Chevron
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see CHEVRON2
418 capt
ALSO TAG
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YMAIL 1 25
...I’ve gotten word from inside the Biden team that we were able to push my pardon to the very top. In fact, it was discussed for days by the President’s top advisors. I was told Chevron’s lawyers fought with a bizarre intensity to kill it.
Why in hell were Chevron lawyers allowed in the White House to fight a human rights lawyer seeking a pardon?This is proof of the immense power our campaign has built – and how we pose a serious financial risk to Chevron.
On the day Mr. Biden denied my pardon more than 500,000 people around the world engaged with our social media posts. To put it bluntly, this scares the hell out of Chevron.
I see the result as a capitulation by Mr. Biden to corporate power at the expense of the planet and the rule of law. His decision was extremely disappointing – and also an illustration of the lack of conviction to fight for justice at the top levels of the Democratic Party.
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condy rice b 41
Prior to his 2000 presidential election, George W. Bush had spent eleven years in the oil business and just six in government service. Similarly, before she became Bush's national security adviser, Condoleezza Rice had spent ten years on the board of directors of Chevron, but less than three working for the government. Of these three people, only Vice President Cheney can claim more experience in the government than as an oil company executive, with some thirty years as a federal employee versus five years as CEO and president of the world's largest oil services company, Halliburton. T...
Today Shultz is back at Bechtel as a director, where he is enjoying the company's nearly $3 billion in Iraq reconstruction contracts. Shultz is also a former member of the board of the Chevron Corporation, and he played a large role in securing a seat on this board for Condoleezza Rice. Condoleezza Rice was once George H.W. Bush's National Security Council director of Soviet and East European affairs, where she helped draft corporate globalization policy for the newly liberated Soviet Union.
Next, she sat on the board of directors of Chevron, where she was the principal expert on Kazakhstan during a period in which the company moved aggressively into the Caspian region, thanks in large part to economic policies she helped to write. She also chaired Chevron's Committee on Public Policy when Chevron was one of the only U.S. oil companies with a contract to sell Iraqi oil under the United Nation's oil-for-food program with Hussein. Today, she is the secretary of state, as Chevron moves into position to take advantage of new radically opened Caspian, Afghani, and Iraqi oil sectors.
Already, 2004 and 2005 marked the most profitable years in Chevron's 126-year history. Oil is a common thread linking all four companies. Each owes its roots and a good deal (in some cases, all) of its longevity and fortunes to oil—from their mutual beginnings in the California oil boom, which was made possible by high tariffs on, imported oil, to their more recent histories in Iraq. Each company traces its corporate history approximately one hundred years back to a pioneering founding father who discovered his calling at the dawn of the twentieth century in California.
Each company has grown, thrived, and survived using a similar formula: a knack for mergers, acquisitions, and consolidations; a revolving door with the U.S. government, allowing the companies to both write and be rewarded by U.S. legislation; a mastery of international trade; an apparent tendency to ignore laws that do not serve the companies' interests; and a willingness, in the words of Dick Cheney, to "go where the oil is" regardless of the political, social, economic, or environmental impacts of the pursuit. These histories reveal a pattern of destructive, even deadly, corporate behavior that strongly contradicts the claim that increased corporate globalization, particularly less government regulation of corporate activity, is in the public interest. In the previous chapter I posited the question, "What happens when foreign investment does come to a country?" The answer provided in this chapter is t....
juhasz
https://yyy.theguardian.com/environment/2019/oct/09/revealed-20-firms-third-carbon-emissions
no lnx
guk
Revealed: the 20 firms behind a third of all carbon emissions
Chevron’s Kern River oil field in Bakersfield, California. Photograph: Guardian Design
New data shows how fossil fuel companies have driven climate crisis despite industry knowing dangers
Half a century of dither and denial – a climate crisis timeline
Why we need political action to tackle the oil, coal and gas companies - video explainer
by Matthew Taylor and Jonathan Watts
Wed 9 Oct 2019 07.00 EDTLast modified on Thu 10 Oct 2019 09.18 EDT
The Guardian today reveals the 20 fossil fuel companies whose relentless exploitation of the world’s oil, gas and coal reserves can be directly linked to more than one-third of all greenhouse gas emissions in the modern era.
New data from world-renowned researchers reveals how this cohort of state-owned and multinational firms are driving the climate emergency that threatens the future of humanity, and details how they have continued to expand their operations despite being aware of the industry’s devastating impact on the planet.
