s annual report does not tell its shareholders is the true cost paid for those financial returns, or the global movement gaining voice and strength against Chevron’s abuses.
Thus, we, the communities and their allies who bear the consequences of Chevron’s operations, have prepared an alternative annual report of Chevron entitled “The True Cost of Chevron.” The report was released the day before the shareholder meeting on May 26, 2009.
Never before has one report brought together the information, stories, and struggles of communities from Angola, Burma, Canada, Chad, Cameroon, Ecuador, Iraq, Kazakhstan, Nigeria, the Philippines and across the United States directly impacted by, and in struggle against, Chevron’s operations.
Chevron refuses to clean up its mess in Nigeria. Ads designed by Underground Ads
Reports on Human Rights Abuses in Nigeria
Amnesty International: Nigeria Ten years on: Injustice and violence haunt the oil Delta
This report, written in 2005 shows the continued human rights abuses that continue to affect communities where Chevron and Shell operate in the Delta. Violence has only increased since 2005.
Chevron In Numbers:
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2nd largest oil company in the United States
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6th largest corporation in the world
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$32.5 million: David O’ Reilly, Chevron’s CEO total compensation including stock options in 2007 (according to Forbes.com)
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$23.9 billion Chevron’s 2008 record profits (compared to $18.7 billion in 2007 – a full 28% higher)
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$4.9 billion:Forth Quarter profit for 2008
Photo Credit: Kendra E. Thornbury for Sweet Crude
Bowoto v. Chevron Litigation Background
On December 1, 2008 a San Francisco jury found Chevron not-liable in the shootings of unarmed activists protesting in 1998. However the case in now in appeal and the plaintiffs continue to seek justice for Chevron’s actions which included paying and transporting the Nigerian military to the oil platform where the protesters were conducting a peaceful sit-in. As a result of the military actions, two people were killed and several others wounded and tortured. Below is the background information regarding the case. To read what happened in court daily during the trial in the fall of 2008 visit the Bowoto v. Chevron Trial Blog
Fact sheets on the case:
Bowoto v. Chevron Human Rights Litigation
When We Protested, They Shot Us
Chevron’s Misleading Public Statements
Dead Fish, Dead Trees, No Water to Drink
Chevron Keeps Questionable Company
Press Release from National Lawyers Guild:
Complaint Filed Against Former Dept. of Defense Lawyer William Haynes
Former Department of Defense General Counsel Recommended Torture, Harsh Interrogation Techniques
William Haynes at Senate Hearing in June 2008
SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. – March 16 – The National Lawyers Guild San Francisco Bay Area Chapter (NLGSF) is filing a complaint with the California State Bar today against former Department of Defense General Counsel William Haynes. The complaint against Haynes, who now works for the Chevron Corporation in San Ramon, states that he “breached his duty as a lawyer and advocated for harsh tactics amounting to torture in violation of U.S. and international law … advocacy that directly lead to detainee abuses at the Guantanamo Bay and Abu Grahib facilities.”
A copy of the complaint is available upon request or can be accessed at: http://www.nlgsf.org/committees/againsttorture.php. The complaint will be mailed to the State Bar Los Angeles office and hand-delivered to the State Bar Office in San Francisco, where there will be a 12:30 press conference.
Press Conference State Bar Office 180 Howard Street Monday, March 16, 12:30 PM
“We believe Mr. Haynes must be held accountable, just as any other lawyer would be,” said Carlos Villarreal, Executive Director of the NLGSF. “But we are filing this complaint today not out of motivation to harm Mr. Haynes, but to ensure that torture is again relegated to the status it had before the Bush Administration’s tenure, and that the harmful, sometimes deadly, and completely ineffective policy of torture is truly deterred.”
While working for the Department of Defense, Haynes ignored the serious concerns coming from all branches of the military and recommended in a memo to Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, approval of certain harsh interrogation techniques, including removal of clothing, stress positions, and the use of dogs against detainees. The Senate Armed Services Committee has described the memo as “grossly deficient.”
“Powerful leaders can and do engage in illegal acts and inhumane treatment of others. These leaders often rely on lawyers and the legal system to give the appearance of legitimacy to an illegal agenda. Sadly, there always seems to be lawyers willing to do the bidding of powerful rulers,” said Sharon Adams, attorney member of the NLGSF. “The State Bar must uphold ethics and the rule of law, and repudiate Mr. Haynes’ actions.”
