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Going Mental with Eileen Kelly

The Man Who Fought Chevron: Steven Donziger on Climate Change, House Arrest, and Keeping His Sanity

Going Mental with Eileen Kelly

Eileen Kelly

Eileenkelly, Health & Fitness, Education, Mental Health, Self-improvement, Mentalhealth

4.8897 Ratings

🗓️ 5 January 2023

⏱️ 68 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Steven Donziger is an American attorney known for his legal battles with Chevron. In his most famous case, Aguinda v. Texaco, Inc, he represented over 30,000 farmers and indigenous people in Ecuador, who suffered environmental damage and health issues caused by oil drilling. The Ecuadorian court ordered Chevron to pay over $9 billion in damages, which led Chevron to withdraw its assets from Ecuador and launch legal action against Donziger in the US. In the end, he was disbarred, sentenced to prison time, and spent 993 days under house arrest.

Eileen and Donziger discuss what led him to Ecuador in the first place, climate change and mental health, how to fight big corporations, and what to do when you feel the whole world is conspiring against you.

Visit freedonziger.com to learn more about his case and donate to his legal defense fund.

Show links:

Follow @eileen on Instagram

Follow @killerandasweetthang on Instagram

Follow @eileeninparis on TikTok

Follow @goingmentalpodcast on Instagram

More information at: Goingmental.com

Produced by Dear Media.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

The following podcast is a dear media production.

0:03.0

Hi everyone, I'm Summer McKeene, a content creator, and Best Sister of the Year.

0:08.0

Hi, I'm Her Sister Bree, I'm actually a ten-time winner of that award.

0:11.0

Together, we're the host of the podcast Wavy.

0:14.4

Okay, every Wednesday we bring you into the fun, exciting, hopefully helpful, and

0:18.8

mostly chaotic world of our sisterly chats about everything and anything.

0:23.0

From living in a world to comparisons, to boy drama,

0:26.0

to the life changes that feel really overwhelming,

0:28.0

we got your back.

0:30.0

So please support the show with a like and follow

0:32.0

to keep up with all of our latest sister shenanigans.

0:34.8

Get wavy on Wednesdays. We'll see you soon.

0:38.8

Welcome to Going Mental. This is your host, Eileen Kelly. I'm interested in the things many of us face, but don't always talk about. On the show not only will I be sharing more about my own anxiety as in depression

0:55.2

but I'm also going to be talking to a wide range of guests about their own mental health

0:59.3

journeys along with professionals who are going to help educate you and me on the ins and outs of mental illness.

1:05.0

Can't wait for you to hear what's in store. On today's episode, I'm joined by Stephen Donzinger. He is an American attorney best known for his case against Chevron in which he represented over 30,000 indigenous people from Ecuador,

1:26.7

who had suffered environmental damage and health issues caused by oil drilling.

1:32.3

And so the Ecuadorian court ordered Chevron to pay

1:35.9

over $9 billion in damages, but instead of paying, they withdrew their assets from Ecuador

1:42.0

and then launched legal action in the United States against Don Singer,

1:46.6

which resulted in him being disbarred from practicing law in 2018 and spending time in jail as well as being placed under house arrest for

1:56.2

over two years for a nonviolent crime. Okay well it's nice to meet you. Thanks for having you. Thank you for coming on. Can you just introduce yourself for my listeners?

...

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