The analysis, by Richard Heede at the Climate Accountability Institute in the US, the world’s leading authority on big oil’s role in the escalating climate emergency, evaluates what the global corporations have extracted from the ground, and the subsequent emissions these fossil fuels are responsible for since 1965 – the point at which experts say the environmental impact of fossil fuels was known by both industry leaders and politicians.
The top 20 companies on the list have contributed to 35% of all energy-related carbon dioxide and methane worldwide, totalling 480bn tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (GtCO2e) since 1965.
Q&A
What is the polluters project?
Those identified range from investor-owned firms – household names such as Chevron, Exxon, BP and Shell – to state-owned companies including Saudi Aramco and Gazprom.
Chevron topped the list of the eight investor-owned corporations, followed closely by Exxon, BP and Shell. Together these four global businesses are behind more than 10% of the world’s carbon emissions since 1965.
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kate s huffpo
Chevron And ALEC Take On The Big, Bad Lesser Prairie Chicken
WASHINGTON –- The American Legislative Exchange Council and Chevron are teaming up to spread awareness of what they say is a serious threat to energy development in the U.S.: the lesser prairie chicken.
Chevron is a sponsor of a workshop scheduled for Friday as part of ALEC's policy summit in Washington, D.C., looking at the alleged hardship the 1973 Endangered Species Act imposes on energy developers. The panel, as described in a planning document, will examine how the law "often negatively impacts and stifles energy development of all kinds."
In particular, the description of the panel singles out the lesser prairie chicken, which is being considered for protection under the law. The lesser prairie chicken is a bird species in the grouse family, native to the grasslands of Kansas, Oklahoma, Colorado, New Mexico and Texas -- areas the energy industry is keen on developing, in particular for oil drilling. The description of the ALEC panel says it will look at how "a particular market-based plan would allow for further energy development while protecting the habitats of the lesser prairie chicken."
The Center for Media and Democracy received the planning document in response to a Freedom of Information Act request for emails and documents related to ALEC that the center made to Texas state Rep. Phil King (R-Weatherford), a member of ALEC'sboard of directors. CMD identified one of the companies that is sponsoring the panel because the file was labeled in part "Chevron." According to the document, the cost of sponsoring the panel is $25,000.
The document provides a small window into the inner workings of ALEC. The influential policy organization brings together conservative lawmakers and corporate interests, who then work together to produce model bills that can be used by state legislatures across the country. Because ALEC operates as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, it does not have to disclose its donors.
"Consistent with IRS code, ALEC does not disclose its donors. However, as you have obtained FOIAed documents, I can confirm that Chevron is among the many sponsors of the workshop in question," Molly Fuhs, a spokeswoman for ALEC, told The Huffington Post via email.
Fuhs said that, although Chevron is among several sponsors paying for the panel, ALEC's legislative members requested that the panel be included in the conference schedule. "ALEC legislative members requested a discussion on the issue referenced, and in turn, ALEC legislative members approached a variety of companies to seek sponsorship. While ALEC does work with public and private members to craft the general focus of each workshop, ALEC staff and member legislators maintain supervisory control," Fuhs said. "Essentially no discussions take place at ALEC that are not requested and governed by legislators."
"The panel is a good opportunity to educate interested parties on the ESA and discuss how this important federal issue could potentially impact the states," said Justin Higgs, a spokesman for Chevron. He also said that the topic was broader than just the lesser prairie chicken. "The panel is designed to be a broad discussion on the ESA, not one that is focused on any specific species."
ALEC's critics say that this is a good example of how ALEC operates. "It provides its corporate sponsors with the opportunity to reach state legislators from every state in the country," said Nick Surgey, director of research at the Center for Media and Democracy.
So what do Chevron and ALEC's members have against the lesser prairie chicken?
The bird is known for its brown- and white-striped feathers and the males'
. The chicken is a draw for birders, and it even has its own annual festival in Oklahoma. But the bird's population has been on the decline for years, due to habitat destruction and drought. A study released in September found that the bird population had declined from 34,440 in 2012 to 17,616 in 2013. Environmental groups have sued the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to push the agency to add the chicken to the list of protected species under the Endangered Species Act. The government is expected to make a final decision on the lesser prairie chicken by March 2014.
The possible designation is what has piqued the interest of energy companies like Chevron. They're worried that listing the bird as threatened or endangered might impede their ability to drill for oil in places that are considered protected habitat. Chevron and other oil companies have been pushing for an alternative to a listing under the federal law, and have instead proposed a voluntary, state-level conservation effort. Chevron was also among the companies involved in developing a proposal for a voluntary habitat exchange in Texas. The proposal would allow companies to drill in one area in exchange for making efforts to conserve bird habitat in another area. Chevron told the Wall Street Journal that it likes this option because it "allows creative solutions that benefit both landowners and the lesser prairie chicken." The Western Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies offered up a formal plan to that effect, which the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has endorsed.