Haynes worked with other lawyers in the Bush administration who have yet to face consequences for their advocacy of torture and other wrongdoing, including former Justice Department lawyer and current UC Berkeley School of Law Professor John Yoo. “We are in a position where even members of the new administration are suggesting criminal charges against Bush officials for torture and other crimes are off the table since many of these officials relied on legal advice,” said Jim Lafferty, Executive Director of the National Lawyers Guild Office in Los Angeles. “If the lawyers are not held accountable for their misdeeds, then essentially high crimes with serious consequences have been committed but nobody is to blame.”
As a Registered in House Counsel for the Chevron Corporation, Haynes was not required to take the California Bar Exam but is also not able to appear in court or practice law beyond giving advice to Chevron. He is, however, required to “abide by all of the laws and rules that govern members of the State Bar of California,” according to California Rules of Court.
William “Jim” Haynes II: Hired last year as Chevron’s Chief General Counsel. Former job: General Counsel for the Pentagon. Haynes helped approve and craft the policy that allowed certain torture practices at Guantanamo Bay and throughout the American military including the use of dogs, making a detainee stand for long periods of time and forced nudity. Read More:
In June, Haynes testified in front of the Senate Armed Services Committee about interrogation practices that he approved and memos written on this issue, his most common answer: “I don’t specifically remember when I saw this.”
William Haynes at Senate Hearing in June 2008
SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. – March 16 – The National Lawyers Guild San Francisco Bay Area Chapter (NLGSF) is filing a complaint with the California State Bar today against former Department of Defense General Counsel William Haynes. The complaint against Haynes, who now works for the Chevron Corporation in San Ramon, states that he “breached his duty as a lawyer and advocated for harsh tactics amounting to torture in violation of U.S. and international law … advocacy that directly lead to detainee abuses at the Guantanamo Bay and Abu Grahib facilities.”
A copy of the complaint is available upon request or can be accessed at: http://www.nlgsf.org/committees/againsttorture.php. The complaint will be mailed to the State Bar Los Angeles office and hand-delivered to the State Bar Office in San Francisco, where there will be a 12:30 press conference.
Press Conference State Bar Office 180 Howard Street Monday, March 16, 12:30 PM
“We believe Mr. Haynes must be held accountable, just as any other lawyer would be,” said Carlos Villarreal, Executive Director of the NLGSF. “But we are filing this complaint today not out of motivation to harm Mr. Haynes, but to ensure that torture is again relegated to the status it had before the Bush Administration’s tenure, and that the harmful, sometimes deadly, and completely ineffective policy of torture is truly deterred.”
While working for the Department of Defense, Haynes ignored the serious concerns coming from all branches of the military and recommended in a memo to Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, approval of certain harsh interrogation techniques, including removal of clothing, stress positions, and the use of dogs against detainees. The Senate Armed Services Committee has described the memo as “grossly deficient.”
“Powerful leaders can and do engage in illegal acts and inhumane treatment of others. These leaders often rely on lawyers and the legal system to give the appearance of legitimacy to an illegal agenda. Sadly, there always seems to be lawyers willing to do the bidding of powerful rulers,” said Sharon Adams, attorney member of the NLGSF. “The State Bar must uphold ethics and the rule of law, and repudiate Mr. Haynes’ actions.”
Haynes worked with other lawyers in the Bush administration who have yet to face consequences for their advocacy of torture and other wrongdoing, including former Justice Department lawyer and current UC Berkeley School of Law Professor John Yoo. “We are in a position where even members of the new administration are suggesting criminal charges against Bush officials for torture and other crimes are off the table since many of these officials relied on legal advice,” said Jim Lafferty, Executive Director of the National Lawyers Guild Office in Los Angeles. “If the lawyers are not held accountable for their misdeeds, then essentially high crimes with serious consequences have been committed but nobody is to blame.”
As a Registered in House Counsel for the Chevron Corporation, Haynes was not required to take the California Bar Exam but is also not able to appear in court or practice law beyond giving advice to Chevron. He is, however, required to “abide by all of the laws and rules that govern members of the State Bar of California,” according to California Rules of Court.
William “Jim” Haynes II: Hired last year as Chevron’s Chief General Counsel. Former job: General Counsel for the Pentagon. Haynes helped approve and craft the policy that allowed certain torture practices at Guantanamo Bay and throughout the American military including the use of dogs, making a detainee stand for long periods of time and forced nudity. Read More:
In June, Haynes testified in front of the Senate Armed Services Committee about interrogation practices that he approved and memos written on this issue, his most common answer: “I don’t specifically remember when I saw this.”