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PAUL JAY: Welcome to The Real News Network. I'm Paul Jay, coming to you from Baltimore.
In San Ramon, California, just about half an hour outside of San Francisco, is the international
headquarters of Chevron. And they had their annual shareholders meeting. Well, not only
shareholders showed up; also the True Cost of Chevron network and its supporters and
participants came, protested outside. Some of them went into the shareholders meeting.
And now joining us to explain why is Antonia Juhasz. Antonia is an oil and energy analyst
and author and journalist. She's the editor of free alternative annual reports for Chevron
and the author of three books on the oil industry, including, most recently, Black Tide: The
Devastating Impact of the Gulf Oil Spill. And she now joins us from San Francisco. Thanks
for joining us again, Antonia.
ANTONIA JUHASZ: Thanks for having me.
JAY: So why is the network organizing? What was the point?
JUHASZ: So this is the True Cost of Chevron network. It's an increasingly growing network
of communities from all across the United States, all around the world, who have been
harmed by Chevron and Chevron's operations. And at this year's annual shareholder meeting
of Chevron, there were members of this network representing communities harmed by Chevron
who went into the meeting, members who were denied access to the meeting even though they
have legal proxies, and a support of about 150 protesters outside of the meeting who
were also part of the Occupy movement, the 99 percent spring. So it was a big, an impactful
day.
JAY: And a lot of international participants. What are some of the countries that were represented
there?
JUHASZ: So going into the meeting, there were communities that--representatives of communities
that had traveled all the way from Angola, Nigeria, from Brazil, from Ecuador. And it
was critical that they went inside of the meeting, because what took place inside the
shareholder meeting was CEO John Watson, who is the head of one of the largest, most wealthiest,
most powerful corporations in the world, who I believe committed fraud within that meeting,
he absolutely lied to his shareholders, misrepresented his company and its risks, and denied access
to one of the most critical voices that could have responded to those lies.
JAY: Okay. So, just before I ask you for examples, we are going to contact Chevron and ask Chevron--Chevron's
CEO or a representative of Chevron--to come on and to respond to what you're about to
say. So they will have their chance if they want. But what are examples of what you're
calling fraud or lies?
JUHASZ: CEO John Watson did not mention the word Brazil in his presentation to the shareholders.
The word was not mentioned until I mentioned it during the comment period, when shareholders,
which I am, can talk. And the reason why that is an act of fraud and misrepresentation about
the status of the company is that Chevron faces a potential $22 billion liability in
Brazil. These are potential members that the government of Brazil has put out for two offshore
oil spills in that country. And he didn't even mention the spills, much less the potential
liability.
In addition, he denied access to the coordinator of the largest oil workers union in Brazil,
who had traveled all the way from Brazil to California to team up with the United Steelworkers
here that represent oil workers in the United States to present a resolution on increased
safety at Chevron's global operations.
JAY: The reason you're calling this fraud is that if you're addressing your shareholders,
you're supposed to tell them about potential liabilities, especially if it's a multibillion-dollar
lawsuit.
JUHASZ: Especially a $22 billion law suit. And in addition, the union has sued to get
all of Chevron's oil and gas contracts canceled in Brazil because of their concern about Chevron's
ability to do its operations. So the threat that it might lose access to this enormous
source of oil and gas is also something that certainly Chevron shareholders should have
been made aware of. They denied access to the gentleman who could speak to this. That
also denied the shareholders the ability to hear from one of the most critical voices
to know the most about what had happened in Brazil when they considered this vital resolution
on increased safety of Chevron's operations.
Chevron's CEO also essentially blew off what happened to it in Nigeria, to the company
in Nigeria this year as a little gas accident that didn't matter. Well, that was a massive
underwater gas explosion that led to a fire that burned for three months--and, as I pointed
out to him because he seemed not to care, also killed his employees in the process of
the explosion. And it also killed wildlife, sealife, and severely harmed the livelihoods
of the people who depend on it. And he failed to mention the fact that the government of
Nigeria is threatening a $3 billion potential liability there.
Finally, in the Ecuador situation, where the company faces an actual $18 billion judgment,
the CEO essentially made it appear as though this is a trivial concern, doesn't have merit,
it'll just blow over. Well, he's been saying that for a very long time, and at this point,
the judge in Ecuador has ruled that the company owes $18 billion.
So all of those are instances of fraud. And thank goodness that what we had done was made
sure that the people who are actually from those communities could actually be in that
room to speak the truth to the shareholders, to CEO, and to the public outside.
JAY: And what kind of reaction did you get from ordinary shareholders, if there were
any there?
JUHASZ: I believe the shareholders have increasingly--because this is the third year that this whole group
has been present, but it's been many, many years of people coming from Ecuador, from
Nigeria to represent their concerns, has built into a crescendo of concern among the shareholders,
such that this year there were 11 key resolutions presented by shareholders to address many
of these concerns, including several of them addressed at the situation in Ecuador, the
ongoing litigation there, the one that I mentioned on increased safety of Chevron's operations.
You know, all of these resolutions are a result of shareholders being very concerned at the
operations of the company. And whether or not the resolutions come to pass, it's also
a part of the pressure that raises awareness about the harm of the company and the risks
about its operations that then results in the public being concerned, putting pressure
on governments. And then the governments are increasingly taking action, which is how we
end up with a potential $3 billion judgment in Nigeria, a $22 billion potential judgment
in Brazil. You know, these are governments actually taking action. And I don't think
that's random. I think that's a result of a lot of organizing, a lot of activity.
JAY: Right. Now, when you've been involved in writing alternative annual reports, what
does that mean? What's different about your annual report for Chevron?
JUHASZ: So I've edited three alternative annual reports for Chevron, and what we do is we
tell the truth about Chevron's operations from the voices of the people who actually
live where the oil is produced, where the oil is refined into gasoline, where it's explored
for. And they write and they state, this is what it actually is like to live near these
operations, this is what it means to our communities, to our workers' safety, to our health. And
it gets away from the spin which Chevron puts into its annual report, which is basically
just a glossy display of how things would be if oil was a clean, happy, safe enterprise.
I think we all know that isn't the case, but rarely do we actually get to read in-depth
critical analyses. You know, we have 500 endnotes in our reports that's heavily documented about,
you know, what Chevron's operations truly are [crosstalk]
JAY: And we'll be able to give links for people--this is available on the internet, the reports?
JUHASZ: We have a website called TrueCostOfChevron.com where all this is available.
JAY: Okay. Just finally, we would have liked to have had some video of what took place
at the shareholders meeting, but we don't, and, Antonia, you, I guess, can tell us why.
JUHASZ: Yeah. To enter a Chevron shareholder meeting, not only can you not bring a camera
or a cell phone or anything like that, but you have to pass through a metal detector.
And if you set off the metal detector, you are frisked and patted down. I had my pen
looked at and analyzed to make sure my pen wasn't a camera, I believe. And of all the
weapons you're not allowed to have, a member of United Steelworkers did get into the shareholder
meeting, even though his brother from Brazil wasn't allowed in, and he had his statement,
his prepared piece of paper confiscated, so that he couldn't come in with prepared comments
to talk about trying to increase the safety of this company. So not only do I not have
video footage for you, not only could I not tweet from the meeting, but he couldn't even
read his statement.
JAY: Well, I guess paper cuts could be a serious weapon. So, at any rate, stay tuned. You will
see, in following segments, interviews with representatives from some of the countries
Antonia just mentioned. Thanks very much for joining us, Antonia.
JUHASZ: Thank you for having me.
JAY: And thank you for joining us on The Real News Network.