Welcome to Better Cats and Gardens

a blog about all kindsa Stuff!

Wednesday, August 20, 2008

A Brief Note About Oregon Politics

Congressman Peter DeFazio, Fourth District, Oregon

is good.

UPDATE: Okay I guess I should tell you why. That's because of the following form letter I got in reply to a message I sent about the situation in Ecuador:

Thank you for contacting me about Chevron's attempt to undermine the rule of law in Ecuador. I was pleased to author a letter to the U.S. Trade Representative questioning the actions of Chevron.

I was very concerned when I read a recent Newsweek article that suggested that Chevron is lobbying the US Trade Representative (USTR) to withhold trade preferences from Ecuador. Apparently, Chevron hopes to undermine a lawsuit brought by peasants in Ecuador seeking redress for the dumping of toxic oil waste in the Amazon. The apparent attitude of Chevron towards democracy and the rule of law in is summed up by a Chevron lobbyist, "We can't let little countries screw around with big companies like this, companies that have made big investments around the world." Chevron is asking USTR to pressure the Government of Ecuador to interfere in the lawsuit.

In response I circulated a letter amongst my Congressional colleagues to urge the USTR to reject Chevron's request, and to affirm that access to the U.S. market will not be used as leverage to interfere in Ecuador's legal process. Eleven member of Congress signed the letter.
It's heartening to hear all of this, & know that this is our guy in Congress. At the same time...Eleven members of Congress signed the letter. Eleven? Only eleven members of the United States Congress think that giant corporations shouldn't be allowed to fuck with democratic rule in sovereign states?

3 comments:

James Craig/Chevron said...

Hi. I thought your readers might like to review the link below so that they might learn a little more about Chevron's legal battle in Ecuador. It is a complex case and people are apt to be fooled by misinformation floating around out there. Cheers.
http://www.texaco.com/sitelets/ecuador/en

A Rat in the Walls said...

That's interesting, but I think people who read this blog are generally not retarded. Thanks.

Kateryna said...

The Newsweek's article features a statement by Chevron's public relations manager so it's obviously a fair article with both sides having their opinion heard.

I appreciated the links section to the left of the Newsweek article as well.

Thanks Steve!

http://www.newsweek.com/id/149090