Earth Day 2008, Live from San Francisco

At the GO office here in downtown SF, we see a lot of interesting stuff. After coming back from lunch to see a protest going on right outside our building, I went down to investigate. Turns out, Chevron’s only SF office (ironically, their “green solutions” office) is in the building next to ours. Who woulda thunk.

The gathered crowd, led by local members of the nonprofit watchdog AmazonWatch, was primarily protesting Chevron’s escapades in Ecuador. When the company bought Texaco, they inherited a $15 Billion toxic waste problem in the country that they’ve been fighting a legal and PR battle to keep from cleaning up. This, on $30 Billion in profits over the same period.

According to Paul, one of the lead AmazonWatch protesters, Chevron knew it would lose in US courts, and pushed to move to Ecuadorian courts, which they thought would be easier to strongarm. Now that they’re losing in the Ecuadorian courts as well, Chevron has decided not to honor their previous commitment to the decision by local authorities.

To learn more, visit ChevronToxico.com… After all, even if you don’t have time for activism on a daily basis, you can make Earth Day be the day you make time.

See also:

Green Options: Ecuador to Leave Oil — and Revenue — in the Ground

Gas 2.0: Chevron Backs Solazyme’s Algae Biodiesel Production Process

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