Drilled

The case takes a bizarre turn with a sting operation, U.S. subpoenas, accusations of fraud and bribery, and finally a verdict in Ecuador. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

With the Ecuadorian plaintiffs racking up good press and an endorsement from the country's president, Chevron kicks things up a notch, bringing on new lawyers and PR firms to tell a very different story.Support our work: https://www.patreon.com/Drilled Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In September 2009, Chevron filed an international arbitration claim against the government of Ecuador over the Lago Agrio case. In the years since the company has pointed to the decisions of that arbitral panel as something akin to court decisions, but they're not—arbitral tribunals exist to help companies protect their profits, and are largely conducted in secret. This system has been quietly shaping environmental and climate policy for years. In this episode, expert Marcos Orellana walks us through this shadowy system, this case in particular, and what it all means for global climate action.Support our work: patreon.com/drilled Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The trial gets underway in Ecuador, an election changes the calculus, and a global PR war kicks into high gear.Support our work: patreon.com/drilled Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

How did this case come about in the first place? We go back to the early days of oil colonialism in Ecuador, in the 1960s, the partnership between oil men and missionaries, and the impact on indigenous communities in the Amazon.Support our work: patreon.com/drilledRead more: https://www.drillednews.com/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In August 2019, an American lawyer was put on house arrest as he awaited trial on criminal contempt charges. The charges stem from a decades-long case that began with pollution in the Amazon and has since spanned continents and courtrooms while the victims—indigenous tribes in the Ecuadorian Amazon—continue to seek justice. Welcome to Season 5: La Lucha En La Jungla. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A few weeks ago the Trump administration quietly proposed a rule that would make it harder for financial managers to investment retirement funds in environmentally or socially responsible ways. The fossil fuel industry had been calling for the rule and praised it, noting that the divestment movement has become a serious problem and reduced its access to capital. Journalist David Sirota broke that story and joins us to explain. PLUS: a sneak peek of S5.Check out David's newsletter: https://sirota.substack.com/Subscribe to Drilled now to get early access to episodes! https://www.patreon.com/Drilled Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The FBI arrested Speaker of the Ohio House of Representatives, Larry Householder, this month for racketeering, or as the state attorney general put it "bribery, that's what it was." Private utility First Energy bribed Householder and a handful of other state politicians to pass a corporate bailout that kept coal and nuclear plants open and crushed renewables. UC Santa Barbara political science professor Leah Stokes, author of the book Short Circuiting Policy, joins to tell us all about it.Leah's book: https://www.leahstokes.com/book Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

An advocacy group in The Netherlands began campaigning for a ban on fossil fuel ads, including event sponsorships, earlier this year. Campaigner Femke Sleegers joins us to explain the roots of the campaign, its goal, and the initial response to it.More information: https://verbiedfossielereclame.nl/dutch-citizens-initiative-ban-fossil-fuel-advertising/  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Despite tax breaks, royalty cuts, and other COVID-related incentives, Chesapeake Energy—a pioneer in the American shale gas (fracking) industry—declared bankruptcy this week. It's the first example of what we expect to be many of the government throwing good money after bad in attempts to use COVID relief funds to shore up companies that were failing long before the pandemic hit.Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/Drilled Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices