Chevron Raises CEO John Watson’s Salary As Americans Place Oil Giant In “Least Reputable” Category. Even Watson’s Own Neighbors Don’t Like Him!

News from Chevron: The oil giant has raised CEO John Watson’s salary by 7 percent to $1.6 million. Chevron’s Board may like his performance, but most Americans do not. A survey found that Chevron was one of the least reputable American corporations; it ranked 124 out of 150.

John Watson

And Rainforest Action Network blogger, Linda Capato, discovered that Watson’s own neighbors don’t approve of his practices and policies, especially those in the Ecuadorian rainforest, where Chevron intentionally dumped over 18 billion gallons of toxic sludge into the soil and waterways. Capato wrote about her trip to Watson’s neighborhood.

”We’ve been handing out flyers to residents of Lafayette, CA, which is a relatively small suburban community. Folks here are super nice and really receptive to our message. We’ve felt really welcomed in this tiny hamlet. In fact, just yesterday, we met many of Watson’s close personal friends, most of which responded very openly and warmly to us. One friend of his let us know that she plans on telling him exactly how she feels on the issue, and how wrong she really thinks he is by not taking responsibility for his company’s toxic mess. Once she saw the flyer, she responded by saying, “Yeah, what they’re doing is just wrong, they should take responsibility, and I plan on telling him more.”

An Ecuador court recently awarded the indigenous peoples of the rainforest a $9.5 billion judgment to clean up the contamination, but as The Thin Green Line reports, Chevron is refusing to pay. This means that the Ecuadorian plaintiffs suing Chevron must request a court in another country to enforce the judgment since Chevron has sold all its assets in Ecuador. Meanwhile, Chevron is trying to block enforcement of the judgment in the United States, while continuing to sell its assets in countries that might hold Chevron accountable for its actions. One of the lawyers for the Ecuadorian plaintiffs said in a recent press release:

“While the Ecuadorian Plaintiffs and their counsel may be unable to take any steps to even prepare for enforcement proceedings, (a U.S. court) allows Chevron a generous window of time within which to divest itself of overseas assets that might be used to enforce the Ecuadorian Judgment,” wrote Julio C. Gomez of Gomez LLC and Carlos A. Zelaya, II of F. Gerald Maples PA.”

This is one more example of Chevron’s misconduct in its global massive scheme to avoid taking responsibility for what it did to Ecuador’s rainforest and its people and culture. Spread the word. If more people knew, Chevron would rank 150th, right at the bottom.