CED Progress Report #2

Dana:

Looking at other cases studies of environment destruction in other geographic regions of the nation. Understanding the history and relationship between NGOs and CED by building a base of knowledge of these past incidences before researching Chevron's presence in-depth.  There's a lot of information in this Human Ecology journal:  

http://www.jstor.org.ezproxy.lib.indiana.edu/stable/4603291?&Search=yes&searchText=environment&searchText=ecuador&list=hide&searchUri=%2Faction%2FdoBasicSearch%3FQuery%3Decuador%2BAND%2Benvironment%26gw%3Djtx%26acc%3Don%26prq%3Decuador%2BAND%2Bchevron%26Search%3DSearch%26hp%3D25%26wc%3Don&prevSearch=&item=3&ttl=14645&returnArticleService=showFullText

This is a really good BBC piece on mining in the Congo.  It gives a human element to it and lays out the situation and its effects on the people.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8234583.stm

Ryan:

Researching laws and using Spanish articles to compare media coverage around world. Now understands that media has a huge take on things, including laws, and is preparing a chart for the presentation that can be included in the try-fold as another point of reference.

Ashli Hendricks:
ECUADOR
http://chevrontoxico.com/about/environmental-impacts/
Describes water and soil contamination from waste pits and how the dumping of produced water is the primary source of environmental damage.

• Produced water is much saltier than seawater, and is extremely hot, rendering it harmful to aquatic life.
• Overflowing oil is carried into the region's rivers. Crude oil can evaporate and be inhaled.
• Animals die by stumbling into pits or otherwise coming into contact with crude oil and oil wastes.
• Noxious gases into the atmosphere, including benzene, a carcinogen.Simply standing near a waste pit, it is possible to inhale vapors which include toxic gases.

YEW TREES
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2011/nov/10/iucn-red-list-tree-chemotherapy
Trees being pushed to the brink of extinction by over-harvesting for medicinal use and collection for fuel

• The harvesting of the bark kills the trees, but it’s possible to extract Taxol from clippings, so harvesting, if properly controlled, can be less detrimental to the plants

Possible solutions

• Harvest and trade controls to ensure sustainability
• Plants grown in cultivation to reduce impact of harvesting on wild populations
• Synthesizing the drug, recreating it in laboratories
• Inventory the trees; know how many there are and where they are

http://articles.latimes.com/1991-06-20/news/mn-1463_1_pacific-yew-bark

Jacqueline Birkel
(business reports)

researched business benefits of doing such activities, but also the negative effects of the pr of these events. in the end, it is really worse business. can compare even to nike’s sweatshops and how that effected business. people associate chevron with these incidences and that cheapens their image, which is a priceless asset that companies have!

http://blogs.ft.com/beyond-brics/2012/07/19/chevron-invests-2bn-in-venezuelan-oil-fields/

http://books.google.com/books?id=CxR5lUGjlLcC&pg=PA393&lpg=PA393&dq=yew+trees+business+side+cancer&source=bl&ots=b-N1O3-kXA&sig=0QTn3683xVSBEBV9730V7iN2e8c&hl=en&sa=X&ei=49VgUPLPHLGy0QGJ7YDYBg&ved=0CFMQ6AEwCQ#v=onepage&q=yew%20trees%20business%20side%20cancer&f=false

Caroline:

Make a trifold or poster of the certain laws and rights the company and indigenous people have. This poster will better illustrate some of the violations and will be used as a point of reference throughout presentation. Thus far she has collected websites explaining indigenous law in Ecuador and the rights of Chevron. These kind of combat each other, which we will discuss in our presentation. She has been researching the Arctic peoples' rights and drilling laws associated with the area. 

Things Caroline is currently doing: looking up links, websites, and books that are associated with Native American yew trees. 

Elise:

So far for the societal aspect of the project I've looked up the basics about what qualifies a society as "indigenous" and noted the specific characteristics of those qualities in each of the societies we will be exploring (Arctic societies, indigenous groups in Ecuador, and the Native Americans). I've also found several helpful sources to work with which I have started to read and sift through for information specific to each society. 

Bibliography:

Allen, Karen. "Human cost of mining in DR Congo." BBC news. BBC, 2 Sept. 2009. Web. 25 Sept.

Cimons, Marlene. "Firm to Harvest Yew Bark to Get Scarce Cancer Drug." Los Angeles Times 20 June 1991. Web. 24 Sept. 2012.

Conservation Biology. Vol. 15. N.p.: Wiley Blackwell, 2012. 15 vols. Print.

"Environmental Impacts." ChevronToxico. Amazon Watch, 2012. Web. 23 Sept. 2012.

Gersmann, Hanna, and Jessica Aldred. "Medicinal tree used in chemotherapy drug faces extinction." the guardian 9 Nov. 2011. Print.

Keese, James R. Human Ecology. 3rd ed. Vol. 26. N.p.: Springer, 2008. 451-68. 26 vols. Print.

Mander, Benedict. "Chevron invests @2bn in Venezuelan oil." Financial Times 19 July 2012. Print.

Rae, Scott, and Kenman L. Wong. Beyond Integrity: A Judeo-Christian Approach to Business Ethics. 2nd ed. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2004. Print.