But wildlife advocates say that the plan would not do enough to protect the lesser prairie chicken. "[The plan] essentially locks the lesser prairie chicken into small, postage-stamp size areas of habitat that are too small to support reproductive populations, and it will effectively preclude their recovery," said Jay Lininger, a senior scientist with the Center for Biological Diversity.
At this point, Lininger said, it seems likely that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will go forward with the proposed state-level conservation plan and won't formally list the bird. He compared the lesser prairie chicken's plight to that of the dunes sagebrush lizard, another recent case in the same region. Oil and gas interests fought to keep the lizard species off the endangered list and won.
"The Obama administration routinely bends to industry pressure," Lininger said. "Whenever it has the chance to do the right thing, it bends over and gives industry its way, especially on endangered species issues."
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Journalist Exposes How Private Investigation Firm Hired by Chevron Tried to Recruit Her as a Spy to Undermine $27B Suit in Ecuadorian Amazon
http://www.democracynow.org/2010/8/16/journalist_exposes_how_private_investigation_firm
An exposé in The Atlantic magazine reveals how one of the world’s largest private investigation firms, Kroll, hired by oil giant Chevron, tried to recruit an American journalist to undermine a massive $27 billion lawsuit against Chevron brought by the residents of the Ecuadorian Amazon. We speak with the journalist, Mary Cuddehe, and with Han Shan, the coordinator for Amazon Watch’s Clean Up Ecuador campaign. [includes rush transcript]
Chevron is sort of an interesting case. They have been hit with a $9.5 billion fine related to their pollution they — that Texaco, which they purchased, conducted, spilled in Ecuador. So, Chevron tried to, through a private investigative firm, giant private investigative firm called Kroll tried to hire a journalist who’s name was Mary Cuddehe to essentially act as a corporate spy for Chevron and to try to discredit a public health study about the effects of the oil spill. So, they tried to hire her. She said no and then she just wrote this totally wonderful, charming piece about Kroll’s efforts in The Atlantic a few years ago. democ now http://www.democracynow.org/blog/2013/11/25/pt_2_us_corporations_enlist_ex
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Judge demands tech companies hand activist data over to Chevron
By Susie Cagle
Hey kids, it’s a cool new update from your favorite horror show, The Surveillance State!
This week’s episode features multinational oil giant Chevron, 100-plus activists, and basic American civil liberties. Who do you think might win?!
Chevron is attempting to defend itself against a pesky $18 billion-plus judgment for its dirty dealing in the Ecuador rainforest. In the company’s appeal against the landmark judgment, a federal judge in New York has upheld a subpoena from Chevron seeking IP addresses and identity records of people allegedly tied to the investigation. From EarthRights International:
The sweeping subpoena was one of three issued to Google, Yahoo! and Microsoft, demanding IP usage records and identity information for the holders of more than 100 email accounts, including environmental activists, journalists and attorneys. Chevron’s subpoena sought personal information about every account holder and the IP addresses associated with every login to each account over a nine-year period.
This could allow Chevron to determine the countries, states, cities or even buildings where the account-holders were checking their email so as to “infer the movements of the users over the relevant period and might permit Chevron to makes inferences about some of the user’s professional and personal relationships.”
The court’s logic is that maybe the First Amendment doesn’t apply to these anonymous people, because maybe they aren’t U.S. citizens — because, you know, we don’t know who they are because they are anonymous.
Of course this isn’t the first time Chevron has lobbed subpoenas at its critics in this case, and it’s also certainly not the first time the feds have assisted in some serious eco-creepin. In this case, the judge’s logic is similar to the slippery explanation the National Security Agency and President Obama have used to defend the federal PRISM dragnet. But here’s the thing about a dragnet: It can catch up everything in its path, whether or not that thing is a U.S. citizen with constitutional rights.
This shouldn’t just give activists pause — it should give us all a little (more!) motivation to protect ourselves and our data. If you are interested in speaking out against multinational energy giants with lots of lawyers, I would suggest checking out this handy digital security guide from Micah Lee at the Freedom of the Press Foundation. http://grist.org/politics/judge-demands-tech-companies-hand-activist-data-over-to-chevron/
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Chevron CEO admits fracking raises “legitimate” safety concerns
By John Upton
Is Chevron more clued in to the dangers of fracking than the federal government?
