Background
Ecuador is small Latin American country in area, but rich in culture and ecological biodiversity. Before 1967, the Ecuadorian economy relied mainly on agricultural exports and was one of the poorest countries in Latin America. In 1967, the petroleum company Texaco-Gulf discovered a large oil reserve in the Oriente, or Amazon basin. This discovery of one of the largest oil fields in the world drastically reshaped the economy and the environment. GDP increased, and net foreign-exchange earnings grew significantly (San Sebastián & Hurtig, 2004). Today, Ecuador is still mainly dependent on its petroleum resources that account for more than half of its export earnings and 2/5 of its public sector revenues. Ecuador’s current external debt is $19.91 billion USD (Central Intelligence Agency, 2015), and the government pays 80% of its foreign debt payments through oil revenue (Environmental Resource Center, 2015). Oil extraction is profitable but shortsighted, and is the country’s current greatest asset. However, there were many social and environmental injustices that occurred as a result of the oil boom.
The start of oil exploration and extraction in 1967 by Texaco put Ecuador down a path of petroleum dependence and environmental degradation. Oil extraction is an invasive process that requires the construction of a vast infrastructure of access roads, oil wells, pipelines and heavy machinery. The process creates a toxic sludge byproduct of crude oil and chemicals used for extraction. In order to cut costs, Texaco deposited the waste in unlined open pits. There were no regulations on how far these pits had to be from communities, and many overflowed during high precipitation events. The toxic sludge of crude oil and chemicals would then flow directly into people’s yards, and through agricultural zones into waterways. Additionally, under the Texaco consortium’s control, many intentional and unintentional oil spills occurred along unmanaged pipelines, and during the extraction process. Between the years 1972 and 1993, 18 billion gallons of toxic wastewater was dumped into the Ecuadorian Amazon basin, 750 times larger than the infamous Exxon Valdez oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico (Amazon Watch, 2015).
The Ecuadorian government allowed Texaco to extract petroleum virtually unregulated, and allowed vast contamination of the water and land. In 1990 the Ecuadorian state oil company Petroecuador took over Texaco’s operations in the Amazon basin. Petroecuador continued using Texaco’s previous infrastructure and techniques for extracting oil. Very few improvements have been made in extraction techniques since the beginning of Texaco’s drilling.
The Amazon basin in Ecuador referred to as el Oriente, contains immense biodiversity. There are over 100,000 km2 of tropic rainforest, and houses over 500,000 people or about 4.5% of Ecuador’s population. Eight groups of indigenous peoples and many peasants live in the Amazon basin, and depend on the area’s natural resources for the culture and for the livelihoods (San Sebastián & Hurtig, 2004). They use the stream and river water for cooking, cleaning, drinking and recreation. The water and land is their life. Within one hectare of land in the ITT oil field region of the Amazon, there are more species of trees than in all of North America. The basin is rich in petroleum, biodiversity, and sensitive cultures of people.
As a result of the billions of gallons of toxic wastewater dumped into Amazonian rivers, many indigenous communities began to experience severe health impacts. A 1993 a community health study suggested that communities in oil producing areas have higher rates of morbidity, abortion, dermatitis, skin mycosis and mal-nutrition, compared to communities without oil production. The people living in these areas have no access to treated water continue to eat toxic fish, drink the water, and bathe in the water (San Sebastián & Hurtig, 2004). These toxins do not biodegrade, and will remain in high concentration in this area.
The Amazon basin is a massive expanse with little exposure to the mainstream media. It is shaded by tropical rainforest, and inhabited by communities who have limited interaction with outside society. The communities in the Amazon basin can be labeled as “peripheral communities” that tend to be remote, economically marginal, politically powerless, culturally defensive and environmentally degraded (Sovacool & Dworkin, 2014, p. 203). The indigenous community’s lack of formal education, information, and representation made it easier for the Ecuadorian government to make decisions that poorly effected such communities without rebellion. Those affected did not see profit, only degradation of their land and livelihoods.
Energy Justice Framework:
The following elements of the Energy Justice Framework apply to the energy injustice that occurred as a result of Texaco-Gulf’s oil drilling, and the Ecuadorian’s government’s lack of ethical control over the situation.
Sustainability: acting so that any impacts on the environment, society, and the economy are minimized and allow people to live well today and in the future.
The oil drilling in the Amazon basin is destroying the natural state of the rainforests, the water supply, and the wildlife abundance. The indigenous communities depend on the water and land for survival. If oil extraction continues to be mismanaged and irresponsible, future generations will suffer from increasing health problems, and will struggle to provide their communities with sufficient food and water supplies. Oil extraction and the degradation of the Amazon basin take advantage of present day people and cheats future generations out of a healthy environment in which to live. The Ecuadorian government through their company Petroecuador is being unsustainable by looking at the short term benefits, instead of the long term negative implications. They are utilizing an unrenewable energy source that contributes to climate change, and building a country that will be unable to sustain itself in the future on oil from its intrinsically valuable Amazon basin. Future generations will bear the burden of today’s energy needs.
Due Process: the respect of every person’s right of fair treatment by the judicial system, and respecting their human rights.
Indigenous communities who have inhabited the Amazon basin for centuries are being displaced from their land and sickened by the pollution. In order to abide by due process, every person should have the right to fair and informed consent about projects that will directly affect them (Sovacool & Dworkin, 2014, p. 369). Indigenous groups have been given no power in the decision making in oil extraction construction, and the Ecuadorian government has given itself power to allocate any land to oil extraction. Additionally, social and environmental impact assessments were required by Ecuadorian law. Texaco never published a single report (Amazon Watch, 2015).
Responsibility: every person, community, and nation must take accountability and interest in the protection of their environment and work to prevent damages.
The Ecuadorian government was not responsible in its dealings with Texaco and the indigenous communities. The government had few initial environmental regulations, and little legal enforcement. They saw the Amazon basin as a basin of money to pay off external debt, and they did not take into consideration the livelihoods of the people living there or of the ecological health of the region. Additionally, Texaco did not take responsibility for its actions and fought against paying compensation fees to the indigenous communities until 2012, when they were finally found guilty. However, they are still in court proceedings and no money has been paid.
References
Amazon Watch. (2015, 3 14). Chevron Toxico: The Campaign for Justice in Ecuador. Retrieved from http://chevrontoxico.com/
Central Intelligence Agency. (2015, 3 6). Ecuador. Retrieved from The World Factbook: https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ec.html
Environmental Resource Center. (2015, 3 17). The True Costs of Petroleum Map: The World. Retrieved from http://www.biofuels.coop/archive/world.pdf
Rights, T. C. (1994). Rights Violations in the Ecuadorian Amazon.
San Sebastián, M., & Hurtig, A.-K. (2004). Oil exploitation in the Amazon basin of Ecuador: a public health emergency. Rev Panam Salud Publica/Pan Am J Public Health, 205-211.
Sovacool, B. K., & Dworkin, M. H. (2014). Global Energy Justice. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.