Save The Rain Forest ...And Kerry Kennedy's Checking Account

Scratch a Kennedy and you get - a Kennedy.

Activist Kerry Kennedy apparently has more than just a humanitarian interest in the outcome of the trial over the environmental damages caused to Ecuadorian rain forests.

It was revealed today that Ms Kennedy, who is the ex-wife of Governor Andrew Cuomo and former president John F. Kennedy's niece, has a financial stake in the contentious legal battle.

Ms Kennedy has spoken out against oil company Chevron and the damages that their predecessors caused to the tropical wildlife in Ecuador, using her famous name and position as a human rights activist to drum up support for the Ecuadorians involved in the 16-year-long legal battle.

Local courts recently ordered Chevron to pay $18billion in damages-which the company is now appealing- and if the decision is upheld, $40 million of that money could go straight to Ms Kennedy.

Yes, those bribe-proof pillars of integrity - the Ecuadorian government - just hit the jackpot. And of course Kennedy was whored out hired for her mad legal skills. In 2009 she penned the following immortal words.

'The jungle is a tangle of oil slicks, festering sludge, and rusted pipeline...'

Words well worth the cost, they gave me a Chris Matthews shudder/tingle that knocked my socks off and left my shoes on. I'll never look at festering sludge the same way without thinking of Kerry Kennedy.

Just a few months after penning the article, she was paid $50,000 by the lead attorney in the case against Chevron, Steven Donziger.

'Kerry Kennedy, daughter of RFK and human rights lawyer, is coming to Ecuador... This could give us a real boost... Will cost money, but not much,' an internal email to the legal team read in October 2009 just before The Huffington Post article.

Throw in a bottle of scotch and her Uncle Ted will return from the grave to point an accusing, boozy finger and maybe grope a waitress.

The budget of the legal team also says that she was due to receive $10,000 per month in 2010 and $40,000 to cover additional expenses.

She is also allotted a 0.25 per cent stake in the financial outcome of the court case. That means that if the recent demand that the company pay $18 billion is upheld, Ms Kennedy will be walking away with $40 million.

In addition to using her Kennedy name, the legal team was clear that they hoped that her close ties to New York politics would help their fight against Chevron.

Not only was Ms Kennedy's father a former New York senator {Robert Kennedy~sig94}, but she and current governor Cuomo were married for 13 years and have three daughters together.

Though their divorce was notoriously acrimonious- it was rumored that Mr Cuomo walked in on Ms Kennedy mid-tryst with a married family friend- she surely could have some influence in getting state government officials to call her back.

Yep, she's a Kennedy.