What Will Be The Outcome of the Amazon Defense Coalition’s Lawsuit Against Chevron in Ecuador?

Life in the Oriente Region of Ecuador is full of danger, mystery and intrigue. Located along the border with Colombia in the northeast part of the country, the region is home to ancient people groups who depend largely upon the resources of the Amazon River basin for their survival. It’s home to thousands of exotic wildlife species. And, for the past 16 years, has been a home away from home for New York trial lawyer and Harvard Law School classmate of President Barack Obama, Steven R. Donziger.

Since 1993, Donziger has made myriad trips from his New York City office to the oil-rich jungles of South America in search of what he must have hoped would be easy money. All he had to do was come up with a “tool” he could use to extract boatloads of cash from the deep, oil-soaked pockets of San Ramon, Calif.-based Chevron Corporation. That tool, it appears, turned out to be a lawsuit against “Big Oil.”

In a case that could be decided upon by a judge in Ecuador any day, the verdict could cost Chevron and its shareholders $27 billion.

Read all about it here.

Blogger Targeted by ‘Spin’ in $27 Billion Lawsuit

By Bob McCarty

For most of the past three weeks, I’ve been trying to learn as many details as possible about the a $27 billion class-action lawsuit pitting the Amazon Defense Coalition against Chevron. Only last night, however, did I come to realize fully how large the stakes are in this 16-year-old lawsuit being tried in an Ecuadoran court.

Barely an hour after “60 Minutes” reporter Scott Pelley’s story, “Amazon Crude,” aired on CBS Sunday night, I had exchanged e-mails with representatives on both sides of the lawsuit.

On the plaintiff side, Andrew Woods, a Huffington Post blogger and Harvard Law School graduate who serves as one of the attorneys for the plaintiff, got things started by sending me a link to the “60 Minutes” piece along with a transcript of the CBS segment at 8:10 p.m. Central. He ended his message by saying, “I’d be interested in your reaction.”

On the defense side, media advisor Justin Higgs sent a message 15 minutes later. In response to his question about whether I had seen Pelley’s piece, I told him, “Coincidentally, I’m watching it online right now.” He followed up by sending me a link to a Chevron Flickr page which offers photos that, he explained, “haven’t been publicized until recently.” Six photos to be exact, all of which were shot by a Chevron consultant, according to Kent Robertson, a Higgs’ colleague with whom I also exchanged e-mails. One of the photos accompanies this post.

To find out more about the "spin" I encountered, visit Bob McCarty Writes.