It would seem so. The company’s CEO said this week that the industry needs to do a better job of resolving concerns about the safety of the practice. From Bloomberg:
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5/13 annual? shareholder mtg Nigeria, 30K died in amazon inherited from texaco
http://truecostofchevron.com/media/
San Ramon, CA – Today, more than 150 protested at Chevron'sannual shareholder meeting, jon only time one share gets you in room w/ ceo] ng together a unique group of union members, shareholders and community leaders. Every year, Chevron faces opposition at its shareholder meeting, but today's protest drew a larger and more diverse crowd galvanized by the oil giant's year of legal problems, oil spills and fines for reckless business practices.
"CEO Watson's fraudulent omission of the current liabilities the company is facing in Brazil, Ecuador and Nigeria once again highlights his gross negligence when it comes to worker safety, environmental health and human rights. This was reflected in the record high votes for the resolution calling for Watson to be removed as chair of the board," said Ginger Cassady, Change Chevron Campaign Director for Rainforest Action Network.
Chevron is facing more than $43 billion in actual and potential fines: $22 billion for oil spills off the coast of Brazil, $18 billion for oil contamination in Ecuador, $3 million for gas explosions off the coast of Nigeria, and $27 million for tax-dodging in Richmond.
João Antonio de Moraes, National Coordinator of the United Federation of Oil Workers in Brazil, the country's largest union, was denied access to the meeting based on a supposed paperwork error: "I traveled across the globe to call on Chevron to increase the safety of its oil rigs and refineries. Being refused access to the meeting underscores the lack of respect Chevron has for the communities where it operates. Chevron's neglect for worker safety and the environment from Brazil to Ecuador, Nigeria to California will not go unanswered."
The United Federation of Oil Workers filed suit in March to demand the cancelation of all Chevron oil and gas concession contracts in Brazil. Two representatives with the United Steelworkers were also blocked from entering the meeting.
Seven shareholder resolutions were presented to address Chevron's risky operations, including a call for the separation of CEO and chairman that received 38 percent of the vote (double its received in previous years). New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli joined with 39 other investors, with a combined total of $580 billion in assets under management, called on Chevron to settle its two-decade-long legal battle in Ecuador.
"Chevron needs to put its pants on, start acting like a grown up and accept responsibility for its mess in Ecuador," Luz Trinidad Andrea Cusangua, plaintiff in the Ecuador case, said to CEO Watson.
The protest included representatives of the United Steelworkers, including workers at Chevron's Richmond refinery; the lead plaintiffs in the Ecuador case; leaders from Nigeria and Angola; local advocates from Richmond; and members of the True Cost of Chevron Network.
july 2012: http://therealnews.com/t2/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=31&Itemid=74&jumival=8442 video
Antonia Juhasz. Antonia is an oil and energy analyst and author and journalist. She's the editor of free alternative annual reports for Chevron and the author of three books on the oil industry, including, most recently, Black Tide: The Devastating Impact of the Gulf Oil Spill
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vulture pic
chevron backed America's Wetland, climate sustanability spnsor, also shell, API, exxon;
shaw 152 dr cyanide robert twilley LSU hurricane ctr closed
shaw jindal biggest contrib; am wetland only backer of berm idea
2/15/11 ecuador ct order chevron to pay 8.6B$ but pulled assets out so can't collect; even
sued their US lawyer Steve Donziger Harvard ed 356
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youtube video channel has 258
Uploaded on Aug 10, 2009
Chevron is working to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions while expanding its energy supply portfolio to meet the world's energy needs. Chevron climate change advisor Arthur Lee is an expert in carbon capture and storage. He has participated in industry workshops and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's (IPCC) Report on Carbon Dioxide Capture and Storage. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z4OdDwp5GfY
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chevron sues AG? and shareholders: http://grist.org/news/we-got-a-copy-of-the-subpoena-chevron-sent-a-rebellious-shareholder/**
FOIA SLAPP
We got a copy of the subpoena Chevron sent a rebellious shareholder
By Philip Bump
Chevron has a lot of money. Which is a good thing, because lawyers are expensive, and Chevron has developed quite an affinity for lawyers. And if you’re a Chevron shareholder who dares speak out, expect to hear from them.
The fossil fuel giant faces an $18 billion fine levied by a court in Ecuador stemming from massive pollution in the Amazon rainforest throughout the 1970s and ’80s. Chevron is understandably loathe to write a check for that amount, given that it constitutes almost nine months’ worth of 2011 profits (or, if you prefer, 25 days worth of revenue). Instead, it would rather unleash an army of esquires who are already on retainer.
Last month, we told you that Chevron filed a complaint against Thomas DiNapoli, the comptroller of the state of New York, because Chevron thinks that plaintiffs’ attorneys gave DiNapoli a campaign contribution to sway his political opinion on the Ecuador judgment. (This is what psychologists call “projection.”)
