Amazon Versus Chevron

Approximately 30,000 Amazonian Indians and settlers are suing Chevron Corp. for failing to clean up billions of gallons of wastewater in Ecuador. Texaco Petroleum Co., which merged with Chevron in 2001, spent 30 years drilling for oil and dumping more than 18 billion gallons of oily wastewater in the rainforest.

The Indians are claiming that the oil company caused 30 times more damage than the Exxon Valdez oil spill, for the lands are now too oily to cultivate and cancer rates are elevated. They claim that when Texaco ceased drilling operations, their cleanup consisted of simply dumping dirt over contaminated soil and ponds. Chevron's lawyers claim that all cleanup efforts complied with Ecuadorean environmental laws.

The case is currently being heard in an Ecuadorean court after 10 years of failure to get Big Oil in a US court. Chevron has flat refused to settle out of court and a decision is not expected before next year.

Alaska Drilling Ban Lifted

Tuesday, President Bush lifted a drilling ban that has prevented oil and gas drilling in Alaska's Bristol Bay since the tragic Exxon Valdez oil spill in 1989. This will open 5.6 million acres of marine habitat and prime fisheries to potential drilling. Leases may be made available as early as 2010 if environmental reviews and public comment do not reverse the decision.

The decision has received mixed reactions. Many see it as an opportunity to create jobs and enhance the local economy which is dominated by fishing. Environmentalists and local fishermen worry about potential damage to the endangered Right Whale habitat and wild salmon runs.

A drilling ban on 8.2 million acres in the Gulf of Mexico was lifted by Congress as one of its last acts of 2006.