Chevron: Human Energy or Hype?

It’s likely you’ve seen this Chevron commercial on TV, or something similar. Endearing pictures of everyday people going about their lives, and Chevron helping to lead them into the future. There is nothing necessarily wrong with an oil giant like Chevron presenting themselves as part of the solution – at least potentially. I think it is vital that fossil fuel companies bring to bear their enormous resources on developing clean energy. But the total picture must be considered, and the good balanced with the bad. Then the picture changes…

Go to Nigeria or Ecuador, and Chevron seems less interested in being warm and fuzzy and leading citizens toward the future. Progressive blogger James Boyce guest-posted for us last week at GlobalWarmingisReal. Writing on behalf of the Rainforest Newsladder and Rainforest Alliance, Boyce summarized the gross environmental and humanitarian abuses in Ecuador at the hands of Chevron/Texaco. In Nigeria, the history is little better.

In a media saturated society like the U.S., Chevron can sanitize its image, but before we see Chevron as the White Knight leading the good people into a bright future, it is important to understand  all that goes on in the world in the name of bringing us more oil to consume, so we can watch our televisions, and look at commercials about how good and noble a company like Chevron is.