Powerful political figures aren’t the only object of Chevron’s wrath. In true evil-corporate-behemoth fashion, it has a new target for those attorneys: its own shareholders. From *The New York Times*:
[I]t might seem odd that last month Chevron subpoenaed one of its investors, Trillium Asset Management, which has sponsored numerous shareholder proposals at Chevron over the years. The oil company demanded documents related to those proposals. The subpoena also asked for records of discussions Trillium had about these proposals with the media.
It is unusual to make such a demand from a shareholder, corporate governance experts say. While companies often try to keep shareholder resolutions off the ballot by contending that they do not follow the rules, going beyond that is rare. …
In an interview last week, Jonas Kron, Trillium’s director of shareholder advocacy and corporate engagement, declined to discuss the subpoena. But it is part of a Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations lawsuit Chevron has filed against an army of parties involved in bringing an environmental case against the company in Ecuador almost two decades ago.
....
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http://grist.org/news/chevron-is-newly-concerned-about-politicians-being-influenced-by-money/
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Chevron, the second largest oil company in the United States and eighth largest in the world, earned $5.3 billion in profits in the third-quarter of 2012. This brings their total profits for the first nine months of this year to $19 billion.
Last month, Chevron made the single-largest corporate donation since Citizens United. The company dropped $2.5 million with the Congressional Leadership Fund, a super PAC for House Republicans, after congressional GOP voted at least twice to protect Chevron’s $700 million tax breaks.
Below is a glimpse at what Chevron is spending its billions in profits:
– Chevron paid a 19 percent effective federal tax rate in 2011, after making $26.9 billion profit.
– Since 2011, Chevron has spent $16.6 million lobbying Congress to block pollution controls and safeguards for public health.
– Chevron spent $3.7 million on campaign contributions this election, with 85 percent of contributions going to Republicans. Chevron gave more than any of the other Big Five Companies.
–Meanwhile, Chevron’s production has decreased by over 6 percent since this time last year, from 1.7 billion barrels of net liquids (oil + natural gas liquids) to a current rate of 1.68 billion barrels per day.
– Chevron is sitting on cash reserves totaling $21.3 billion, up from $15.8 billion in January.
– Chevron spent 24 percent of its Q3 profits buying back stocks ($1.25 billion), which enriches the largest shareholders.
– Chevron paid a 19 percent effective federal tax rate in 2011, well below the statutory corporate rate of 35 percent.
– Chevron CEO John Watson received over $17 million in compensation last year.
The Big Five companies are on track to make over $100 billion in profits this year, while they collect $2.4 billion in annual tax breaks. Meanwhile, they are producing 5 percent less oil than the third quarter last year. The Big Five has spent more than $100 million lobbying Congress since 2011, and millions on campaign contributions.
http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2012/11/02/1129671/chevron-earns-19-billion-profit-so-far-this-year-spending-millions-to-elect-house-gop/
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So what's going on? Well, you could start by following the money. Of the $12.5 million donated to by the energy and natural resources industries -- dominated by oil, gas and coal companies -- to political action committees supporting a presidential candidate this campaign cycle, 84 percent went to Republicans, according to data compiled by the Center for Responsive Politics. Romney alone has drawn 62 percent -- or $7.7 million -- of that funding.
Romney-friendly super PACs -- those organizationally and corporate-funded outfits made possible by the Supreme Court's Citizen United decision -- have also been busy outspending Obama-oriented groups by a wide margin. And the single biggest corporate donation since super PACs were unleashed on the American electoral process? That sum -- $2.5 million -- landed earlier this month in the coffers of the Congressional Leadership Fund, a group angling to elect Republicans to the House of Representatives.
It came from the oil and gas behemoth, Chevron.
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http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/09/supreme-court-chevron_n_1950930.html
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pooley:
35 chevron spent less than 5% on green
suing natives in ecuador for racketeering vultures 356, destroyed evidence, gibson dunn
see Crude documentary
Nonetheless, state pension funds that hold a combined $1 billion in Chevron shares have expressed concern about how the company plans to handle a potentially huge adverse judgment in the case. And in a May letter demanding more information from Chevron, New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo said he had recently "received complaints regarding Chevron's disclosures of the potential litigation risks and Chevron's characterization of available legal defenses."
Chevron also got dinged for a curious PR effort back in April, when � after catching wind that CBS's "60 Minutes" was preparing a damaging report about its handling of the Ecuador case � it released a video it paid for featuring former CNN reporter Gene Randall delivering what looked like a news report giving Chevron's side of the story.
