ShaleDirectories, LLC.: The Very Special Interests of Fractivists and Friends

Tom Shepstone
Shepstone Management Company, Inc.

Fractivists and other radical enviros are too often portrayed as altruistic when, in fact, they embody some of the very worst of very special interests.

Self-described environmentalists and most fractivists typically get the benefit of any doubt as being altruistic, community-minded, socially conscious protecters of nature and all that is good. The truth, though, is that there is, more often than not, special interests at stake. Sometimes it’s simply an attention-getting ego-boosting thing, other times it’s about the power and, far too often, it’s about the money.

I’ve pointed out here numerous times that trial lawyers are often in the background in stirring up fractivist causes in hopes of making the sky rain lawsuits for them to pursue. The connections between environmental groups, public interest research groups and trial lawyers are everywhere. Jay Halfon, the Fractivist Rasputin, serves all three, bringing them together to make enough money to live in a swank Manhattan apartment and hobnob with the gentry class.

There’s also the Karen Hinton story, which I wrote about here in 2013. Karen Hinton is a public relations guru of sorts, who supposedly represents Ecuadorians who sued Chevron in a phony lawsuit that was later turned on its head (more on that in a moment). She’s worked for Andrew Cuomo at one point, as did her husband, Howard Glaser. She’s a committed fractivist, of course, though, as I noted at the time, she and her husband bragged about the expensive gas range and gas fireplace in their new home.

Who is Hinton’s real client? Is it really the Ecuadorians or the trial lawyers and environmental groups who thought they had a financial bonanza on their hands? As late as two days ago, she was still promoting the Chevron case with this tweet:

The truth about the Chevron case, though, came out quite some time ago and was re-inforced by a recent decision out of Gibraltar of all places. Here’s some of the story from the Daily Caller (emphasis added):

The Supreme Court of Gibraltar awarded the oil company Chevron $38 million Friday for damages related to charges alleging the company contaminated the Amazon region of Ecuador.

An Ecuador court issued an $18 billion judgement against Chevron in February 2011 for environmental and social harm the company allegedly caused to the Amazon. The amount was later reduced to $9.5 billion, but a U.S. district court in New York nullified the judgement due to fraudulent and illegal activities by Steven Donziger, the lead American lawyer behind the lawsuit, according to the district court ruling.

Donziger had set up a company in Gibraltar, Amazonia Recovery Ltd., through which to funnel the funds he and others thought they would win from the Chevron case. The Gibraltar court rendered judgment on Donziger’s associates and Amazonia while issuing a permanent injunction between them and the case, stopping them from participating any further…

The Gibraltar court’s decision follows a similar one in Dec. 2015 when the court awarded Chevron $28 billion in damages from Donziger and Amazonia and issued an injunction between them and the case. Pablo Fajardo, Luis Yanza and Ermel Chavez – Donziger’s partners in the scheme – tried to keep the pressure on Chevron by working through the company. They ignored the first judgement, resulting in the court leveling a new, higher judgment against them and the Amazonia.

The New York district court found that while Donziger had initiated the case with good intentions, he corrupted the process through telling half-truths, outright lies, and using fake evidence and witnesses.

“If ever there were a case warranting equitable relief with respect to a judgment procured by fraud, this is it,” the district court ruling said.

You might think it doesn’t get any better, but it does. My friend Phelim McAleer has put together a play about this scandal, which you can still see if you live near or visit San Francisco. It’s called “The $18-Billion Prize” and you can see it tonight, tomorrow night or Sunday night at 8 PM at San Francisco’s Phoenix Theatre. Here are some of the details from Phelim:

A shocking and at times farcical tale of how an environmental lawsuit turned into the world’s biggest fraud is revealed in a new play. The world premiere of “The $18-Billion Prize,” based on the true story of rainforest natives and their New York lawyer “fighting for justice” against one of the world’s biggest oil companies, opened May 19 at the Phoenix Theatre, where performances continue through June 3.

A “verbatim theater production” written by Phelim McAleer and Jonathan Leaf, The $18-Billion Prize is based on a true story and the trial and deposition transcripts from the court case “Donziger v.Chevron Corp.” The claim: the Amazonian rain forest has been polluted by evil oil giant Chevron. But all is not what it seems. What if in this David and Goliath battle… David is the villain? Stories of sex-obsessed Hollywood celebrities let loose in the jungle and the private diaries of the lead attorney submitted into evidence are just some of the plot twists in this wild and crazy tale…

Steven Donziger being interviewed for the film “Crude”

This new play exposes how environmentalists carried out the world’s biggest fraud, how the media helped promote that fraud — and how they almost got away with it. Members of the ‘Hollywood Elite’ — Sting, Angelina Jolie, Brad Pitt and Mia Farrow — all supported this bogus lawsuit before it was exposed. One of the takeaways is the seamy side of celebrity endorsement of charitable causes.”

In 1993, Steven Donziger, a Harvard-educated American lawyer, represented indigenous groups from Ecuador’s rainforest in a class action suit against Chevron. The case received an enormous amount of media attention, including major coverage by Vanity Fair, Rolling Stone and 60 Minutes to name a few, and it drew the support of international celebrities.

In 2011, after an eight-year trial, an Ecuadorian court ordered Chevron to pay $18.1 billion. The verdict is believed to be the largest civil court judgment ever.

But the story doesn’t end there. Chevron fought back. An American court found evidence of fraud and ordered Donziger to hand over his files and diaries, which exposed a massive bribery and corruption scheme. Donziger was found to have bribed judges and ghostwritten the judgment. The diaries also revealed the extent to which these celebrities misbehaved while thousands of miles from Hollywood — along with the hundreds-of-thousands of dollars they received for their “charitable” work. Overnight the Chevron case went from environmentalists’ biggest victory to the world’s biggest fraud.
“The true story is a mixture of Apocalypse Now meets Austin Powers-The Spy who Shagged Me.” Mcaleer says. “Its a farce hidden in an $18-billion drama.”

According to McAleer, once it became clear that Donziger had won the case through bribery, fraud and other corrupt practices, the mainstream media no longer wanted to tell the true story.
“This play is also about the failure of journalism. The Chevron case was one of the first examples of ‘fake news.’ I think audience members will be very surprised, even shocked, when they hear the clear and unaltered truth about the events that took place.”
McAleer said that because the play tells the truth about the dark side of the environmental movement it would never be funded by the theatrical establishment.
“That’s why I’m crowdfunding it. I think the public will recognize the truth when they see it.”

To see the crowdfunding site go to http://www.ChevronPlay.com.
“Verbatim” or “truth” theater, modeled on Tricycle Theatre’s wildly popular Tribunal Plays series that has been a staple in London for over two decades, is defined as “a play constructed from the precise words spoken by people interviewed about a particular event or topic.” In this case, the audience will hear unaltered witness testimony, exactly as the federal appeals court heard it…
The $18-Billion Prize runs through June 3 at the Phoenix Theatre in San Francisco. All tickets are $30… The Phoenix Theatre is located at 414 Mason Street, San Francisco, CA 94102. For reservations and information call 800-838-3006 or go to 18billion.brownpapertickets.com.

Let’s hope it also comes out on DVD or video! More people need to learn who and what the special interests behind so much of radical environmentalism and fractivism really are; it’s about the money.