In The Blogs

Chevron or Chevwrong?

| Thu Jun. 4, 2009 10:21 AM PDT

If you believe Chevron's ubiquitous ad campaign, it's an icon of corporate responsibility. According to environmental and human rights groups…not so much.

Organizations including CorpWatch, Global Exchange, and EarthRights International released "The True Cost of Chevron: An Alternative Annual Report" last week. And not surprisingly, it tells a different story than the oil giant. To wit:

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Energy Efficiency

—Chevron's annual report: "Chevron Energy Solutions also is helping external and internal clients use energy efficiency and renewable energy technologies to optimize the performance of their facilities."
—Alternative annual report: "(Chevron spent), at best, less than 3 percent of its capital and exploratory budget on green energy in 2008."

Chevron in Kazakhstan

—Chevron's report: "Expansion projects at the giant Tengiz field have nearly doubled production capacity and created new opportunities for the people of this Central Asian nation."
—Alternative report: "At Tengiz, the high sulfur content of the oil extracted and stored at the field has caused significant damage to the environment and the health of field workers and nearby residents."

Chevron in Nigeria

—Chevron's report: "We are investing in a number of projects to grow the production of crude oil and natural gas from Nigeria and to help create greater employment opportunities in the country."
—Alternative report: "Chevron and other energy companies operating in the (Niger) Delta have been complicit with and benefited from human rights violations committed by security forces against local communities protesting effects of extractive activities."

To read the alternative report—which also includes the revelation that Chevron named a supertanker after Condoleezza Rice—click here. To read Chevron's report, click here.

Nikki Gloudeman is a senior fellow at Mother Jones. For more of her stories, click here.