Posted on YouTube and the company's website and bearing the logo "Gene Randall reporting," the report was produced with help from the conservative Beltway consulting firm CRC Public Relations. It cast Ecuador's politicians as out to get Chevron and blamed the pollution on Ecuador's state-owned oil company, which took over Texaco's operations.
Columbia Journalism Review assailed the report as "deceptive" and posited that it "might be unprecedented for how it blurred the line between public relations and journalism."
Chevron Corporation (NYSE: CVX Euronext: CHTEX) is an American multinational energy corporation. Headquartered in San Ramon, California, and active in more than 180 countries, it is engaged in every aspect of the oil, gas, and geothermal energy industries, including exploration and production; refining, marketing and transport; chemicals manufacturing and sales; and power generation. Chevron is one of the world's six "supermajor" oil companies.
Contents[hide] |
[edit] History
Chevron traditionally traces its roots to an oil discovery in Pico Canyon (now the Pico Canyon Oilfield) north of Los Angeles. The discovery led to the formation, in 1879, of the Pacific Coast Oil Company, the oldest predecessor of Chevron Corporation. Another side of the genealogical chart points to the founding of The Texas Fuel Company in 1901, a modest enterprise that started out in three rooms of a corrugated iron building in Beaumont, Texas. This company was known as the Texas Company and later Texaco.
Chevron Corporation was originally known as Standard Oil of California, or SoCal, and was formed amid the antitrust breakup of John D. Rockefeller's Standard Oil company in 1911. It was one of the "Seven Sisters" that dominated the world oil industry in the early 20th century. In 1933, Saudi Arabia granted SoCal a concession to find oil, and oil was found in 1938. In the early 1950s, SoCal discovered the world's largest oil field (Ghawar) in Saudi Arabia. SoCal's subsidiary, California-Arabian Standard Oil Company, developed over years, to become the Arabian American Oil Company (ARAMCO) in 1944. In 1973, the Saudi government began buying into ARAMCO. By 1980, the company was entirely owned by the Saudis, and in 1988, the name was changed to Saudi Arabian Oil Company (Saudi Aramco).
Standard Oil of California and Gulf Oil merged in 1984, the largest merger in history at that time. Under the antitrust regulation, SoCal divested many of Gulf's operating subsidiaries, and sold some Gulf stations and a refinery in the eastern United States. SoCal changed the name to Chevron Corporation.[^^1]^(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chevron_Corporation#cite_note-0)
In June 1992, Dynegy, Inc. (NYSE: DYN) was created from the merger of Chevron's former natural gas and natural gas liquids business with Dynegy's predecessor, NGC Corp. (formerly NYSE: NGL). NGC had been an integrated natural gas services company since around 1994.[^^2]^(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chevron_Corporation#cite_note-chevron20000202-1)
In a merger completed February 1, 2000, Illinova Corp. (formerly NYSE: ILN) became a wholly owned subsidiary of Dynegy Inc., in which Chevron also took a 28% stake.[^^2]^(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chevron_Corporation#cite_note-chevron20000202-1) However, Chevron in 2007 sold its 19 percent (at the time) common stock investment in the company for approximately $940 million, resulting in a gain of $680 million.[^^3]^(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chevron_Corporation#cite_note-Shareholders-2)
In 2001, Chevron Corporation acquired Texaco to form ChevronTexaco.
On May 9, 2005, ChevronTexaco announced it would drop the Texaco moniker and return to the Chevron name. Texaco remains as a brand under the Chevron Corporation. On August 19, 2005, Chevron acquired the Unocal Corporation. Because of Unocal's large South East Asian geothermal operations, Chevron became the world's largest producer of geothermal energy. On mid-2007,Chevron Corporation sold all Conoco stations in Mississippi to the Texaco brand a process to be complete at the end of 2007.[^^4]^(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chevron_Corporation#cite_note-3)
In July 2010, Chevron ended retail operations in the Mid Atlantic US, removing the Chevron and Texaco names from 1,100 stations in Delaware, Indiana, Kentucky, North Carolina, New Jersey, Maryland, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia, Washington, D.C., and parts of Tennessee. [^^5]^(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chevron_Corporation#cite_note-4)
[edit] Overview
Chevron employs approximately 67,000 people worldwide (of which 27,000 are U.S.-based) and had approximately 12 billion barrels (1.9 km³) of oil-equivalent net proved reserves at December 31, 2003. Daily production in 2003 was 2.5 million net oil-equivalent barrels (400,000 m³) per day. In addition, the company had a global refining capacity at year-end 2003 of 2.2 million barrels (350,000 m³) of crude oil per day. The company has a worldwide marketing network in 84 countries with approximately 24,000 retail sites, including those of affiliate companies. The company also has interests in 13 power generating assets in the United States, Asia, and Europe. Chevron also has gas stations in Western Canada.
