Ecuador Mobilizes Celebrity Friends as Chevron Verdict Nears

Mia Farrow has issues with Chevron. So do Sting, Danny Glover, and Cher. Actors, musicians, and other celebrities have long campaigned against the San Ramon (Calif.) oil producer, blaming it for pollution in the rainforest in Ecuador. Now, with a federal court in New York poised to issue a critical ruling in the two-decade-old controversy, the government of Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa is stepping in with a media campaign promoting the stars’ animosity toward Chevron.

There’s a snappy website called the Dirty Hand, a reference to the ritual of environmental activists traveling to the Amazon to dip their hands in pools of waste oil that dot the verdant jungle east of the Andes. Actor Daryl Hannah popularized this practice seven years ago.