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Chevron - Issue Summary
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Chevron: Report on Environmental Damage from
Drilling in Arctic Wildlife
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The United States Public Interest Research Group (U.S.
PIRG) Education Fund and Trillium Asset Management Corp.
urge you to support the stockholder proposal, item 5
on the proxy card, asking Chevron to report on potential
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This resolution requests the Chevron board of directors to
"prepare a report. . .on the potential environmental
damage that would result from the company proceeding with
plans to drill for oil and gas in the coastal plain, 1002
Area, of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. The report should
also cover the financial costs of the plan and the expected
return." The resolution must be voted on by the Annual
Meeting on April 25, 2001.
Chevron has stated that the company plans to explore for
oil in the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
We feel that drilling is incompatible with the wilderness
values found on the coastal plain, and violates Chevron’s
stated commitment to "preserving the culture and environment
of the communities" it works in.
Canceling plans to drill in the Arctic Refuge makes good
business sense. The revenue Chevron would derive from the
relatively meager reserves found in the refuge (~3.2B barrels
over 50 years for the entire field) is small compared to the
damage that would be done to the Chevron brand. A significant
majority of Americans - Chevron's customer base- oppose drilling
in the Arctic Refuge. Therefore, Chevron would benefit significantly
from positive publicity if it were to cancel drilling plans
for the Arctic.
Biologists have likened drilling in the Refuge to damming
up the Grand Canyon. Consider that the coastal plain of the
Arctic National Wildlife Refuge:
- is the only section of America's Arctic not open for
oil and gas exploration and production
- is the only conservation area in the nation that provides
a complete range of Arctic and sub-Arctic ecosystems balanced
with a wide variety of wildlife
- supports large populations of caribou, muskoxen, brown,
black and polar bears, wolves, Dall sheep, snow geese and
thousands of other migratory birds
- is home to the Gwich’in, the "people of the caribou"
whose way of life is threatened by drilling
Preserving a unique and fragile ecosystem like the coastal
plain of the Arctic Refuge will dramatically enhance the Company’s
image with the American public. For all of the above reasons
we urge you to support the Arctic Refuge shareholder resolution,
item 5 on your proxy card.
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