Chevron-Ecuador case expert switches sides - SFGate

This case has been ongoing for a long time, and I've figured there was manipulation on both sides, but this is disappointing.  Too bad. Simply put, Texaco made a mess and then did cleanup that was stamped OK by gov't monitors - who likely weren't able to fully inspect all the problems. Chevron buys Texaco fields, and is held accountable when the full extent of the problems are documented...protracted legal battles follow, with David v.Goliath model. David uses many really hard rocks, Goliath uses lots of money to build protective armor. David apparently tries a less than legit tactic - not that Goliath hasn't done the same - so both sides have less than stellar records now. The blame is now obfuscated by years of ownership changes, manipulation and back room cigar smoke but fact remains - there remains a lot of petroleum nastiness out in the forest that needs to be cleaned up.

Chevron-Ecuador case expert switches sides - SFGate:

"The long-running environmental lawsuit against Chevron Corp. in Ecuador has pitted whole armies of lawyers, activists and technical experts against each other. Now a former combatant appears to have switched sides[to Chevron]."
...

"An Ecuadoran judge ruled against Chevron last year, ordering the San Ramon company to pay $19 billion. Chevron has vowed not to hand over the money and has sued the other side's lawyers for extortion and racketeering. The Ecuadoran team is now pursuing Chevron's assets in Argentina, Brazil and Canada to collect on the judgment.

Racketeering suit

Chevron obtained Reyes' statement as part of the racketeering suit. Company spokesmanKent Robertson said Reyes was not paid for his statement, nor was he promised work with Chevron.

"The fraud is going to come out, and he wants to be on the right side," Robertson said.

Karen Hinton, a spokeswoman for the Ecuadorans' legal team, accused Chevron of ghostwriting some of Reyes' comments, and said her team had not tried to force Reyes or anyone else to compromise their professional ethics. She also insisted that tests showed extensive oil-field contamination in the area.

"Reyes either lies or is mistaken when he claims that the plaintiffs acknowledged that the data from the judicial inspections did not support their claims," she said.

Reyes became involved in the suit at the end of 2005. He had just published a book "Oil, Amazon, and Natural Capital," arguing that Chevron and the Ecuadoran government together needed to clean up the oil fields."

'via Blog this'

The price of inequality

FROM: The price of inequality, in colour | The Equality Trust

Evidence shows that:

1) In rich countries, a smaller gap between rich and poor means a happier, healthier, and more successful population. Just look at the US, the UK, Portugal, and New Zealand in the top right of this graph, doing much worse than Japan, Sweden or Norway in the bottom left. 

2) Meanwhile, more economic growth will NOT lead to a happier, healthier, or more successful population. In fact, there is no relation between income per head and social well-being in rich countries.

3) If the UK were more equal, we'd be better off as a population. For example, the evidence suggests that if we halved inequality here:

- Murder rates could halve
- Mental illness could reduce by two thirds
- Obesity could halve
- Imprisonment could reduce by 80%
- Teen births could reduce by 80%
- Levels of trust could increase by 85%

4) It's not just people in poorer communities who would do better. The evidence suggests people all the way up would benefit, although it's true that the poorest would gain the most.

5) These findings hold true, whether you look across developed nations, or across the 50 states of the USA.