The Truth Behind Big Oil Exposed
Community Leaders Expose the Brutal Reality of Chevron's Operations
Where They Live & Disagree
with Chevron's Rosy Image
May 19, 2011
Media Contact:
Antonia Juhasz
415-846-5447
antonia@globalexchange.org
Days before oil giant's annual shareholder meeting,
local and international community leaders from Nigeria to Ecuador to Richmond reveal firsthand reality of Chevron's operations are not what is seen on TV.
Interview Available Now
WHAT: Press Conference, Report Release, and Chevron Toxic Tour
WHEN: Tuesday, May 24 at 10am
WHERE: Starts at Chevron Gas Station, 1298 Howard Street (9th & Howard), San Francisco
WHY: On May 25, dozens of local, national, and international community leaders and advocates from and for communities harmed by Chevron's operations from Angola, Ecuador, Indonesia, Nigeria, Alaska, Texas, and more will attend the company's annual shareholder meeting in San Ramon, California while supporters rally outside to demand that Chevron agree to change its ways.
As oil and gasoline prices – and public outrage at the generous government subsidies handed out daily to the oil industry – are on the rise, Fortune Magazine announced that for the fourth year in a row, Chevron – California's largest company – is the nation's third largest corporation and the world's sixth largest. Chevron brought in nearly $20 billion in profits last year. What did it do with its vast wealth? According to its Annual Report and the actors in its “We Agree” Ad campaign, Chevron supported human rights, alternative energy, the environment, and local economies.
The reality is much different and the people who know best will expose the true cost of Chevron in three ways:
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With the release of The True Cost of Chevron: An Alternative Annual Report.
Embargoed until May 24, the report includes accounts by more than 40 authors – led by those on the front lines of Chevron's operations – recording egregious corporate behavior in locations as diverse as California, Burma, Colombia, Ecuador, Kazakhstan, Nigeria, the Philippines and the U.S. Gulf Coast, including new sections detailing Chevron's pursuit of ever-riskier and ever-deeper offshore projects in the South China Sea, the North Sea, and the Canadian Arctic and its role in the Deepwater Horizon disaster. The report also profiles the historic victory and ongoingbattle over Chevron's crimes in Ecuador.
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Many report authors have traveled to the Bay Area to be available to speak at the Press Conference, including:
- Humberto Piaguaje, Amazon Defense Coalition, Ecuador
- Emem Okon, Kebetkache Women Development and Resource Centre, Nigeria
- Elias Isaac, Open Society Initiative, Angola
- Jessica Tovar, Communities for a Better Environment, Oakland, CA
- Mardan Pius Ginting, WALHI - Friends of the Earth Indonesia, Indonesia
- Gitz Crazyboy (Ryan Deranger), First Nation Dene/Pikini (Blackfoot), Alberta, Canada
- Antonia Juhasz, Global Exchange, San Francisco, CA, co-editor of the True Cost of Chevron report
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Following the press conference, a Toxic Tour of Chevron's operations in Richmond will be led by local activists for the press and our national and international allies.
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