Here is what they report:
There is currently a very significant trial going on in the Ecuadorian Amazon against Chevron by groups who have been affected by petroleum contamination. Vanity Fair has a lengthy article about it with excellent information (though not all will appreciate the way that the writer expresses it): http://www.vanityfair.com/politics/features/2007/05/texaco200705
Regardless of how the trial ends, the fact remains that environmental contamination (such as babies with cancer and cesspools of oil runoff) and societal disintegration (especially within indigenous people groups) are true costs of our petroleum use, much greater than the price-per-gallon.
………………..
Pablo Fajardo, lawyer representing Ecuadorian Amazonian settlers and indigenous groups: "One of the problems with modern society is that it places more importance on things that have a price than on things that have a value. Breathing clean air, for instance, or having clean water in the rivers, or having legal rights—these are things that don't have a price but have a huge value. Oil does have a price, but its value is much less. And sometimes we make the mistake."
Chevron lobbyist: "The ultimate issue here is Ecuador has mistreated a U.S. company. We can't let little countries screw around with big companies like this - companies that have made big investments around the world." http://www.newsweek.com/id/149090
…………….....