"It was a conscious decision on our part to take on some of the more frequent questions that we're being asked," says Rhonda Zygocki, vp for policy, government and public affairs at Chevron. "The directness of this campaign we're hoping will at least draw attention."

Chevron has long been embroiled in a lawsuit that contends that it is responsible for oil pollution in Ecuador, which it denies, and critics accuse it of funding opposition to California's 2006 climate-change law. For its part, Chevron says it is "working constructively" with the state on the law. "Chevron's rhetoric and the public image that they put forward is very different from how they're actually operating," claims Maria Ramos, campaign director for the Rainforest Action Network.