As its pollution trial in Ecuador creeps along, the oil giant Chevron is being accused by a U.S. environmental group of failing to inform shareholders adequately of its potential legal liability for contamination of the Ecuadorian Amazon. Chevron has been on trial in the Superior Court of Nueva Loja, capital of Ecuador’s Sucumbíos province, since 2003. Amazon Indians have filed a class-action suit charging that Texaco, which was purchased by Chevron in 2001, released over 18 billion gallons of toxic drilling wastes into rivers, wetlands and the soil during the period 1964 to 1992. On Feb. 1, the U.S.-based green group Amazon Watch called on the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to investigate Chevron, charging that the oil giant broke federal law...
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A recent announcement by Argentina, Brazil and Venezuela that they plan to build a US$17-$25 billion, 10,000-kilometer (6,000 mile) gas pipeline through the Amazon rainforest has caught many observers by surprise—including environmentalists, many of whom are panning the project. The presidents of the three countries—respectively, Néstor Kirchner, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Hugo Chávez—said during a Jan. 19 meeting in Brasília that they would draft preliminary plans for the pipeline by March and a detailed proposal by July. Brazilian officials say the pipeline would link Venezuela’s offshore gas fields, Latin America’s largest natural gas reserves, to the fast-growing energy markets in Brazil and Argentina. All three countries would contribute financing for the pipeline, which would be built...
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Brazil has launched a campaign to educate not only Brazilians, but also foreign pet enthusiasts about the damage done by wildlife trafficking—at US$20 billion the world’s third biggest black market behind the drug and weapons trades, according to the UN. The Environment Ministry has printed 100,000 brochures and 50,000 posters in English, French and Spanish. And this month the Foreign Ministry is scheduled to begin sending the materials to its embassies and consulates for distribution in over 100 countries. Officials also plan to send foreign governments a report prepared by the National Network to Combat the Traffic of Wild Animals (Renctas), a Brazilian non-governmental group that has partnered with the Environment Ministry in the campaign. The report says that every year, some...
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A report by Mexico’s Health Secretariat finds that while health and life expectancy have greatly improved in Mexico in the last 50 years, the quality of life for children in rural areas reflects the pressures of poverty, social inequality and environmental contamination. The secretariat also says air pollution has worsened in medium-sized cities due to population and industrial growth, more vehicles and inefficient mass transit. The report forms part of a survey of indicators concerning North American children’s health and the environment. Released Jan. 26 by the Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC), the tri-lateral environmental agency created in conjunction with the North American Free Trade Agreement (Nafta), the survey is the first of its kind in North America, the CEC says. In its...
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