Leaving aside the junk science that has bedeviled the global warming network of activists over the past few weeks, there are also questions of corruption that deserve greater scrutiny and attention.

Dr. Rajendra K. Pachauri, Chairman of the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has been called for conflicts of interest involving his work as an adviser to several companies, even as The New York Times allows him to explain this away.

In other news, Richard Cabrera, an “independent expert” appointed by an Ecuadorean court to research plaintiff claims against Chevron has what appears to be disqualifying conflict of interest. Cabrera is largely responsible for elevating the damages against Chevron to $27 billion.

Public records show Cabrera is co-founder, general manager, and legal representative of an oilfield remediation company, CAMPET, which is a contractor to Ecuador’s state-owned oil company PetroEcuador that stands to profit from a verdict against Chevron. 

As this could be the largest environmental lawsuit in history, this is a story that is sure to gain momentum. Chevron has a press release discussing this revelation. If Cabrera did indeed collaborate with plaintiffs who are positioned to benefit financially from the lawsuit, the case is likely to collapse.

It would be interesting to see how Cabrera and other lawsuit happy green activists respond.