Revoke Chevron's License to Spill!
Justice must be served in the Amazon
In an effort to shareChevron’s widespread harms in a new, engaging way, the Protect the Protest task force is proud to launch our License to Spill campaign. Our hope is to bring a wider audience into the fight for justice for the people of Ecuador, who have been dealing with the impacts of Chevron’s oil waste for over a decade.
Our full narrative and comic is below and on https://licensetospill.org/
Chevron is evading accountability for its environmental and human rights harms in Ecuador.
The oil company intentionally dumped billions of gallons of oil waste into unlined pits in the Amazon rainforest, contaminating the water sources of nearby communities. Ecuadorian plaintiffs fought Chevron in court for decades, winning a $9.5 billion judgment against the company in 2011.
But Chevron has yet to pay a dime to the people of Ecuador for cleanup operations or health care costs, nor to the region's Indigenous communities and instead relies on its unlimited financial resources and unethical legal tactics to evade accountability. One of Chevron's most egregious law firms, Gibson Dunn & Crutcher, was brought in after it was clear it was losing the case in Ecuador. When Chevron, Gibson Dunn shifted blame to the victims and portrayed them as fraudsters by filing actions in the U.S. Courts, delaying justice further.
Chevron's Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation (SLAPP) aims to pit the public against the plaintiff's lawyers, instead of considering Amazonian communities that still live with contaminated water. SLAPP has become a favored tactic to punish anyone who stands up to companies that exploit human beings, and the ecosystems we all depend upon.
It is wrong for U.S. corporations to take advantage of foreign countries and cut corners to make excessive profits for a few rich shareholders. It is wrong for a company to come running back to U.S. courts when it loses in foreign courts, violating international and Indigenous sovereignty. The U.S. courts lose trust, credibility, and stature when they prioritize corporate profiteering over human rights.
The Indigenous peoples and Ecuadorians who prevailed against Chevron in court continue to endure the consequences of its oil pollution: poisoned land, toxic water, and detrimental health impacts.
Members of the Protect the Protest task began gathering in 2018 to bring this fight back onto a level playing field.
Our goal is to revoke Chevron's License to Spill. Please share this story and help us serve justice in the Amazon.
