The True Cost of Chevron

TO: Assistant Secretary of State Brian A. Nichols and US Ambassador to Peru Lisa Kenna

Over the last few weeks, the Peruvian government under President Diana Boluarte, has committed a countless number of human rights violations leading to the murder of over 40 people. Yet the Biden Administration decided to publicly endorse the new Peruvian government and remain silent on protest killings.

The U.S. government must urgently express its unambiguous rejection of disproportionate and excessive use of force against protestors in Peru and condemn the use of stigmatizing language against them, which creates the enabling environment for security forces to use indiscriminate deadly force.

In solidarity with our partners from Peru’s national Indigenous federation, AIDESEP, we ask for the pronouncement of the U.S. State Department against the massacre and repression directed at mobilized people.

{your name}

(En español abajo)

To: Attorney General Salazar Méndez and President Lasso
CC: U.S. Ambassador Ivonne Baki

I, {your name}, urge you to guarantee justice and the rights of Ecuador’s Indigenous and campesino communities affected by Chevron’s (formerly Texaco) deliberate contamination of the Amazon rainforest they call home. Please file your appeal of the international arbitration panel’s award for Chevron before September 28, 2022 to hold the U.S. corporation accountable for its pollution and environmental crimes.

The Ecuadorian government cannot afford to remedy the destruction and the 9.5 billion in damages owed, and it must not assume responsibility. The arbitration panel decision also directly violates Ecuador’s constitution and the proceedings did not permit any participation from the affected communities or their attorneys.

Sincerely,

{your name}

———————-

A: Fiscal General Salazar Méndez y Presidente Lasso
CC: Embajadora de EE. UU. Ivonne Baki

Yo, {tu nombre}, lo insto a garantizar la justicia y los derechos de las comunidades indígenas y campesinas de Ecuador afectadas por la contaminación provocada de Chevron (anteriormente Texaco) de la selva amazónica, el cual constituye su hogar. Presente su apelación del laudo arbitral que favorece Chevron antes del 28 de septiembre de 2022, y que ejerza su rol como garante de nuestros derechos y se responsabilice a la corporación estadounidense por su contaminación y delitos ambientales.

El Gobierno ecuatoriano no puede darse el lujo de remediar la destrucción y los 9.500 millones en daños adeudados, y no debe asumir la responsabilidad. La decisión del panel de arbitraje también viola directamente la constitución de Ecuador y los procedimientos no permitieron ninguna participación de las comunidades afectadas o sus abogados.

Sinceramente,

{tu nombre}

Tips for how to record your video:

• Speak clearly and pause in between sentences.
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• Look directly into the camera; let them feel your passion in defense of the Amazon and its Indigenous communities.

Vanguard agreed in 2021 that it would release an interim emissions reductions plan to outline how it plans to reduce emissions by 2030. The “plan” that Vanguard released is woefully inadequate, pales in comparison to industry peers, and is by far the least ambitious, bare-minimum participation in the Net Zero Asset Managers initiative (NZAM).

Vanguard must go back to the drawing board and announce a new and substantive plan to actually reduce emissions as well as coal, oil, and gas exclusion policies!

To this day, Vanguard has not made any moves to address Indigenous rights violations or companies it invests in that contribute to deforestation. Also, it has failed to have the ambition to actually mitigate climate risk and create secure futures for clients; and it has no implementation plan to ensure that it actually meet the already minuscule “expectations” to reduce emissions by 2030.

This non-plan is a failure on every measure, and Vanguard customers, activists, financial experts, and more cannot accept it. It’s time to go back to the drawing board and release a new plan that is more in line with industry peers, NZAM principles, and Race to Zero criteria.

Sincerely,

Your name

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