Chevron was headquartered in San Francisco for nearly a century before it relocated across the bay to San Ramon, CA. The headquarters at 555 and 575 Market Street, built in the mid-1960s, in San Francisco were sold in December 1999.[^^6]^(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chevron_Corporation#cite_note-5) Its original headquarters were at 225 Bush St., built in 1912.[^^7]^(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chevron_Corporation#cite_note-6) Now, their headquarters are at 6001 Bollinger Canyon Road, San Ramon, CA.
...
Great American streetcar scandal
In 1950, Then "Standard Oil" along with General Motors and Firestone were charged and convicted of criminal conspiracy for their part in the Great American streetcar scandal. The scandal included purchasing streetcar systems throughout the United States and dismantling and replacing them with buses. [^^13]^(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chevron_Corporation#cite_note-chomsky-12)
[edit] Tax evasion
Chevron was found to have evaded $3.25 billion in federal and state taxes from 1970 to 2000 through a complex petroleum pricing scheme involving a project in Indonesia.[^^14]^(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chevron_Corporation#cite_note-gramlich-13) [^^15]^(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chevron_Corporation#cite_note-14) Chevron and Texaco, before they merged in 2001, each owned 50 percent of a joint venture called Caltex, which pulled crude oil from the ground in a project with the Indonesian state oil company, Pertamina. Chevron was accused of reducing its tax liabilities in the U.S. by buying oil from Caltex at inflated prices. One internal Chevron document set the price it paid Pertamina for oil at $4.55 a barrel higher than the prevailing market price. Chevron was then able to overstate deductions for costs on its U.S. income tax returns. Indonesia appeared to levy tax on this oil at 56%, a rate far higher than the corporate tax rate in the U.S. Because the United States gives companies a credit for taxes paid to foreign governments, tax paid to the Indonesian government reduces tax to the U.S. government.
Caltex transferred fund out of the U.S. to Indonesia, because the Indonesian government compensated Caltex for the excessively priced oil and the extra taxes paid by giving oil for free. Because Caltex had to pay taxes on that oil, too, the Indonesian government gave it even more oil to cover the taxes.
[edit] Environmental damage in Ecuador
From 1965 to 1993, Texaco operated development of the Lago Agrio oil field in Ecuador. Chevron is now being sued for extensive environmental damage caused by these operations. An Ecuadorian court could impose a legal penalty of up to $28 billion in a class action lawsuit filed on behalf of Amazonian villagers in the region. Chevron claims that agreements with the Ecuadorian Government exempt the company from any liabilities.[^^3]^(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chevron_Corporation#cite_note-Shareholders-2)[^(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chevron_Corporation#cite_note-15)16]^(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chevron_Corporation#cite_note-15)[^(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chevron_Corporation#cite_note-16)17]^(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chevron_Corporation#cite_note-16) A documentary on the issue, *Crude*, premiered in September 2009.
According to Chevron, until 1992, Texaco (Texpet), a subsidiary of Texaco Inc., was a minority member of this consortium with Petroecuador, the Ecuadorian state-owned oil company, as the majority partner. Since 1990, the operations have been conducted solely by Petroecuador. At the conclusion of the consortium and following an independent third-party environmental audit of the area, Texaco formally agreed with the Republic of Ecuador and Petroecuador to conduct a three year remediation program at a cost of $40 million. After certifying that the sites were properly remediated, the government entered granted Texpet and all related corporate entities a full release from any and all environmental liability arising from is operations.[^^3]^(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chevron_Corporation#cite_note-Shareholders-2) Based on the history above, Chevron believes that "this lawsuit lacks legal or factual merit."
[edit] Pollution in Richmond, California
Chevron’s activities in Richmond, California have been the subject of ongoing controversy. The project generated over 11 million pounds of toxic materials and caused more than 304 accidents.[^^18]^(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chevron_Corporation#cite_note-17) Chevron’s Richmond refineries paid $540,000 in 1998 for illegally bypassing waste water treatments and failing to notify the public about toxic releases.[^^19]^(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chevron_Corporation#cite_note-18) Overall, Chevron is listed as potentially liable for 95 Superfund sites, with funds set aside by the EPA for clean-up.[^^20]^(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chevron_Corporation#cite_note-19) In October, 2003, the state of New Hampshire sued Chevron and other oil companies for using MTBE, a gasoline additive that the attorney general claimed polluted much of the state's water supply.[^^21]^(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chevron_Corporation#cite_note-20)
[edit] Oil spills in Angola
Chevron’s operations in Africa have also been criticized as environmentally unsound.[^^22]^(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chevron_Corporation#cite_note-21) In 2002, Angola became the first country in Africa ever to levy a fine on a major multinational corporation operating within its borders, when it demanded $2 million in compensation for oil spills allegedly caused by Chevron.[^^23]^(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chevron_Corporation#cite_note-22)
[edit] Violation of the Clean Air Act in the USA
On October 16, 2003, Chevron U.S.A. settled a charge under the Clean Air Act, which reduced harmful air emissions by about 10,000 tons a year.[^^24]^(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chevron_Corporation#cite_note-Environmental_Protection_Agency-23) In San Francisco, Chevron was filed by a consent decree to spend almost $275 million to install and utilize innovative technology to reduce nitrogen and sulfur dioxide emissions at its refineries.[^^25]^(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chevron_Corporation#cite_note-24) After violating the Clean Air Act at an offline loading terminal in El Segundo, California, Chevron paid a $6 million penalty as well as $1 million for environmental improvement projects.[^^26]^(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chevron_Corporation#cite_note-25) Chevron also had implemented programs that minimized production of hazardous gases, upgraded leak detection and repair procedure, reduced emissions from sulfur recovery plants, and adopted strategies to ensure the proper handling of harmful benzene wastes at refineries.[^^24]^(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chevron_Corporation#cite_note-Environmental_Protection_Agency-23) Chevron also spent about $500,000 to install leakless valves and double-sealed pumps at its El Segundo refinery, which could prevent significant emissions of air contaminants.[^^27]^(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chevron_Corporation#cite_note-26)
Defenders of Chevron’s environmental record point to recent changes in the corporation, particularly its pledge in 2004 to combat global warming.[^^28]^(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chevron_Corporation#cite_note-27)
[edit] NiMH battery technology for automobiles
...
Niger Delta incident
On May 28, 1998, activists staged a demonstration and took several individuals hostage on a company oil platform in the Niger Delta, Nigeria. Nigerian police and soldiers were allegedly flown in with Chevron helicopters. Soldiers shot at the activists and subsequently two activists (Jola Ogungbeje and Aroleka Irowaninu) died from their wounds.[^^40]^(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chevron_Corporation#cite_note-39) Chevron describes the situation as "a violent occupation of private property by aggressors seeking to extort cash payments from the company."[^^41]^(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chevron_Corporation#cite_note-40) The Nigerian government is reportedly 80% dependent upon oil production and is condemned by many for its reported treatment of environmentalists.[^^42]^(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chevron_Corporation#cite_note-41) The documentary "Drilling and Killing" covers these and other topics.
U.S. District Judge Susan Illston, allowing a lawsuit brought by victims and victims' families against Chevron to proceed, said that there may be evidence that Chevron has hired, supervised, and/or provided transportation to Nigerian military forces known for their "general history of committing abuses."[^^43]^(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chevron_Corporation#cite_note-42) In March 2008, the plaintiffs' lawyers, without explanation, "quietly moved to withdraw half of their claims" against Chevron.[^^44]^(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chevron_Corporation#cite_note-43)
On December 1, 2008, a federal jury cleared Chevron of all charges brought against them in the case. The jury deliberated for less than two hours and the verdict was unanimous. Chevron had claimed that the military intervention was necessary to protect the lives of its workers and considers the jury's decision vindication for the accusations of wrongdoing.[^^45]^(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chevron_Corporation#cite_note-44)
^---^
**Donald B. Rice** is President and CEO, UroGenesys, Inc. He is a commissioner on the U.S. Commission on National Security/21st Century / Hart-Rudman Commission.
Rice served as Secretary of the Air Force; Assistant Director, Office of Management and Budget; Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense (Resource Analysis); Director of Cost Analysis, Department of Defense; President, Institute of Management Sciences; Director of the Defense Resource Management Study; Chairman, National Commission on Supplies and Shortages;
Rice was President and Chief Executive Officer of the RAND Corporation; President and Chief Operating Officer of Teledyne, Inc.. He is a Director of Wells Fargo & Company, Vulcan Materials Company, Scios Inc., the Unocal Corporation, and Pilkington Aerospace.
Board affiliations include: National Science Board and Defense Science Board.
Rice received a Bachelor of Science, University of Notre Dame; Master of Science, Purdue University; and Doctorate of Philosophy, Purdue University.
- Director, Chevron [1]^(http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Donald_B._Rice#cite_note-0)