Powerful v. the Masses: Big Oil and the Environment

by Julia Rosen [courtesy of Working Californians blogs]

What side will Arnold come down on?

That is the question posed by Pablo Fajardo, an attorney for the 30,000 Amazonian settlers and indigenous people, who call themselves Los Afectados—the Affected Ones. They are suing Chevron for the destruction of their rain forest and the creation of "one of the world's most contaminated industrial sites". Chevron has hired a bevy of well heeled lawyers from high-priced firms in Quito and DC, racking up millions of dollars in annual legal costs.

Fajardo just sent a letter to Schwarznegger requesting he help out with the lawsuit. LAT:

"I would like to invite you personally down to Ecuador to look at what Chevron has done to the rain forest here," wrote Pablo Fajardo, the attorney. "I would plead with you to bring your friends who are executives at the company so they can explain to you what they have done here. And finally, I am asking for your public help in supporting the fight against this company."

Fajardo added: "I have faith because I know you are a man of the environment."

Fajardo has a lot more faith in the governor than I do. Next week Fajaro is traveling to California and hopes to meet with Arnold. The governor's staff refused to comment on the letter since they claimed they have not yet received it. Shall we take bets on whether the governor meets with Fajaro? Yeah, thought not.

Arnold has received about $566,000 from the company in the last few years and another $250,000 to the CA Republican party.

Chevron laughably trying to claim they are bipartisan donors. They give 89% of their contributions to Republicans, so yeah, they are about 11% bipartisan. Oh and they are trying to cry that they are the real victim in all of this. Vanity Fair has a fantastic article about the lawsuit, long but really well done.

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