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Crude, the Film, Shows Real Price of America's Oil Addiction (Hint: It's Not Just the Environment)

Crude is the story of a community of 30,000 tribal members in the Amazonian jungle of Ecuador who hold a corporation to bear for its crimes against their land, their livelihood, and most importantly, their lives. The film follows the intricacies of what has been called the “Amazon Chernobyl.”

The indigenous population claims that Chevron, the parent company to the former Texaco, spent thirty years contaminating the air, land, and water of an area the size of Rhode Island which is now called the “death zone.” Cancer, leukemia, and birth defects are among some of the effects of Big Oil. The film was shot and edited over a period of three years, with Berlinger and the crew sacrificing their own safety by facing both environmental (toxic fumes, disease, searing equatorial heat) and man-made dangers (shooting near the Colombian border where drug runners and FARC rebels are very active) to capture a story they felt must be shared with the rest of the world.

Berlinger’s cinematic sensibility paints a picture that captures the lush vitality of the Amazon, the horrendous atrocities endured by the tribespeople, and the complicated path that social justice must traverse, all the while avoiding cliche and stereotypes. Amazon Watch and the Rainforest Foundation have both been instrumental in bringing the Ecuadorian devastation to the public eye.

Trudie Styler, Sting’s wife, and noted activist, appears in the film to lend celebrity to the cause. Repeatedly referring to the Amazon as “the lungs of the earth,” Styler and others point to the far more serious nature of the toxicity than mere dollars can assuage. If Ecuador is in trouble, we are ALL in trouble. If tribe members cannot fish or swim, that affects us directly. Transnationals can no longer act in a vacuum of backyard antics.

Vanity Fair featured an article in the 2007 Green Issue on the case in Ecuador, and attorney Pablo Fajardo, who passionately represents the plaintiffs. In one scene in the film, Fajardo notes that he is not intimidated by the high powered legal team because he has truth on his side, which makes his work that much easier. He doesn’t have to work diligently to create lies about what is happening.

Without sensationalizing the health effects of the toxic swamp left in the Ecuadorian jungle, Berlinger simply allows the water to tell the tale. The water, the rivers, the streams, and pools appear fresh from a distance as children play, women wash, and people drink. Once approached, the rainbow sheen of petrol catches the light and the scent of gasoline sends heads reeling. The ground is soft sludge as the pollutants work their way through the soil and into the Earth. One of the Texaco/Chevron representatives claims: “this is not contamination, this is industrial exploitation that your government permitted.” Amazing. This film must be seen.

In order for this film to have a chance of being seen by the rest of the country, it must nearly sell-out in NY, LA and SF, so tell your friends, blog about it, spread the word…go see this film. Because the film doesn’t have huge marketing dollars, it’s up to people like you and me to spread the word online.

Here are some important screening dates: for locations click here
-NYC: September 9-22
-L.A.: September 18-24
-S.F.: September 25-October 1
-D.C.: October 23-29

Amazon Watch: Chevron Bash in SF

Chevron (formerly Texaco) has admitted to dumping more than 18 billion gallons of toxic wastewater into the pristine Ecuadorian Amazon, creating one of the most contaminated industrial sites on the planet. Nearly four decades and billions of dollars in profit later, Chevron refuses to take responsibility for the resulting environmental degradation and exploding health crisis. Join us and the people of the Ecuadorian Amazon in the fight for justice and accountability in the heart of the world. To learn more and take action visit the ChevronToxico website.

Join Amazon Watch on Tuesday May 27 from 5:30–9 pm at the 111 Minna Street Gallery in San Francisco to listen to featured guests from the affected communities in Ecuador, the lead plaintiff in the Nigerian suit against Chevron, as well as Richmond community members.

The next day (May 28th) there is also a rally at the Chevron Annual General Shareholder Meeting at Chevron World Headquarters, San Ramon, CA. Call 415.487.9600 for more details.

The money is greener on the other side

Last month Bill Gates’ investments came under investigation by a few LA Times reporters. The argument of the intensely thorough 8-page (yes, 8 pages!) article was this: Do Gates’ investments in companies like Exxon Mobile and Chevron Corp undermine the good deeds of the actual foundation?

I recently asked Thomas Van Dyck, leading SRI consultant at RBC Dain, what he thought about the matter. Check out the Grist article here.

Kick the Oil Habit: CNN

Larry King Live had a kick-ass show tonight on the topic “Is America Addicted to Oil.” Special guests, Robert Redford (who is heading up Kick the Oil Habit) and CEO of Chevron, David O’Reilly had the hot seats. However, the best piece of the episode was the panel that King brought in which included: O’Reilly, Senator Kay Bailey Hutchinson (R-TX), Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL), David Yergin (Chair of Cambridge Energy Research), and Sir Richard Branson (we know him for Virgin Records, but also for investing in alternative energy).

I have to applaud the civil discussions that members had on the panel. I might not even call it a debate panel, partially because there was more agreement across the board, than confrontation. There was a resounding agreement for “conserving energy coupled with efficiency” and also a call for development of an “integrated energy strategy,” not only for energy efficiency but also for energy security. A big embrace came to increasing of ethanol, which comprises of 2% of gasoline right now. A highlight of governmental investment into cellulosic ethanol technology was discussed by Branson and Yergin. Supposedly the Democrats have assembled an energy policy to make us 40% less dependent on oil….would like to see that strategy put in motion…not to mention more debates that bring out Chevron CEOs, politics, venture capitalists, and enviros. Way to go!

What really pissed me off though were the questions coming in from the public. The concerns were still the “price at the pump,” which shows just how hung up we are on the microcosmic issues of oil. Wake up world: this is a global issue and it’s not just what’s coming out of your pocket…it’s about security, it’s about environmental health – your health – and about the state of the planet.

Crazy Capitalist and Enviro in the Same Sentence?

Today’s NYTimes has an interesting article in a section I usually ignore. The front of the Business section has “Saving the Environment, One Quarterly Earnings Report at a Time.”

Wal-Mart uses a wind turbine to help provide electricity at a store in Aurora, Colo., as an experiment.

From the story by Dave Weaver:

A few years ago, scientists at Cargill Inc. learned how to make rigid, transparent plastics from corn sugars. There was just one problem: they cost a lot more than the oil-based plastics they would replace.

Plastic pellets derived from corn at NatureWorks. Some producers have adopted corn-based packaging, as the cost of oil-based products rose.

But that was before the price of oil shot up and companies came under pressure from consumers and investors to find economically sound ways to adopt “green” packaging and other environmentally friendly products and processes. This year, Wal-Mart, Wild Oats Market and many other retailers, as well as food suppliers like Del Monte and Newman’s Own Organics, all embraced corn-based packaging for fresh produce.

Sales at NatureWorks, the Cargill subsidiary that makes the plastic, grew 200 percent in the first half of this year over the period last year. “The early adopters were more influenced by environmental concerns than costs,” said Kathleen M. Bader, chairwoman of NatureWorks. “But now we’re competitive with petrochemicals, too.”

Cargill is one of several companies profiting from the concerns – of shareholders, communities and consumers – about global warming, leaking landfills and other potential environmental hazards. Huge companies like General Electric and Chevron now have separate businesses to market what they are calling environment-friendly products.

And new companies and university projects appear each day. Cornell University’s College of Engineering, for one, expects to have a commercial process for using bacteria to recoup energy from wastewater treatment within three years.

“There are a lot of creative types looking for the next big thing,” said Bob Sheppard, deputy director for corporate programs at Clean Air-Cool Planet, a nonprofit environmental education organization. “Well, these days, environment is it.”

That’s what I like to hear.