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For too long we as an American population have chosen to be ignorant or silent in the face of issues involving companies in our own country. For the past 17 years, a lawsuit has been in trial against Chevron (Texaco) based on horrendous damage they did in the Amazon regions of Ecuador. Several indigenous tribes are on the brink of collapse due to contamination of water. Cancer is prevalent in their small groups, rancid 18-19 year old kids. Small children suffer from skin diseases because there is nowhere else to bathe but in water polluted with oil. Chevron designed a system which dumped crude waste right into riverbeds, streams, and pits dug in the areas. There is no clean water. There is no immediate access to healthcare for the poor living conditions and no money to pay for cancer treatments.

Each side has had their trials in presenting a clean case. Evidence the plaintiffs brought forward was not always supported by hard evidence. Their young lawyer, Pablo Fajardo, had only been a lawyer 1 year when he took the case over in 2003. More than 30,000 Ecuadorians are demanding that Chevron pay and clean up their damages. The defense has not argued a solid case either, and I have observed them using red herring after red herring to distract from the issue. The case which has been revealed to the public has Chevron pushing the blame all on the Ecuadorian oil company PetroEcuador (which partnered with Texaco and took over the oil company after they left the Amazon) and saying that the plaintiff only wants a profit. Which, ironically is what Chevron is being sued for.

This entire case breaks my heart. Because of the ambitions of American oil companies, the lives and cultures of the Ecuadorians have been exploited. Sure, the world runs on oil, but with such innovative means of preserving the environment we see propagated in the US, could we not have found a way to extract oil ethically? Is there not a way to avoid digging 627 pits to improperly dispose of waste in the rain forest? And why can companies not take responsibility for the damage they have done? Is the profit really worth so much more than the lives of the people who have succeeded in preserving a resource as precious as the Amazon for thousands of years? The trial is not finished yet, though the last judge involved in the case recommended that Chevron pay up to $27 billion in recompense. However, observers think that the case could go on for up to 8 more years, each side now attempting to undermine the case of the other. A new judge has yet to be appointed to rule on the case.