"Steven is supposed to report to prison today in what will go down as one of the gravest miscarriages of justice in American history. Chevron has been allowed to purchase our courts, and the White House and the Justice Department are silent."
– U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib

Yesterday, human rights lawyer Steven Donziger was sent to federal prison for six months for fighting Chevron – and winning. Yet despite this, yesterday was also a nightmare for Chevron and a victory for environmental justice.

For years, Chevron sought to destroy the life of its nemesis who helped win the over $9.5 billion judgement against the company for polluting the Ecuadorian Amazon. Instead, it has inadvertently handed the movement its biggest victory since the verdict against Chevron was upheld by Ecuador’s supreme court in 2013.

Yesterday, I stood outside the U.S. Capitol alongside Representatives Chuy Garcia, Rashida Tlaib, and Jim McGovern and we all shared the same message: there is a reckoning coming, and Chevron will be held accountable for its crimes. Today, the House Oversight Committee heard testimony from oil company CEOs – including a smirking Michael Wirth of Chevron – as well as the American Petroleum Institute on their deadly climate change disinformation campaigns.

Meanwhile, Steven Donziger sits in prison as a warning that those who challenge corporate power in the U.S. are at risk for their work, and those who are particularly successful will be targeted, criminalized, and jailed.